I have a disability and am looking for office work. What kind of accommodations can I reasonably request?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) says employers must make reasonable accommodations for employees to perform the essential functions of the job, but doesn’t say what is covered. First, you must be qualified to perform the functions of the job with or without an accommodation. If not, the employer has the right not to consider you. In addition, an employer is not required to make an accommodation that would impose “undue hardship” which is “an action requiring significant difficulty or expense.” Some reasonable accommodations include modifying work schedules or nonessential functions; acquiring or modifying equipment, or modifying training or programs. The responsibility is yours to explain what you need or to engage in a dialogue to come up with an effective accommodation. Many “Best Employer Lists” highlight employers who take great pride in providing accessibility, so do some research.

I have a disability that I did not tell my employer about. Can he fire me if he finds out? Am I obliged to tell him?

Your employer could fire you — I’ve seen employers do many such stupid things — but if he did, you would likely not have to work again for a long time because of the settlement you would receive. If things were going well before they knew you had a disability, and then suddenly you find yourself suffering adverse action (pay, promotional opportunities and so on) you would have a strong case because the ADA protects employees from discrimination. And no, you are not obliged to reveal your disability. However, if your employer is not made aware of your disability and you require an accommodation to perform your job, and your employer subsequently fires you for poor job performance, they are not violating the law, because they didn’t know and you are being judged on your job performance. So, while you are not obliged to tell your employer that you have a disability if it isn’t obvious, you won’t have the rights and protections under the ADA if you don’t.

Gregory Giangrande is a chief human resources and communications officer in the media industry. Email your career questions to gotogreg@nypost.com. Follow Greg on Twitter: @greggiangrande. His “Go to Greg” podcast series is available on iTunes.