Does my company have to show us our rights regarding disability accommodations?

The situation

I have been working as a warehouse associate at a large distribution center in Ohio for about eighteen months now. My monthly paycheck is around $3,200, and I generally enjoy the job, but I noticed something strange during our mandatory safety meeting last Tuesday, October 15th. Our supervisor, Mike, spent about thirty minutes talking to us about new lifting protocols and safety gear, but he never mentioned anything about our rights if we have a medical condition or a disability that requires a change in how we work. I checked the breakroom walls and the employee bulletin board where they usually post the updated holiday schedule and the new benefits package, but I couldn't find any paperwork or flyers explaining what kind of help or accommodations the company provides for workers with physical limitations. I even asked my coworker, who has been there for five years, if she had seen any official notices about disability rights, and she said she hadn't seen anything in months. I tried looking on the company's internal website portal, but the search results for 'rights' only showed me stuff about our 401k and health insurance. I am unsure if my employer is actually required to physically post or display information about our rights to accommodations in a place where all employees can easily see and read it.

Detailed Analysis

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), your employer has a legal obligation to inform you of your rights. The law states that every covered employer "shall post notices in an accessible format to applicants, employees, and members describing the applicable provisions of this chapter"^[1]. This means your company is required to provide information about the protections offered by the ADA to people with disabilities.

Furthermore, the law requires these notices to be placed in specific locations. Specifically, employers must "post and keep posted in conspicuous places upon its premises where notices to employees, applicants for employment, and members are customarily posted a notice"^[2]. A "conspicuous place" is a location that is easy to see, such as the breakroom or bulletin board you mentioned. The notice must include summaries of the law's provisions and information on how to file a complaint^[2].

In your situation at the distribution center, the fact that you could not find any paperwork regarding disability accommodations on the breakroom walls, the bulletin board, or the internal website suggests the company may not be meeting these posting requirements. While the law requires the company to provide these notices, it does not specify exactly which digital or physical format they must use, as long as it is "accessible"^[1].

It is also important to note that while the law requires posting notices, it does not mandate that your supervisor, Mike, discuss these rights during every safety meeting. The requirement is about the availability of the information through posted notices.

Statutory Citations

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