Confidentiality Requirements for PAS
All medical information obtained in connection with PAS requests must be kept confidential and appropriately protected from unlawful disclosure. PAS requests must be kept confidential and must not be shared with others unless on a need-to-know basis. Any employee who obtains or receives such information is strictly bound by these confidentiality requirements per EEOC regulation and federal laws. The RA coordinator must maintain records for a period of 3 years. If the RA is needed on a recurring basis, then the RA records will be maintained for as long as the case is active.
Formal Definitions
Personal Assistance Services
Assistance with performing activities of daily living that an individual would typically perform if they did not have a disability, and that is not otherwise required as a reasonable accommodation, including, for example, assistance with removing and putting on clothing, eating, using the restroom, pushing a wheelchair or assisting someone with getting into or out of a vehicle at the worksite. (Note that this is not an exhaustive list.)
Targeted Disability
Targeted disabilities are a subset of conditions that would be considered disabilities under the Rehabilitation Act. The federal government has recognized that qualified individuals with certain disabilities face significant barriers to employment, which for some people may include lack of access to PAS in the workplace, that are above and beyond the barriers faced by people with the broader range of disabilities. The federal government calls these "targeted disabilities."
Note, however, that not everyone with a targeted disability will be entitled to PAS under the new regulations, because only some individuals with targeted disabilities require assistance with basic activities like eating and using the restroom. Medical conditions that are more likely to result in the need for PAS include, for example, missing limbs or paralysis due to spinal cord injury.
Undue Hardship
Undue hardship means that an accommodation would be unduly costly, extensive, substantial or disruptive, or would fundamentally alter the nature or operation of the department.
Essential Functions of a Job
Those job duties that are so fundamental to the position that the individual holds or desires that the individual cannot do the job without performing them. A function can be “essential” if, among other things:
- the position exists specifically to perform that function,
- there are a limited number of other employees who could perform the function, or
- the function is specialized and the individual is hired based on their ability to perform it.
Determination of the essential functions of a position must be done on a case-by-case basis so that it reflects the job as actually performed, and not simply the components of a generic position description.
For more information on or to submit a request for PAS:
- Contact the DTRA RA Coordinator, Mr. Terrence Fox, Email, 571-616-4401.