Your employer can fire you if working overtime is an essential function of the job that you can't do without reasonable accommodations.
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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal statute that protects employees with disabilities from discrimination in the workplace and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations that allow disabled workers to do their jobs. While this law is comprehensive, applying to most employers and employees with disabilities, there are some limits to its reach.
Your boss may be able to fire you, for example, if you're unable to work overtime—even with accommodations—and the overtime is considered an essential function of your job. If you were fired because you weren’t able to work overtime due to a disability, it’s important to learn some basics about the ADA, such as what constitutes a reasonable accommodation and which duties are considered essential functions of a job.
Who Is Considered Disabled Under the ADA?
According to the ADA, you have a disability when you have a medical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. (42 U.S.C. § 12102 (2026).) Major life activities cover a wide range of basic physical, emotional, and cognitive tasks, such as standing, walking, using your hands, reading, learning, speaking, and concentrating. The normal operation of your organs or body systems are also considered major life activities.
The ADA definition of disability focuses more on how your impairment affects your daily routine than it does on your specific diagnosis. Somebody with astigmatism, for example, might wear corrective lenses in order to read, but is otherwise able to get dressed, go grocery shopping, and work full-time without assistance. But somebody who is legally blind may find these activities much more difficult, and is likely to be considered disabled under the ADA.
When Do Employers Have to Accommodate Your Disability?
The ADA applies to any “industry affecting commerce” that has at least 15 employees and is in operation for a certain amount of time, so if your employer doesn’t match that description, ADA protections won’t apply. But as long as your place of employment is covered by the ADA, your employer is legally required to provide reasonable accommodations to all qualified individuals with disabilities, as long as it doesn’t create an “undue hardship,” meaning a significant difficulty or expense. (42 U.S.C. §§ 12111(5), (8), (10) (2026).)
You’re considered a qualified individual if you can perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation. (42 U.S.C. § 12111(9) (2026). Essential functions are basic job duties, the exact nature of which will vary depending on the type of job you have. This is where the question of overtime gets sticky. Is it ever “essential” to perform a job?
When Is Overtime an Essential Job Function?
Some jobs inherently require a measure of flexibility or being “on-call” above and beyond the typical eight-hour workday. Courts evaluate whether mandatory overtime is an essential function on a case-by-case basis, giving substantial weight to the employer's judgment. In Davis v. Florida Power & Light Co., 205 F.3d 1301 (11th Cir. 2000), the court rejected an argument that overtime could never be an essential function of a job, and found that when working for an electric utility where same-day service and connection may be required, overtime can be considered an essential function of the position.
Courts have found that working overtime can be an essential job function when the industry is subject to fluctuating demands, when scheduling guidelines explicitly mandate overtime, or when the structure of the job doesn’t lend itself to a consistent 40-hour workweek and all employees in similar jobs consistently work overtime. (See Agee v. Mercedes-Benz U.S. Int'l, Inc., 646 Fed. Appx. 870 (11th Cir. 2016); McNeil v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 936 F.3d 786 (8th Cir. 2019); and Davis v. Microsoft Corp., 109 Wn. App. 884 (2002), finding that overtime was an essential function of automotive production, railroad call dispatcher, and systems engineer, respectively)
If working overtime is not an essential job function, then employers must provide reasonable accommodations for disabled employees who can’t work overtime. In the above example, say Carl’s employer didn’t have an overtime requirement, other employees regularly worked less than 12 hour days, and other drivers were available to cover for Carl’s time off. In that case, a court is less likely to find that overtime is an essential function of the delivery job, and Carl may be able to successfully win a disability discrimination claim against his employer.
Examples of Reasonable Accommodations
One important thing to keep in mind is that employers can’t fire you based on your disability as long as you can perform the essential functions of the job with reasonable accommodations. Reasonable accommodations can include modifications to the work environment or changes to your job schedule. For example, if overtime is an essential function of your work that you’re unable to perform at the current branch of your company, but that you’re able to do at a different location, a branch transfer may be seen as a reasonable accommodation.
Employers are required to engage in a “flexible, interactive process” when determining which accommodations can be made. (29 C.F.R. § 1630 (o)(3) (2026).) Remember that reasonable accommodations can’t impose an undue hardship on the employer, so accommodations that are excessively cost-prohibitive or change the fundamental nature of the business aren’t likely to be granted. The burden of proving that an accommodation is an undue hardship is on the employer, however, and the standard for undue hardship is high, so you can (and should) work creatively with your employer to arrive at a reasonable solution for both parties.
Taking Time Off Work Under the ADA vs. FMLA
Time off work can also be considered a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. But taking a lot of time off may sometimes be better approached under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) than the ADA. The FMLA requires covered employers to provide eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a serious health condition.
Under the FMLA, you can take intermittent time off if needed, meaning you can take your leave in increments of a few hours per day until you hit the 12 week maximum. This can be useful for people who need a temporarily reduced schedule, including overtime. But when your leave is up, you’ll need to be ready to return to your regular schedule.
Once you’re ready to begin working your normal schedule again (or return to work after taking full-time FMLA leave), your employer can require a doctor's note removing your work restrictions and okaying your return. Your employer can also require you to undergo a medical examination (called a "fitness-for-duty" exam) to show that you can safely work your normal schedule.
Get Help Enforcing Your Rights
If your employer rejected your request for reasonable accommodation, didn’t let you take all the FMLA leave you were entitled to, or wrongfully terminated you because you couldn’t work overtime due to a disability, consider contacting a disability discrimination lawyer. ADA and FMLA requirements can be complicated, and an attorney can help explain what your rights are under these laws (and any related state or local laws that provide additional protections), negotiate with your employer, and represent you in an administrative charge or lawsuit, if necessary.