Employers' Guide to Including Employees with Disabilities in Emergency Evacuation Plans

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

Although employers are not required to have emergency evacuation plans under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), if employers covered by the ADA opt to have such plans they are required to include people with disabilities. Further, employers who do not have emergency evacuation plans may nonetheless have to address emergency evacuation for employees with disabilities¹ as a reasonable accommodation under Title I of the ADA.² In addition, employers in certain industries may have obligations to develop emergency evacuation plans under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act)³ or under state and local law.

Whether mandatory or voluntary, many employers decide to develop emergency evacuation plans. The following provides steps for including employees with disabilities in those plans.

¹ Title I of the ADA applies to private employers with 15 or more employees, state and local government employers, employment agencies, labor unions, and joint labor-management committees. Federal employers are covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Both laws prohibit employers from discriminating against people with disabilities in regard to any employment practices or terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.

² Title I of the ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to the known limitations of employees with disabilities. For additional information on reasonable accommodation, see Enforcement Guidance: Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the ADA at http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/accommodation.html.

³ The OSH Act does not require that all employers have emergency action plans; however, the Act does require that employers from particular industries have emergency action plans (e.g., metal, chemical, and grain handling facilities). Employers must check particular industry codes to see if emergency action plans are required and what elements are necessary.