ADA Forms vs FMLA Forms: How to Tell What HR Sent You

You requested a workplace accommodation, or you mentioned you might need leave for a mental health reason, and now HR has sent back a stack of paperwork. Maybe it's a Department of Labor form. Maybe it's an internal company form with check-boxes. Maybe it's three different documents and you're not sure which one to deal with first.

Before you can find a provider to fill anything out, you need to know what you're looking at. ADA accommodation paperwork and FMLA leave paperwork are different legal frameworks. They ask for different information, require different provider statements, and serve different purposes. A provider qualified for one isn't automatically qualified for the other, and a service that handles one doesn't necessarily handle the other.

This guide walks through how to tell ADA forms from FMLA forms, why the distinction matters for picking a provider, what WorkWell covers, and what to do with the forms that fall outside our scope.

The 30-second version

ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act): You stay at work, with a change to your job, schedule, or environment. Common requests: remote work, flexible hours, a quieter space, a modified workload. The paperwork documents a disability and its functional limitations. For an overview of the legal framework, see the WashU-hosted resource on workplace accommodations.

FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act): You take time off, either continuous or intermittent. Up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave. The paperwork certifies a serious health condition and the medical need for leave.

You can use both. Plenty of people on intermittent FMLA also have ADA accommodations. But the forms are separate, the documentation standards are different, and they often need different providers.

What ADA paperwork looks like

ADA-related forms tend to fall into these buckets:

ADA accommodation request forms. Most employers send a follow-up form after you formally request an accommodation. They ask for the nature of the impairment, the major life activities it limits, the specific functional limitations relevant to your job, the accommodation you're requesting, and a recommended duration. The EEOC's enforcement guidance on reasonable accommodation confirms employers can ask for this documentation when the disability and need aren't obvious.

Job description acknowledgment forms tied to an ADA request. Some employers attach a list of essential job functions and ask the provider to indicate whether you can perform each one with or without accommodations. These are usually the longest piece of the packet. For a side-by-side comparison of the different forms employers send, see our breakdown on ADA, FMLA, and fitness-for-duty forms and what each one means.

Standalone accommodation letters. If your employer doesn't supply a form, a well-written accommodation letter from a licensed provider serves the same purpose. It describes the condition's functional impact, identifies the limitations, and recommends specific accommodations. The EEOC's guidance for mental health providers lays out exactly what should go in this kind of letter.

Fitness-for-duty certifications in an ADA context. If you're returning to work with accommodations and your employer wants a clinician to confirm you can perform essential functions with those accommodations in place, that's an ADA-adjacent form.

A useful mental model: what employers actually need to see is documentation of functional limitations connected to job duties, not a diagnosis label or your full medical history. We cover the diagnosis question in more depth in do you need a diagnosis for an ADA accommodation.

What FMLA paperwork looks like

FMLA forms are a separate animal:

WH-380-E (medical certification of an employee's serious health condition). The federal form. It asks for the date the condition began, the expected duration, whether the employee can perform job functions, what specific functions are limited, whether intermittent leave is needed, and the frequency of follow-up appointments. It must be signed by a "health care provider" as defined by the Department of Labor, which includes licensed psychologists.

WH-380-F. Same form, but for a family member's serious health condition.

Employer-specific FMLA forms. Some companies use their own version instead of the federal form. The substance is similar.

Recertification forms. If you're on intermittent FMLA, your employer can periodically request recertification.

The defining feature of FMLA paperwork: it certifies the medical need for time off, not the need for a workplace change while you stay on the job.

Which forms WorkWell completes

We focus exclusively on ADA workplace accommodation documentation under Title I. That means:

• ADA accommodation letters

• Employer-supplied ADA accommodation request forms

• Job description acknowledgment forms tied to an ADA accommodation

• Fitness-for-duty forms when they fall within an ADA return-to-work context

We do not complete FMLA paperwork. Not WH-380-E, not employer-specific FMLA medical certifications, not FMLA recertification forms. If you need FMLA documentation, you need a different provider.

Why we draw the line there

A few reasons.

FMLA certification is a different clinical product. It requires statements about expected leave duration, frequency of incapacity, and ability to perform essential functions during specific time periods. That's a different documentation task with different liability considerations than an ADA accommodation letter, and we built our provider workflow specifically around ADA.

FMLA also tends to require an established treating relationship. The Department of Labor regulations allow certification from a provider who has examined the employee, but in practice most employers and most providers' malpractice carriers prefer the certifying clinician to have ongoing treatment history. Our model is short, focused assessment-only engagements, which works well for ADA functional documentation but isn't the right fit for medical leave certification.

