ADA Accommodation Benchmarking Study
Key Findings
While employers are understandably becoming increasingly concerned about the direct and indirect costs associated
with unplanned absence, until now there has been no effective way to benchmark their organization in order to
inform important organizational decisions regarding ADA accommodations. This was precisely the impetus for
Matrix’s new Absence Management Inaugural Benchmark Analysis – to help employers understand where they
stand in the continuum of being fully prepared to effectively deal with ADA accommodations and bring clarity to
some of the most pressing and complex challenges they face.
Pay as much attention to “events” as
“accommodations”
Strive for better tracking and reporting of “non-leave” accommodations
While accommodation requests are an important metric,
a far more meaningful measure for employers to track is
the incidence of ADA events that occur. This is because a
single precipitating event can create the need for multiple
accommodations (e.g., a single injury may necessitate a
short-term leave followed by one or more subsequent at
work accommodations). Our initial benchmarking analysis
shows the following averages:
Organizations tend to vastly underestimate their volume
of non-leave accommodations since the majority of these
situations are simply handled at the manager or supervisor
level as one-offs and never reported. Our research, however,
our research suggests that non-leave accommodations
account for nearly half of all ADA accommodations:
2.47/100
Avg. Overall
Event Incidence
Accommodations
(Actual – not projected)
1.79
Avg.
# of
Leave ADA
Accommodations
Non-Leave ADA
per Event
48%
52%
Leave ADA
Non-Leave ADA
49%
48%
52%
51%
Study Goals
Define a set of key metrics to evaluate an ADA
management program
Provide the first broad market ADA assessment
Leave ADA
benchmarks
Non-Leave ADA
Determine the impact of age and gender on volume/
type of accommodation requests
Analyze accommodations by time periods to
identify trends and variability over time
Quantify average duration of different
accommodation requests and identify patterns
Analyze the relationship between FMLA incidence
and ADA leave requests
1%
Compare your percentages and durations of non-leave types
Our research indicates that physical, environmental and work schedule alterations comprise
almost the entirety of non-leave accommodations for most organizations. And on average,
the duration for these accommodations range from a low of six weeks for physical
accommodations to a high of ten weeks for environmental accommodations.
Percentages of Non-Leave
Accommodation
Duration of Non-Leave Accommodation
Types (Actual – not projected)
Environmental
3% 3%
69
Job Function
47
42
Physical
21% 21%
49%49%
Work Schedule
59
27%27%
50
Leave
0
Physical
Environmental
Physical
Environmental
WorkWork
Schedule
Function
Schedule Job Job
Function
Cognitive
Cognitive
To get a complimentary
copy of our complete
Bringing Clarity to
ADA Accommodation
Management inaugural
benchmark analysis or
to learn more about how
we can help you manage
your benefits programs
more efficiently, contact
your Reliance Standard
representative.
15
30
45
60
75
Calendar Days
(Cognitive excluded due to sample size)
An aging workforce means increasing ADA accommodations
The data is unequivocal. From a workplace management perspective, employers need to
understand what to expect as far as employee productivity given the age demographics of
their workforce and prepare for a dramatic increase in ADA requests and accommodations
if they wish to maintain a productive workforce.
Initial Request for Accommodation by Age Group
12
2
Fifties
Forties
3
3
7
61
Sixties
Thirties
Twenties
Below Twenties
Average Count of Events per 100 Population
Rejected and rescinded requests rise with a rigorous review process
While outcomes vary considerably by accommodation type, firms with trusted experts to
help guide detailed discussions with employees, reviews of pertinent medical information,
job descriptions and organizational needs should see the following average outcomes:
7 – 8%
Avg. Rejection Rate
www.reliancestandard.com
7 – 8%
Avg. Rescinded Rate
www.matrixcos.com
This information is being provided for informational or educational purposes only, and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice.
RS-2529