Does my employer have to pay for my accommodation?

The default: the employer pays

Under the ADA, a covered employer must provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities — and that's the employer's cost to bear. You're not expected to fund your own accommodation. (EEOC Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation.)

Most accommodations are low- or no-cost

This is the part that surprises people: the Job Accommodation Network's long-running employer surveys consistently find that about half of accommodations cost nothing at all, and most of the rest are a modest one-time expense. A flexible schedule, a different chair, software settings, a quiet workspace — these are the norm, not five-figure retrofits.

"Undue hardship" — the only real exception

An employer can decline an accommodation that would be a significant difficulty or expense, judged against its size, resources, and structure. For a large employer, cost alone rarely clears this bar — and the analysis must account for tax credits and outside funding (such as state vocational rehabilitation), which can cover or offset the cost.

If your employer raises cost

• They must consider lower-cost effective alternatives before refusing outright.
• You can help by proposing specific, low-cost options — the reference is full of them.
• Point to external funding: state vocational rehabilitation, tax incentives, and free resources like JAN.