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Raynaud's Disease

Accommodation and Compliance: Raynaud's Disease

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About Raynaud's Disease

Raynaud’s phenomenon is a rare condition that when exposed to cold temperatures or emotional stress, it causes the blood vessels to narrow resulting in numbness, tingling, and/or burning in one’s extremities. Most often it will affect a person’s fingers and toes, but can also affect the nose, ears, and lips. Minor fluctuations in temperature can cause people to have flare-ups. 

There are two main types of Raynaud’s, primary being a standalone disease and the cause is unknown. Secondary is known as Raynaud’s phenomenon and/or syndrome often stemming from a known primary disease, often lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. 
 

Raynaud's Disease and the Americans with Disabilities Act

The ADA does not contain a definitive list of medical conditions that constitute disabilities. Instead, the ADA defines a person with a disability as someone who (1) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more "major life activities," (2) has a record of such an impairment, or (3) is regarded as having such an impairment. For more information about how to determine whether a person has a disability under the ADA, see How to Determine Whether a Person Has a Disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA).

Accommodating Employees with Raynaud's Disease

People with limitations from Raynaud's phenomenon may develop some of the limitations discussed below, but seldom develop all of them. Also, the degree of limitation will vary among individuals. Be aware that not all people who are aging will need accommodations to perform their jobs and many others may only need a few accommodations. The following is only a sample of the possibilities available. Numerous other accommodation solutions may exist.

Questions to Consider:

  1. What limitations is the employee experiencing?
  2. How do these limitations affect the employee and the employee’s job performance?
  3. What specific job tasks are problematic as a result of these limitations?
  4. What accommodations are available to reduce or eliminate these problems? Are all possible resources being used to determine possible accommodations?
  5. Once accommodations are in place, would it be useful to meet with the employee to evaluate the effectiveness of the accommodations and to determine whether additional accommodations are needed?
  6. Do supervisory personnel and employees need training?

Accommodation Ideas:

Situations and Solutions:

The following situations and solutions are real-life examples of accommodations that were made by JAN customers. Because accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis, these examples may not be effective for every workplace but give you an idea about the types of accommodations that are possible.

Events Regarding Raynaud's Disease