ADA Accommodation Requests

ADA Reasonable Accommodations for Mental Health

A fully-written letter you can copy or download. Below the letter we explain why it is written the way it is, the mistakes most people make, and the legal authorities the language invokes.

The letter

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To: HR at [Employer Name]
From: [Your Full Name]
Date: [Today's Date]
Subject: Request for Reasonable Accommodation under the ADA

Dear [HR Contact Name],

I am writing to request reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. I can perform the essential functions of my job as [Your Job Title] and am asking for adjustments that will help me continue to do so. Please consider this a request to begin the interactive process.

The accommodations I am asking for are:

1. A flexible start time of up to sixty minutes, to account for mornings when medication side effects or sleep disruption make my usual start time difficult. I will be available remotely for any meetings scheduled before my usual start time.

2. A consistent weekly therapy appointment during business hours (currently [Day] at [Time]), with schedule flexibility so I can make up the time later that day or week.

3. A quiet space, or permission to use noise-canceling headphones during focus work. High-stimulation environments make symptoms harder to manage.

4. Written communication from my supervisor for performance expectations, changes in priorities, or negative feedback, instead of verbal-only delivery. Written instructions are easier to act on during symptomatic periods.

5. At least one business day of advance notice for non-routine meetings, so I can prepare.

These requests are based on my provider's recommendations. I am happy to provide a letter from my doctor or therapist describing the functional limitations the accommodations are meant to address. I do not need to share a specific diagnosis.

I understand you can choose among accommodations that work. I am happy to discuss alternatives that address the same needs. Please propose a meeting within ten business days.

Thank you,

[Your Full Name]
[Your Work Email]
[Your Phone Number]

Replace every bracketed prompt with your own information before sending. Everything in brackets is for you. Everything outside brackets is the letter.

Before you send this

Many employers do not handle FMLA paperwork themselves. They hand it off to a third-party administrator, usually called a TPA. A TPA is a leave-management vendor, like Sedgwick, Unum, Lincoln, or The Hartford, that your employer pays to process claims. TPAs have an incentive to close claims quickly, and they use a predictable set of tactics to push employees into giving up more than the law actually requires. Watch for these:

Blanket HIPAA authorization forms. These are not required for FMLA. The WH-380-E certification is. A broad HIPAA release can pull therapy notes, substance use records, and unrelated medical history into a corporate vendor's database.
Demands for records beyond the WH-380-E. The law limits what your employer or its TPA can require to what is necessary to determine FMLA eligibility. You are not obligated to provide a full chart.
Artificial delays that trip deadlines. If the TPA says your certification is incomplete, they must tell you in writing exactly what is missing and give you seven calendar days to fix it. Silence is not a legal denial.
Direct calls to your healthcare provider. TPA claim examiners cannot call your provider for general information. Contact for clarification must be routed through a healthcare professional designated by the employer.
Pressure to use an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) instead of accommodations. An EAP is a short-term counseling benefit your employer funds, usually limited to three to eight sessions. An EAP referral is not a response to an ADA accommodation request, and engaging with the EAP can muddy your record.

Watch out for the sign-up process. HR typically sends you to a TPA website to register and "start your claim." Those sign-up flows are where most of the traps live: pre-checked HIPAA authorization boxes, fields asking you to enter your diagnosis, current medications, symptoms, or the contact information for your treating providers. None of that is required to open an FMLA claim. Fill in only the administrative fields (name, employee ID, employer, dates) and leave clinical fields blank.

If the portal will not let you proceed without medical entries, or if anything about the process feels coercive, raise the concern in writing. A short email to HR and the TPA is enough: say that the portal appears to be asking for information that goes beyond what the FMLA certification requires, that you understand the employer's information rights are limited to what is necessary to determine FMLA eligibility, and that you would like to submit your certification through an alternative channel (email or fax to the TPA directly, with your provider sending the completed WH-380-E to that address). Wait for a written response. Only use the alternative if HR or the TPA agrees. Putting the concern in writing either gets you the alternative or creates a paper trail that protects you if the claim is later denied or delayed.

If any of this is happening, read Protecting Your Medical Records, FMLA and HIPAA Privacy Rights, or use the letter that limits records release to a TPA. If you need to talk to someone free of charge, see our list of free legal helplines and crisis lines.

Before you edit it

Keep these lines.

Change the tone, the names, and the details to fit your situation. These particular sentences are doing the legal work, and the letter gets weaker without them.

I can perform the essential functions of my job as [Your Job Title] and am asking for adjustments that will help me continue to do so.
Do not cut this one. The ADA protects a 'qualified individual', meaning someone who can perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation (42 U.S.C. 12111(8)). A letter that leads with everything you cannot do, and never says this, can read as a concession that you are not qualified. Say it first and plainly.
Please consider this a request to begin the interactive process.
This is the trigger. Once the employer knows you are requesting an accommodation for a medical condition, 29 C.F.R. 1630.2(o)(3) contemplates an informal, interactive process to identify one. You do not have to use the words 'ADA' or 'reasonable accommodation' for the duty to attach, but saying them removes the argument.
I do not need to share a specific diagnosis.
An employer may request documentation of the disability and the need for accommodation, but the inquiry has to be limited to that. Stating the limit up front is easier than clawing information back after you have handed it over.
I understand you can choose among accommodations that work. I am happy to discuss alternatives that address the same needs.
The employer gets to pick among effective accommodations, so insisting on one specific fix is what stalls these requests. This sentence puts your good faith on the record, which matters because the party who breaks off the interactive process is usually the one who loses.

