4.2 Overview of Legal Obligations

Technical assistance manual on the employment provisions (Title I) of the Americans With Disabilities Act

IV. ESTABLISHING NONDISCRIMINATORY QUALIFICATION STANDARDS AND SELECTION CRITERIA

• Qualification standards or selection criteria that screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a disability on the basis of disability must be job–related and consistent with business necessity.
• Even if a standard is job–related and consistent with business necessity, if it screens out an individual with a disability on the basis of disability, the employer must consider if the individual could meet the standard with a reasonable accommodation.
• An employer is not required to lower existing production standards applicable to the quality or quantity of work for a given job in considering qualifications of an individual with a disability, if these standards are uniformly applied to all applicants and employees in that job.
• If an individual with a disability cannot perform a marginal function of a job because of a disability, an employer may base a hiring decision only on the individual’s ability to perform the essential functions of the job, with or without a reasonable accommodation.