Key points
- EEOC guidance on the federal ADA says a person may ask in plain English and need not mention the ADA or use the phrase "reasonable accommodation."[1]
- Under the New York State regulation, the employer has a duty to move forward to consider accommodation once the need is known or requested, and the employee has to cooperate in providing necessary medical information.[2]
- Under the New York City Human Rights Law, an employer has to engage in a cooperative dialogue within a reasonable time with a person who has requested an accommodation or who it has notice may require one.[3]
- The NYC Commission on Human Rights says an employer generally cannot require disclosure of the specific diagnosis or ask for unrelated documentation such as complete medical records.[4]
- Retaliation for requesting a reasonable accommodation is expressly unlawful under the New York State Human Rights Law, by an amendment signed on December 5, 2025, and under the New York City Human Rights Law.[5][6]
You do not need special words or a special form to ask for a workplace accommodation. EEOC guidance on the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) says a person may use "plain English" and need not mention the ADA or use the phrase "reasonable accommodation"; what matters is letting the employer know that a change at work is needed for a reason related to a medical condition.[1] Under the New York State regulation, the employer's duty to consider accommodation begins once the need is known or requested.[2] Under the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL), the duty applies where the disability is known or should have been known by the employer.[7]
How you ask still matters in practice, because the request starts a process with duties on both sides. This page covers what triggers the duty, a practical way to make the request, what medical information an employer may seek, and what protects you for asking.
What triggers the employer's duty?
| Law | What starts the duty |
|---|---|
| Federal (ADA) | The duty runs to "known" limitations.[8] A request in plain English is enough under EEOC guidance.[1] The Second Circuit has also held that an employer has a duty to accommodate a disability that is obvious, meaning the employer knew or reasonably should have known the employee was disabled, even without a request.[9] |
| New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) | The duty runs to "known disabilities."[10] Under the State regulation, the employee has to make the disability and the need known, and the employer has a duty to move forward to consider accommodation once the need is known or requested.[2] |
| New York City (NYCHRL) | The duty applies where the disability "is known or should have been known" by the employer.[7] The duty to hold a cooperative dialogue covers a person who has requested an accommodation and also a person who the employer has notice may require one.[3] |
The "obvious disability" rule under the ADA has a limit. The Second Circuit announced it in 2008.[9] Since an amendment that took effect on January 1, 2009, the ADA has said that no accommodation is owed to a person who meets its definition of disability only because the employer regards them as disabled.[11][12]
In New York City, the NYC Commission on Human Rights says an employer that knows an employee's performance has diminished, and has a reasonable basis to believe the issue is related to a disability, must initiate a cooperative dialogue. The employer should not assume a disability, and if the employee chooses not to disclose one, the employer has met its obligation to initiate.[13]
A practical way to make the request
The steps below are practical suggestions, not legal requirements. They are meant to make the request clear and to leave a record.
- Check for a policy. Look in the handbook or intranet for an accommodation procedure and the name of the person or office that handles requests.
- Put the request in writing and date it. An email is fine. If you first ask in conversation, follow up with a short written note that repeats what you asked for.
- Say what is getting in the way and what would help. Describe the work problem and connect it to a health condition. You can propose one change or several and say you are open to alternatives.
- Share medical details with care. Decide how much to disclose at the start. The rules on what an employer may ask for are set out in the next section.
- Ask for a reply by a date. If timing is urgent, for example because of a scheduled treatment, say so.
- Keep copies. Save your request, the replies, and notes of any meetings, including who attended and what was said.
- Respond to follow-up questions. Answer requests for information promptly, and if an alternative is offered, say whether it would work and why.
The last step has a legal side. Under the State regulation, the employee has to cooperate in the process, and under the NYSHRL the employee must cooperate in providing medical or other information that is necessary to verify the disability or to consider the accommodation.[2] Under the NYCHRL, the Commission says both parties must engage in good faith: a person cannot simply reject a potential accommodation that would be sufficient to meet their needs because it is not the one they prefer.[14]
What medical information can the employer ask for?
