Booz Allen’s Reasonable Accommodations and Workplace Adjustment Policy Goes Beyond ADA Requirements
From improved accessibility to a modified work schedule, the firm supports unique workplace needs so employees can perform at their best.
Ryan Maliszewski knows something about the workplace programs designed to support individuals with disabilities.
Hearing impaired since birth, Maliszewski is a budget analyst supporting the Department of Homeland Security. He needs sign language interpreters to fully understand verbal communications, especially in groups.
Since joining Booz Allen Hamilton, he has experienced firsthand how the firm’s Disability Accommodations and Workplace Adjustments Services team works with both employees and management to find reasonable accommodations to help employees perform essential job functions.
“Booz Allen lives up to its reputation of being one of the best in the industry by providing equal opportunities for its employees,” he says. “It’s no wonder that the firm has been honored numerous times for its disability initiatives.”
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) considers an individual as disabled if s/he has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major activities such as seeing, hearing, speaking, or walking. From modifying the work environment or schedule, job restructuring, and providing assistive devices to improving accessibility and offering training, Booz Allen helps individuals with disabilities reach their professional potential.
For example, the firm contracts with vendors to provide real-time onsite sign language interpreters, video conferencing, and video phone technology that allow hearing impaired employees like Maliszewski to communicate with colleagues and outside entities. In addition, Maliszewski is provided with a text pager, which acts like a cell phone and enables him to read e-mail to communicate efficiently with staff.
But the firm also recognizes that an individual with a physical or mental impairment that does not meet the level of an ADA disability may nonetheless find certain aspects of work more difficult. In those cases, the firm considers providing workplace adjustments.
“It’s not often that a corporation would strive to provide the best accommodations possible for their employees with special needs,” Maliszewski says. “This says a lot about the firm.”
A Centralized Budget that Pays for Accommodations
One of the most important benefits of the reasonable accommodations program is that costs associated with the accommodations are paid out of a central fund and do not affect a team’s budget.
Senior HR compliance manager Steven Steinberg explains, “Employees who request an accommodation do not need to worry that the cost would impact the team budget or whether the team can afford an accommodation within its existing budget.”
Requesting an accommodation or adjustment is simple and easy. It starts when the employee contacts HR or the Disability Accommodation & Workplace Adjustment Services Team and submits a request.
“It’s always the employee’s choice whether to disclose a disability or otherwise seek accommodation,” Steinberg says. “Medical information provided to the accommodations team is kept confidential and separate from the employee’s personnel file.”
The team reviews the request and the employee submits supporting medical documentation if needed. The team then determines through an interactive process whether a reasonable accommodation exists that will allow the employee to perform the essential functions of the job without causing an undue burden to the firm.
Balancing Business Needs with an Individual’s Unique Needs
Prior to joining the firm in 2006, Maliszewski worked with the U.S. House of Representatives as a budget analyst, responsible for budget processes for Member offices, leadership, committees, and supporting offices. “Knowing that I can and will accomplish many things with Booz Allen, my proudest accomplishment to date is having the opportunity to serve Congress for the past five years,” he says. “I learned so much about the political and financial process during my tenure there.”
Since his move to Booz Allen, Maliszewski’s greatest challenge continues to be communicating with colleagues and clients. “I can read lips and speak well enough for most hearing people to assume that I can understand everything that they say. I have to remind them to slow down or repeat what they’re saying. Communicating by pen and paper works wonders, although e-mail is my preferred method of communication.”
For group meetings, Maliszewski can request an onsite interpreter, or use firm technology to communicate with an interpreter via the Internet. The accommodations team also facilitates training for team members to help them better interact with a colleague who has a disability. “As an example, the accommodations group has paid for teams with deaf members to attend brown bag sign language classes without having to leave the office,” Steinberg says.
Overall, the reasonable accommodations policy has worked well for Maliszewski. “The disability accommodations office and support staff at Booz Allen have been extremely helpful in catering to my support services needs.”
The policy benefits Booz Allen as well. Steinberg says, “First, it is simply the right thing to do. Second, the firm benefits by helping employees remain in the workforce and removing barriers that would otherwise prevent them from reaching their full potential.”
story posted October 31, 2007
