Michigan Disability Discrimination Laws

Employers must accommodate people with disabilities, unless they can show that these accommodations would impose undue hardship. Reasonable accommodations aren’t considered preferential treatment or employee benefits.

Equipment or devices: An accommodation requiring the purchase of any equipment or device imposes undue hardship if:

• employers (excluding public employers and nonprofit organizations) have fewer than four employees and the total cost exceeds the state average weekly wage;
• employers have four to 14 employees and the total cost exceeds 1.5 times the state average weekly wage; or
• employers have 15 or more employees and the total cost exceeds 2.5 times the state average weekly wage.

These cost thresholds are reduced by 50 percent for temporary employees who are hired for up to 90 days. The state average weekly wage is determined by the Michigan Employment Security Commission.

Readers or interpreters: An accommodation requiring the employment of readers or interpreters imposes undue hardship if:

• employers have fewer than four employees and the cost exceeds seven times the state average weekly wage for the first year and 5 times the state average weekly wage for each year thereafter;
• employers have four to 14 employees and the cost exceeds 10 times the state average weekly wage for the first year and seven times the state average weekly wage for each year thereafter; or
• employers have 15 or more employees and the cost exceeds 15 times the state average weekly wage for the first year and 10 times the state average weekly wage for each year thereafter.

These cost thresholds are reduced by 50 percent for temporary employees who are hired for up to 90 days. The state average weekly wage is determined by the Michigan Employment Security Commission.

Job restructuring or schedule altering: Employers with 15 or more employees can be required to restructure jobs and alter employees’ schedules as an accommodation for minor or infrequent job duties. Employers with fewer than 15 employees aren’t required to restructure jobs or alter employees’ schedule as an accommodation.

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Under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers, including state and local governments, with 15 or more employees, are prohibited from discriminating against people with disabilities. Title I protects qualified individuals with disabilities in several areas, including job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation and job training. It is also unlawful to retaliate against someone for opposing employment practices that discriminate based on disability, or for filing an ADA discrimination charge. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) shares enforcement authority for Title I of the ADA with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which has primary responsibility for enforcing the employment provisions of the law. (Note: Federal employees and job applicants are covered by Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 instead of the ADA.