The Workplace Accommodation That Costs Nothing

When an employee asks for a workplace accommodation, a supervisor may immediately start thinking about money.

Special equipment.

Construction.

New software.

A purchase order that needs approval from someone upstairs.

But during National Disability Employment Awareness Month this October, data from a U.S. Department of Labor-funded service offers a useful reminder: Most workplace accommodations employers reported in its survey cost nothing.

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) provides free guidance to employers and workers with workplace accommodation questions.

JAN also asks employers what happened after they made an accommodation.

Its current report includes employers that contacted the service between 2019 and 2024 and later provided information about their experiences.

Among employers that reported accommodation costs, 61% said the solution cost nothing.

Another 33% reported a one-time expense. The median was $300.

Only 6% reported an ongoing annual cost.

Those numbers suggest that when an employee says, “I need an accommodation,” the first question probably shouldn’t be, “How much is this going to cost?”

A better question may be much simpler.

“What would actually help?”

Sometimes The Answer Is Free

The word “accommodation” can make a relatively small workplace change sound like a major project.

Often, it isn’t.

Examples of no-cost accommodations reported through JAN include changing a work schedule, adjusting a company policy or moving someone’s workstation.

Something as simple as relocating a desk away from an air vent may solve a problem.

For another worker, the accommodation might involve asking coworkers to get the employee’s attention before speaking.

No contractor arrives.

No equipment is ordered.

Nothing appears on the company credit card.

The workplace simply operates a little differently so an employee can do the job.

Some accommodations do require purchases.

Those can include tools such as screen-reading software or an automatic door opener.

But even among employers reporting a one-time cost, the median expense was $300.

That’s considerably different from the expensive renovation or specialized equipment a manager might imagine when first hearing the word “accommodation.”

Cost is only half the equation.

JAN also asked employers what happened afterward.

Employers Report Benefits, Too

Of the employers surveyed, 85% said providing an accommodation helped them retain a valued employee.

More than half — 52% — reported increased productivity.

And 48% said the accommodation allowed them to avoid the cost of hiring and training a replacement.

That last number matters even more when you consider who is requesting the accommodation.

The average employee represented in JAN’s survey had already worked for the employer for five years and eight months.

That’s nearly six years of experience.

The employee knows the job.

The employee knows the workplace.

The employee may know the customers, coworkers, equipment, and routines that keep the business operating.

Replacing that person means finding someone else, interviewing candidates, hiring one, training the new employee, and waiting for that person to gain experience.

By comparison, moving a desk is inexpensive.

So is changing a schedule.

Even a $300 piece of equipment can look different when the alternative is replacing someone who has spent years learning the job.

Start With The Problem, Not The Product

The numbers teach another lesson.

An accommodation doesn’t necessarily begin with shopping.

It begins with a conversation.

An employee may know exactly what change would help. In other cases, the employee and employer may need to work through the problem together.

What part of the job is creating difficulty?

What needs to change?

Is there another way to perform the task?

Would a scheduling change solve it?

Would moving a workstation help?

Is there a piece of technology that would make the work accessible?

Sometimes the solution is obvious.

Sometimes it isn’t.

That’s one reason the Job Accommodation Network exists.

JAN is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy and provides its services free of charge.

Employers can contact JAN with questions about workplace accommodations and possible solutions instead of trying to figure everything out on their own.

The service can be reached at (800) 526-7234.

A Small Change Can Keep Years Of Experience

National Disability Employment Awareness Month aims, in part, to draw attention to the contributions of workers with disabilities.

But workplace accommodation isn’t only an October subject.

An employee can develop a disability or medical limitation at any point in a career.

Someone who performed a job one way for years may suddenly need to perform part of it differently.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the person can no longer do the job.

Sometimes it means the job needs a small adjustment.

According to employers surveyed by JAN, that adjustment is often much smaller and less expensive than managers expect.

A changed schedule.

A different desk.

A modified policy.

A coworker remembering to get someone’s attention before beginning a conversation.

Or perhaps a one-time purchase costing a few hundred dollars.

Some workplace accommodations are more complicated, of course, and every employee and job is different.

But the survey numbers challenge the assumption that accommodation automatically means major expense.

For most employers that supplied cost information to JAN, it didn’t.

Sixty-one percent paid nothing.

And many reported getting something valuable in return: an experienced employee who stayed.

So when the next accommodation request reaches a supervisor’s desk, the first move doesn’t have to be a purchase order.

It can be a question.

“What would actually help?”

The answer may be simpler than anyone expected.