JAN toolkit helps Lululemon store leaders handle accommodation requests

Lululemon generated $11.1 billion in total revenue, added 44 net new company-operated stores, and employed 39,000 people in its 2025 year-in-review. The Job Accommodation Network’s Workplace Accommodation Toolkit gives store leaders a repeatable way to handle accommodation requests without improvising on the spot. On a sales floor where educators and key leaders are juggling guest traffic, physical work, variable shifts, product launches, and tight staffing, a documented process helps leaders respond faster, stay consistent, and protect both the teammate and the business.

What the toolkit gives a store leader

The toolkit is built for the people who carry these conversations forward. It includes a basic overview of reasonable accommodations, step-by-step guidance on the accommodation process, documentation tools, sample templates, forms and logs, ongoing support tools, and training resources.

In a Lululemon store, a leader who is fielding a request about a lifting restriction, a modified shift pattern, recovery from injury, or pregnancy-related needs does not need a philosophy lesson. The need is for a process that tells them what to ask, what to write down, who to involve, and how to keep the conversation moving without making promises they cannot keep.

Why a documented process matters on the floor

Retail leaders can mistake a quick favor for a compliant accommodation process. The toolkit calls for documenting each step, including the discussion, the information gathered, and the decisions made. That is a practical safeguard when a request starts informally, such as a teammate asking to avoid a certain shift, to sit more often at the register, or to adjust duties after an injury.

The toolkit treats medical privacy as part of the process, not an afterthought. Medical information must stay confidential, be stored separately from personnel files, and be accessible only to authorized personnel. For store teams that operate in close quarters and often solve problems quickly, that separation helps leaders avoid spreading sensitive details while still keeping a clear record of what was requested and what was decided.

The legal frame leaders are working inside

Under Title I of the ADA, employers generally must provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities unless doing so would create an undue hardship. Common accommodation types include modified or part-time schedules, leave, job restructuring, modified workplace policies, and reassignment. The guidance also covers telework, though on a store floor the more common adjustments are usually schedule, duties, or temporary leave.

Pregnancy-related limitations can require accommodation, and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act took effect on June 27, 2023, expanding accommodation rights for pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. In a Lululemon store, that can mean a request tied to standing time, lifting, schedule flexibility, or recovery needs, all of which can surface in a business built around movement and constant customer interaction.

How the toolkit helps leaders handle the first conversation

For educators and assistant store managers, a structured process reduces anxiety around what to ask next. It makes it easier to separate the job from the diagnosis. Instead of improvising, leaders can focus on the work limitation, the essential functions of the role, and the options that might let the teammate keep working effectively and safely.

The best first response is rarely a yes or no. A store leader may need to understand whether the issue is mobility, sensory strain, a temporary recovery period, or a schedule conflict tied to treatment or childcare. The step-by-step framework gives leaders a way to keep that discussion practical, written, and consistent from one request to the next.

A simple operating playbook for store leaders

The toolkit’s process maps well to the way a busy store actually runs:

Lululemon cannot afford a different ad hoc approach in every store, especially when accommodation requests need to be handled quickly, accurately, and with the same level of care across a large workforce.

How Lululemon handles accommodations

Lululemon offers reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. The company instructs applicants to send the request through its accommodations contact with the position title, location, and nature of the request. The intake detail gives the company enough information to route the request to the right team instead of leaving a leader to guess where it should go.

Lululemon works with third-party disability consultants to monitor and inform accessibility efforts.

Why this is a better fit for retail than improvisation

Store work moves fast, and accommodation requests often arrive during a shift change, a new launch, or a stretched schedule. A written process helps leaders decide what can change, what cannot, and what needs escalation, without forcing the educator or key leader to wait for an answer that should have been easier to manage.