Questions and Answers: Enforcement Guidance on Disability-Related Inquiries and Medical Examinations of Employees Under the ADA

INTRODUCTION

What does this Guidance address?

• The Guidance explains the ADA's rules concerning when employers may and may not obtain medical information about their employees.

Why did the EEOC issue this Guidance?

• In October 1995, the EEOC issued enforcement guidance explaining the ADA's rules concerning when an employer may and may not make disability-related inquiries and require medical examinations of applicants. Since that time, we have had many inquiries from EEOC investigators and attorneys in the field, employers, and employees about how the law applies with respect to people who are already working. This Guidance is intended to answer some of the most frequently-asked questions we have received.

To whom does the Guidance apply?

• The Guidance applies to private and to state and local government employers with fifteen or more employees. Federal sector employers are also covered by the Guidance, as the result of the 1992 amendments to the Rehabilitation Act.
• The ADA's requirements regarding disability-related inquiries and medical examinations apply to all of the employees of a covered employer, whether or not they have disabilities.