Mixing the two would also create a quality problem. ADA documentation done well takes about 30 minutes of provider time. FMLA done well usually requires longer engagement and chart access. Building a single service that does both at our price point would mean cutting corners on one of them, and that's not a tradeoff worth making with paperwork your job depends on.

Where to go for FMLA paperwork

If HR sent you FMLA forms, or a mix of ADA and FMLA forms, here's the order to try.

Your treating provider. If you have a current psychiatrist, therapist, or primary care doctor who's been treating the relevant condition, ask them first. FMLA is designed to be completed by an existing treating clinician. If they say yes, you're done.

Your provider's referral network. If they decline, ask if there's someone in their practice or referral network who handles FMLA paperwork.

A treatment-based telehealth service. Platforms that connect you with providers who both treat you and handle leave paperwork over time are the right fit when FMLA is involved. These cost more and take longer than what we do, but they're built for the ongoing-relationship model FMLA usually requires.

An in-person psychiatrist or psychologist taking new patients. If your timeline allows, this is often the most thorough route.

If you have ADA paperwork in the same packet, you can still come to us for the ADA piece and use one of the above for the FMLA piece. That's a common workflow.

What if my therapist refuses to fill out the ADA form?

This is one of the most common situations we hear from new clients. There are usually three reasons a regular therapist will say no.

They're worried about the legal scope. Some therapists feel they were trained to do therapy, not forensic or evaluative work. Making specific functional capacity statements isn't where they feel comfortable. This is a legitimate concern, not an excuse.

They don't have the time. A typical accommodation form takes 30 to 60 minutes to complete properly. In a private practice running six clients a day, that's an entire missed session, and most therapists aren't billing for the form work.

They have a policy. Some practices simply don't do disability documentation as a matter of policy, often because of liability concerns.

If your therapist declines, you have options. You can ask if they'd write a brief letter confirming the diagnosis and treatment, which a separate evaluator can incorporate into the formal documentation. You can ask for a referral to someone in their network who does this work. Or you can engage a separate clinician for the ADA assessment and documentation while keeping your existing therapy relationship intact. Our guide on how to talk to your therapist about an accommodation letter walks through specific scripts.

How a WorkWell ADA evaluation works

You complete an online intake that captures your work situation, the condition you're seeking accommodation for, and how that condition affects your daily functioning. The intake includes validated screening tools like the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 so the provider has standardized data going in.

You upload any forms your employer already sent. The provider needs to see the exact language your employer used so the response matches the format HR expects.

You meet with a PSYPACT-licensed psychologist for a focused 15-minute video consultation. The provider confirms the intake information, asks targeted follow-up questions about job-specific functional limitations, and forms a clinical opinion on the appropriateness of the requested accommodation. For the credentials question (why a PSYPACT psychologist and how to verify their license), see why your psychologist isn't in your state's licensing database.

The provider completes the letter and any in-scope employer forms and sends them directly to you within a few business days. For what to expect once HR has your documentation, see what happens after your employer receives your accommodation letter.

Pricing

Standard Evaluation: $169. Covers the ADA accommodation letter. Add an employer-supplied form for $59 if you also need one filled out.

Complete Support: $299. Covers the ADA accommodation letter plus up to two employer-specific supplemental forms, plus two provider follow-up interactions within 90 days of your original evaluation date. Most clients who anticipate any back-and-forth with HR pick Complete Support because it removes the awkward ask of paying again every time HR sends new paper.

What to have ready before your evaluation

None of these are strictly required, but having them speeds up the visit and produces a stronger document.

• Any ADA forms HR has already sent, even partially completed.

• A current job description, ideally the one HR keeps on file. If you don't have it, ask HR for a copy.

• A short written summary of your specific work tasks and the parts of those tasks that are difficult because of your condition. Two paragraphs is enough.

• Names and contact information for any current treating providers.

• A list of any accommodations you've already tried and how they worked.

What this evaluation is not

It's not therapy. It's not medication management. It doesn't start an ongoing treatment relationship. It doesn't include FMLA paperwork. It doesn't guarantee that your employer will approve the accommodation, because the interactive process involves the employer too, and employers have legitimate latitude to consider undue hardship and equally effective alternatives.

What it does is give you well-documented, professionally prepared paperwork that meets what the EEOC documentation standard actually requires for ADA accommodations. That documentation is your half of the conversation. The rest is up to your employer's good-faith engagement.

For more on the documentation standard and frequently asked questions about the ADA accommodation process, see our ADA workplace accommodation FAQ.

For FMLA paperwork, see the section above on where to go.

Next step

If the form sitting in your inbox is an ADA accommodation request or an accommodation letter need, you can check your eligibility in 60 seconds and start your evaluation today. If you have more than one ADA form to deal with, Complete Support covers the bundle.