An employee requested to work remotely as an accommodation so they can be home with a child who is disabled. Do we have to provide this accommodation under the ADA?

Jun 3, 2025 | Employment Law, Human Resources

No, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) doesn’t require that employers provide accommodations to employees because they have a family member who is disabled. You’re only required to provide an accommodation under the ADA when the employee themselves has a qualifying disability and if doing so wouldn’t cause an undue hardship (i.e., something that would require significant difficulty or expense).

That said, if you’ve allowed other employees who do similar jobs to work remotely, you should consider doing so in this case. The ADA prohibits discrimination against an employee on the basis of being associated with someone (such as a family member) who is disabled. So, while there’s no hard and fast obligation to accommodate an employee because of their family member’s disability, it’s possible that the employee could still claim associational disability discrimination if the employer denies their accommodation request while granting the same sort of request for others.

You can reduce the likelihood of discrimination claims by treating similarly situated employees consistently and communicating the legitimate business reasons for denying a request.

This Q&A does not constitute legal advice and does not address state or local law.