I have been working a schedule from 6am until 2pm so that I drive outside the rush hour traffic. They want to change all work hours so that the earliest possible starting time would be 7am. We have never had a problem with our staff as far as times our division works.
My boss does not have a problem with this, but the Director of the Utility does.
Does anyone know if working at 6am instead of 7am could be a reasonable accomodation for someone with fibromyalgia. The sudden pain in nerve endings sometimes causes me to have to stop the car, and I can't do that in rush-hour traffic. I live in a city with a population of 600,000 and it is very full. The roads cannot handle all the additional traffic.
I would appreciate any knowledge on this topic.

Why do you have to stop the car? Is it because you can't sit while in traffic?

Where I work we have people with start times of 6AM, most are at 7 AM and some are 8:30 and 9 AM. Very few are because of health reasons. Most are different life styles (family accommodations). The key at my work is that everyone works when they are at work and the work of the lab (wastewater lab) gets done.

From my point of view it is a reasonable accommodation for anyone who wants to get up that early. The only jobs I can see not having that flexiability would be with those who deal directly with the public from a specific opening time to a specific closing time.

Now for your problem. It is reasonable. Do not be brief. List everything associated. You need to list why you need the earlier work schedule with emphasis not only the benefit to you but the company. One reason, you already mentioned, the addition of another car during rush hours, is a benefit to everyone driving. Another is that with this accommodation they get an empolyee that will not have to decompress before getting to the job at hand.

I have nerve pain that is so bad I have to pull over until it goes away. I can't drive when that pain hits my legs and feet.

Thank you la brat. I apapreciate you comment. Traffic makes a big deal when driving with FM.

Thanks for your reply whitewolfee. Sorry to hear that your pain is so bad. I can't sit for very long due to abdomen and/or chest pain so when I'm stuck in traffic, I'm miserable. Good luck with getting your hours changed. I hope it all works out for you. It certainly doesn't seem unreasonable to me to change your hours.