Each law lets an employer ask for some support for a request and limits how far it can go.
| Law | What the employer may ask | Confidentiality |
|---|---|---|
| Federal (ADA) | An employer may not require a medical examination or ask an employee whether they have a disability, or about its nature or severity, unless the examination or inquiry is shown to be job-related and consistent with business necessity.[15] | Medical information is kept on separate forms, in separate medical files, and treated as a confidential medical record; supervisors may be told about necessary work restrictions and accommodations.[16][15] |
| New York State (NYSHRL) | Medical or other information that is necessary to verify the existence of the disability or to consider the accommodation. The regulation says the employer has the duty to clearly request any documentation that is needed.[2] | The employee has a right to have the medical information kept confidential.[2] |
| New York City (NYCHRL) | According to the Commission, when the need is not readily apparent: documentation, such as a health professional's note, sufficient to substantiate the disability, the functional limitation and how the accommodation addresses it. The employer cannot require a specific type or form of documentation and may not ask for unrelated documentation such as complete medical records.[4] | Any information or documentation shared must be kept confidential.[4] |
Two further points come from the NYC Commission's December 2025 guidance. Unless the exact diagnosis is necessary to determine what accommodation may be needed, an employer covered by the NYCHRL cannot require that the specific disability or diagnosis be disclosed. And if the documentation seems insufficient, the employer should ask for more rather than reject the request.[4] For medical questions outside the accommodation setting, see can my employer ask about my health or require a medical exam.
What should happen after you ask?
A request is supposed to start an exchange. Under the federal ADA, the EEOC regulation describes an informal, interactive process to identify the precise limitations and the potential accommodations.[17] Under the NYSHRL, the Court of Appeals has said an employer generally cannot win summary judgment unless it shows it engaged in a good-faith interactive process about the requested accommodation.[18] Under the NYCHRL, the employer has to engage in a cooperative dialogue within a reasonable time and, at the end, give the person a written final determination identifying any accommodation granted or denied.[3][19]
The employer may offer something different from what you asked for. The State regulation gives the employer the right to select which reasonable accommodation is provided, so long as it is effective in meeting the need.[20] The page on the interactive process and the cooperative dialogue explains each layer's rules, and undue hardship explains when an employer may say no.
Are you protected for asking?
The NYSHRL and the NYCHRL each say so in express terms. The NYSHRL makes it unlawful to retaliate against a person because the person requested a reasonable accommodation. That clause was added by a law signed on December 5, 2025, which took effect immediately, applies to actions filed on or after that date, and states that it clarifies existing law.[5] Material written before December 2025 will not reflect that clause.[21] The NYCHRL has listed a request for a reasonable accommodation among its protected activities since November 11, 2019.[6][22]
Under federal law, the ADA prohibits discrimination against a person who opposed an act the ADA makes unlawful or took part in an ADA proceeding, and separately makes it unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten or interfere with anyone exercising ADA rights.[23][24] See protected activity: what you are protected for doing and what counts as retaliation.
For managers and HR staff
Under the State regulation, the employer's duty to consider accommodation begins once the need is known or requested, and it is the employer's job to ask clearly for any documentation it needs.[2] Under the NYCHRL, the Commission says it will consider whether the employer has a policy informing employees how to request accommodations and whether it responded in a timely manner in light of the urgency and reasonableness of the request.[14] The NYCHRL requires a written final determination that identifies any accommodation granted as well as any accommodation denied.[19] See what the law expects of managers and small employers.
If the request is denied or ignored
Filing periods differ by law and by forum, so the date of a denial is worth writing down. A federal ADA charge is filed with the EEOC within 300 days in New York.[25][26] A complaint to the State Division of Human Rights is due within three years for claims arising on or after February 15, 2024, and a complaint to the NYC Commission on Human Rights within one year.[27][28][29] The full set of periods is in every deadline in one table, and the reasonable accommodation page explains what an employer does and does not have to provide.
Common questions
Does an accommodation request have to be in writing?
EEOC guidance on the federal ADA says a person may ask in plain English and does not have to use any particular phrase.[1] The New York City Human Rights Law defines the cooperative dialogue as a written or oral dialogue.[30] As a practical matter, a dated written request leaves a record of what was asked and when.
Do I have to say "ADA" or "reasonable accommodation" when I ask?
No, according to EEOC guidance on the federal ADA: the person need not mention the ADA or use the phrase "reasonable accommodation," but has to let the employer know that an adjustment or change at work is needed for a reason related to a medical condition.[1] The guidance carries the EEOC's disclaimer that its contents do not have the force and effect of law.[31]
Can my employer ask for a doctor's note?
