It has always been my impression that there was a uniform definition. It has been my understanding that a reasonable accomodation did not inflict undo financial hardship on the employer. To me this allows the employer to assess the needed accomodations, but still retains the right to determine if those accomodations are appropriate.

It seems that it would be virtually impossible to develop a truly uniform definition of what constitutes reasonable accommodation considering the incalculable number of situations the law could be applied to.

The precise verbiage from Title I of the ADA regarding reasonable accommodations employers are required to make to avoid discrimination states, "…includes not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability who is an applicant or employee, unless such covered entity can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose undue hardship on the operation of the business." - ADA, Public Law 101-336, Section 102 (b)(5)(A)

Having had previous experience working with a seasoned labor relations specialist on what constitutes "reasonable accommodations" and "undue hardship", every case is viewed in light of established legal precedence to determine whether or not the proposed accommodations are reasonable and/or impose undue hardship.

It would be very difficult to have a uniform definition of reasonable accomodation in ADA. As time moves forward, what is "unreasonable" several years ago may be "reasonble" today. A good example is the repetitive stress injury that many healthcare workers get today. As we continue to increase use of computers, I have seen staff with severe carpal tunnel syndrome that has required significant accomodations which can be quite costly. This has encouraged the facility to implement training programs to prevent these injuries. Thus, a uniform defintion may be too broad where it becomes a question whether the facility is facing an undue hardship. Reasonable accomodation needs to be directly attributable to the cause of the problem and substantiated.