When to use this letter

You are able to do your job but need specific adjustments to work sustainably with a mental health condition. You are asking for reasonable accommodations under the ADA, not for leave. You want your employer to engage in the interactive process.

The ADA is not just for people on leave. It is a tool to adjust how the work gets done so that a qualified employee with a disability can keep doing it. This letter puts your employer on notice that you have a disability and that you are requesting accommodations, which starts the interactive process under 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(o)(3).

You do not need to use the words 'reasonable accommodation' or 'ADA' to invoke these rights. Using them in writing creates a clean paper trail and makes it harder for an employer to later claim they did not know you were asking.

How to send it

Email to HR, not to your supervisor. Keep the request and any reply in one thread so the sequence of dates is self-evident later, and save a dated copy outside the work system.

Why the letter is written this way

Each paragraph is doing specific legal work.

01
Why lead with essential functions
The ADA only protects a 'qualified individual,' meaning someone who can perform the essential functions of the job with or without accommodation (42 U.S.C. § 12111(8)). Opening by affirming that you can perform essentials removes one of the employer's most common defenses at the start.
02
Why number the specific accommodations
A clear numbered list creates discrete items the employer must respond to. If HR later says 'we considered your request,' you can ask 'which of the items, specifically?' Vague accommodation asks invite vague denials.
03
Why name the interactive process regulation
29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(o)(3) obligates the employer to engage in an informal interactive process. Naming this in writing is what converts 'I asked HR for something' into 'I invoked the interactive process.' Courts treat the difference as meaningful when evaluating whether the employer acted in good faith.
04
Why offer to provide documentation without disclosing a diagnosis
Under 29 C.F.R. § 1630.14(c), medical documentation is limited to what is necessary to establish a disability and the need for accommodation. You do not need to reveal your specific diagnosis. A letter from your doctor or therapist describing functional limitations is enough.
05
Why acknowledge the employer's choice of accommodation
29 C.F.R. § 1630.9 gives the employer discretion to choose among effective alternatives. Acknowledging this in writing signals good faith and makes an employer denial on 'preference' grounds look unreasonable in contrast.

Don't do this

The mistakes that undo the letter.

01Asking for 'whatever you can do' instead of specific items. Vagueness makes denial easy and proof of failure-to-accommodate difficult.
02Disclosing a specific diagnosis to justify the request. You only need to establish that you have a qualifying disability and that the accommodations address functional limitations.
03Waiting until after a performance review to make the request. Requests made after discipline look defensive. A request made before discipline is cleaner evidence of good faith.
04Accepting a verbal 'sure, we can work something out' without a written accommodation agreement. Verbal accommodations evaporate with turnover. Ask for confirmation in writing.
05Submitting the request only to a supervisor. Supervisors can trigger the interactive process, but HR is the safer venue because the request enters the official record immediately.
06Skipping a deadline. Asking for a response by a specific date (for example, ten business days) creates a benchmark for failure-to-engage in the interactive process under Cowell v. Illinois Dep't of Human Services, 2024 WL 551891 (S.D. Ill. Feb. 12, 2024).

What happens next

The replies you should expect.

HR asks for medical documentation: That is generally allowed when the disability and the need are not obvious. What is not allowed is an open-ended demand for your full medical file. Ask them to put in writing exactly what they need, then have your provider answer that and nothing more.
You are offered one accommodation instead of the five you asked for: Not a denial. The employer may choose among effective options. The question to ask in writing is whether the single accommodation addresses each functional limitation the others were meant to cover, and to name the ones it does not.
You are referred to the EAP: An EAP referral is not a response to an accommodation request and does not satisfy the interactive process. There is a separate letter on this site for exactly that situation.
Nothing happens at all: Delay is the most common form of denial because it is the hardest to name. Once your ten business days pass, send the follow-up letter. An unreasonable delay in responding can itself be a failure to accommodate.

Legal authorities cited

The language invokes real regulations.

42 U.S.C. § 12111(8): Definition of qualified individual
42 U.S.C. § 12112: ADA Title I discrimination prohibition
42 U.S.C. § 12112(d)(3)(B): Confidentiality of medical information
29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(o)(3): Interactive process
29 C.F.R. § 1630.9: Employer's choice among effective accommodations
29 C.F.R. § 1630.14(c): Medical examinations and inquiries
EEOC Enforcement Guidance No. 915.002: No magic words rule

Keep reading

Where to go next.

LeaveRights is a free educational tool and does not provide legal advice. No data is collected or stored. Information provided is for general guidance only. Consult a qualified employment attorney for advice specific to your situation.

Keep these lines.

Each paragraph is doing specific legal work.

Why lead with essential functions

Why number the specific accommodations

Why name the interactive process regulation

Why offer to provide documentation without disclosing a diagnosis

Why acknowledge the employer's choice of accommodation

The mistakes that undo the letter.

The replies you should expect.

The language invokes real regulations.

Where to go next.