I’m not a doctor, so how do I know how to reasonably accommodate an employee under disability discrimination laws?

The federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and California's Fair Employment and Housing Act both require employers to engage in a good-faith, interactive process to determine reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities.

The interactive process means a timely, good faith communication between the employer and the employee to explore whether the applicant or employee needs reasonable accommodation for a disability to perform the essential functions of the job and, if so, how the person can be reasonably accommodated. It requires an individualized assessment of both the job at issue and the specific physical or mental limitations of the individual that are directly