Applying for Workplace Accommodations

EHA and Workplace Accommodations 

The University of Waterloo is committed to ensuring you can access and participate fully in your employment.  EHA is the centralized office for the management of workplace accommodations for all employees.  EHA is the designated office for the management of accommodation requests related to disabilities.  The term ‘disability’ covers a broad range and degree of conditions that can be permanent, temporary, episodic, and suspected, including temporary disabilities, chronic conditions, disabling illness, as well as the physical, emotional, and psychological effects of a trauma (e.g., sexual violence, geographic violence).  You will not be asked to share your experiences of racial trauma or violence – only to express the specific impacts on your workplace functioning (e.g., impacts on short-term memory, ability to focus, etc.) You should not feel pressured to disclose any information about your experiences that you do not want to. 

At Employee Health and Accommodations, we design and implement your accommodation plan by working closely with you, your Supervisor, and relevant campus partners to remove barriers and build capacity for success.  There may be times where you have information and support needs that cannot be met within the scope of this office.  In these instances, we will ensure you are informed of, and connected with, the campus resource that is best suited to meet your needs (e.g., Human Resources Partners, Conflict Management Office, UWSA, FAUW, etc).  

Who We Support 

  • Staff (including full time and contract) 

  • Faculty (including sessional instructors) 

  • Casual, Part Time, Contract Employees 

  • CUPE members  

  • Student-Staff:  Active students who may be employed by the University during their studies, including teaching or research assistantships, sessional instruction, post-doctoral fellowships, and other employment arrangements. 

  • Note: students who require academic accommodations (including course-based accommodations and accommodations for graduate milestones) should contact AccessAbility Services.  

Have questions? Contact our team: OccupationalHealth@uwaterloo.ca for support.  

Application Process

Step 1: Complete the Employee Health and Accommodations (EHA) online application to begin the process.

This will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.   If you have an EHA – Medical Disability Verification Form or alternate documentation, you will be prompted to upload it with your application.    It’s okay if you don’t have documentation at this time – apply if you believe you require workplace accommodations, and we will help guide the rest! 

Step 2: Monitor your Waterloo email for next steps. 

We will email you within the next 14 calendar days (2 weeks) to schedule your Accommodation Intake appointment, once we have reviewed your application. If you don’t use your UWaterloo email in your role at UW, no problem. We can communicate with you via a personal email address, or arrange an appointment by phone.

Step 3: Meet with EHA. 

During your appointment EHA staff will discuss your application, gather information from you about your lived experience and the barriers/challenges you are encountering in the workplace, and explore options for accommodation and accommodation-based supports.  EHA staff will speak with you about the information/documentation on file, and let you know if updated or additional information is required.  

Step 4: EHA will meet with your Supervisor. 

The appointment with your supervisor will be used to understand essential job requirements and explore possible accommodation solutions.  

Step 5: EHA will finalize the Workplace Accommodation Plan. 

The plan document will be shared with you and your supervisor for implementation.  

Workplace Accommodation Request Form

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Section 1: Employee Contact Information

Section 2: Supervisor Contact Information

Section 3: Workplace Accommodation Request Information

For example, if your request is related to a medical condition/disability/disabling condition, please describe the nature of your condition, and/or the primary symptoms you are experiencing related to your request for accommodation.  You are not required to disclose your diagnosis or any details of a traumatic event or experience.   
We invite you to think broadly - this may include core/primary job functions (such as designing and planning lectures, providing in-person client services etc), participating in training, attending mandatory workplace events, team building events or social opportunities, engaging in applications/hiring practices for a new opportunity at UW, etc. 
None Mild Moderate Severe Unable to assess or unknown at this time
Please provide any other information about your symptoms, impacts, functional limitations that Employee Health and Accommodations should consider.   Please note EHA does not require you to share the details of your traumatic experience, and does not require you to disclose your diagnosis. 
If you have available documentation, upload your completed EHA Medical Disability Verification Form or alternate documentation here. Documentation can be submitted at a later time via email to occupationalhealth@uwaterloo.ca.
Unlimited number of files can be uploaded to this field.
100 MB limit.
Allowed types: jpg, png, pdf, doc, docx, .

Following all applicable legislation and privacy standards, your information is kept confidential within the Employee Health and Accommodations (EHA) department. More information available on our Consent & Confidentiality webpage. By submitting this webform, you verify the accuracy of the information above, and you consent to the use of this information for the purposes of exploring workplace accommodations.