Often, yes. Under the New York State Human Rights Law, the employee must cooperate in providing medical or other information that is necessary to verify the disability or to consider the accommodation.[2] In New York City, the Commission says that when the need is not readily apparent an employer may ask for documentation sufficient to substantiate the disability, the functional limitation and how the accommodation addresses it.[4]
Do I have to tell my employer my diagnosis?
Under the New York City Human Rights Law, the Commission says that unless the exact diagnosis is necessary to determine what accommodation may be needed, an employer cannot require that the specific disability or diagnosis be disclosed.[4] Under the New York State Human Rights Law, the duty to cooperate reaches information necessary to verify the existence of the disability or to consider the accommodation, and the employee has a right to have it kept confidential.[2]
Can I ask for an accommodation if I have had the condition for years and never asked before?
Under the New York State regulation, an employee may request an accommodation at any time, even if the condition has not changed.[2] In New York City, the Commission says an employee who chooses not to disclose a disability when the employer raises a performance concern does not waive the right to raise it later.[13]
What if my employer never answers my request?
The answer differs by law. Under the New York City Human Rights Law, refusing or failing to engage in a cooperative dialogue within a reasonable time is itself an unlawful discriminatory practice, and the Commission says an indeterminate delay may have the same effect as an outright denial.[3][32] Under the federal ADA, the Second Circuit has said a failure to engage in an interactive process is not a claim by itself without evidence that accommodation was possible.[33]
Sources
- EEOC, Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship under the ADA, No. 915.002 (Oct. 17, 2002), "Requesting Reasonable Accommodation" — U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- 9 NYCRR § 466.11(j)(4)–(5), (k)(1)–(5); N.Y. Exec. Law § 296(3)(d) — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107(28)(a) — New York City Commission on Human Rights
- CCHR Disability Guidance (Dec. 2025) pp. 39–40 — City of New York
- N.Y. Exec. Law § 296(7); L. 2025, ch. 600, §§ 1–4 — New York State Senate, Laws of New York
- N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107(7). — New York City Commission on Human Rights
- N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107(15)(a) — New York City Commission on Human Rights
- 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(5)(A)–(B) — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Brady v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 531 F.3d 127, 135 (2d Cir. 2008) — static.case.law
- N.Y. Exec. Law §§ 296(3)(a), 292(21-e) — New York State Senate, Laws of New York
- 42 U.S.C. § 12201(h); 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(o)(4) — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- 42 U.S.C. § 12201(d), (h); Pub. L. 110-325, §§ 6(a), 8 — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- CCHR Disability Guidance (Dec. 2025) pp. 31–32 — City of New York
- NYC Commission on Human Rights, Legal Enforcement Guidance on Discrimination on the Basis of Disability (Dec. 2025), pp. 33–35 — City of New York
- 42 U.S.C. § 12112(d)(4)(A)–(C) — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- 42 U.S.C. § 12112(d)(3) — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(o)(3) — Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
- Jacobsen v. New York City Health & Hosps. Corp., 22 N.Y.3d 824, 827, 837–38 (2014) — static.case.law
- N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107(28)(d), (e), (f) — New York City Commission on Human Rights
- 9 NYCRR § 466.11(j)(6), (k)(5) — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- L. 2025, ch. 600, §§ 2–4 (amending N.Y. Exec. Law § 296(7)) — New York State Senate, Laws of New York
- N.Y.C. Local Law 129 of 2019; N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107(7)(v) — New York City Commission on Human Rights
- 42 U.S.C. § 12203(a) — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- 42 U.S.C. § 12203(b); EEOC Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation § III (2016) — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- EEOC, New York District Office, "Timeliness" (read 5 Oct 2026) — U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- 42 U.S.C. § 12117(a) (incorporating 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5) — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- N.Y. Exec. Law § 297(5) — New York State Senate, Laws of New York
- L. 2023, ch. 656, §§ 1–2 — New York State Senate, Laws of New York
- N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-109(e). — New York City Commission on Human Rights
- N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-102 (definition of "Cooperative dialogue") — New York City Commission on Human Rights
- EEOC, Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship under the ADA, No. 915.002 (Oct. 17, 2002), "Disclaimer" — U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- CCHR Disability Guidance (Dec. 2025) pp. 35–36 — City of New York
- McBride v. BIC Consumer Prods. Mfg. Co., 583 F.3d 92, 100 (2d Cir. 2009) — static.case.law