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Last Modified on Sep 20, 2026
If a doctor places you under work restrictions in California, your employer may be required to explore reasonable accommodations that allow you to keep working. That could include modified duties, schedule changes, medical leave, equipment, or another available position.
An employer does not have to grant every request, but it generally cannot dismiss your restrictions without engaging in a good-faith interactive process.
“A work restriction is not the same thing as being unable to work. Employers should be looking at what an employee can still do and whether there is a reasonable way to keep that person working.”
— Jeffrey Fulton, Fulton Law Corporation
For employees in Sacramento, Roseville, and throughout Northern California, understanding that distinction can help identify when an accommodation issue may have crossed into disability discrimination.
What Are Work Restrictions?
Work restrictions describe limitations related to a medical condition or disability. Depending on the employee and the job, a healthcare provider might recommend:
- Reduced or modified hours
- Limits on lifting, standing, sitting, or other physical tasks
- Temporary changes in job duties
- Additional breaks
- Medical leave
- Changes to equipment or the workspace
The restriction itself does not determine what an employer must ultimately provide. The real question is whether there is a reasonable accommodation that allows the employee to perform the essential functions of the position.
Your Employer Is Supposed to Have a Conversation With You
Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, employers generally must provide reasonable accommodations for qualifying physical or mental disabilities unless doing so would create an undue hardship.
Employers are also expected to engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process when an employee requests an accommodation or when the need for one becomes known.
That process should involve an actual conversation about the employee’s limitations, the requirements of the job, and possible ways to address the problem. An employer should not simply look at a doctor’s restrictions and conclude that the employee can no longer work.
What Can a Reasonable Accommodation Look Like?
There is no single accommodation that works for every employee or every job.
Depending on the circumstances, reasonable accommodations may include modifying certain duties, adjusting a schedule, providing equipment, changing a workspace, allowing medical leave, or considering reassignment to another available position.
“The accommodation process should be a problem-solving process. An employer does not necessarily have to give an employee exactly what they ask for, but it should take the request seriously and consider workable alternatives.”
— Jeffrey Fulton, Fulton Law Corporation
When an Employer’s Response Deserves a Closer Evaluation.
A medical restriction does not mean that every requested accommodation must be approved. Employers may consider whether an accommodation would be effective and whether it would create an undue hardship. But certain responses can raise concerns.
For example, an employee may want to look more closely at what happened if an employer:
- Refuses to discuss possible accommodations
- Immediately tells the employee to take leave
- Insists the employee must be completely healed before returning
- Rejects a doctor’s restrictions without discussing alternatives
- Removes significant responsibilities after learning about a disability
- Terminates the employee shortly after restrictions are provided
- Claims there is no available work without seriously exploring possible accommodations
None of these facts automatically proves disability discrimination. The employer’s explanation, the employee’s restrictions, the essential functions of the position, previous performance, timing, and communications between the parties can all matter.
What If You Can No Longer Perform Your Current Job?
Sometimes an employee’s restrictions make it impossible to perform the essential functions of the current position, even with accommodation.
In some circumstances, reassignment to a vacant position for which the employee is qualified may be considered as a reasonable accommodation. An employer generally does not have to create a new position, remove another employee, or provide a promotion, but an existing vacancy may need to be considered.
This is one reason the interactive process matters. A quick “we can’t accommodate that” may not answer the full question.
Keep a Record of What Happens Next
If a disagreement develops over work restrictions, keep the documents that show what happened.
That may include doctor’s notes, accommodation requests, emails with HR or management, responses from the employer, performance evaluations, leave paperwork, and notices involving changes to your position.
The sequence of events can become especially important if your treatment changes after you request an accommodation or disclose a disability.
Request a Confidential Disability Discrimination Case Review
Our disability discrimination attorney represents employees in serious employment disputes throughout the Sacramento area and California.
The firm looks closely at what actually happened: what restrictions were provided, what the employee requested, how the employer responded, and whether the accommodation process was handled as the law requires. Contact Fulton Law Corporation today to speak to a trusted California disability discrimination attorney.
