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This plan is a compilation of the best practices
of various Federal agencies for increasing the hiring and retention
of people with disabilities. Agencies can use all or part of the
Model Plan to develop and improve their programs for employment
of people with disabilities. The plan contains information on the
following:
Introduction
This plan describes the efforts of agencies
to support the goals of Executive Order 13163 by:
- Recruiting widely for positions at all
levels utilizing a recruitment plan;
- Providing opportunities for students with
disabilities and in collaboration with colleges and universities;
- Giving consideration to employees with
disabilities for inclusion in developmental opportunities;
- Collecting and maintaining data to monitor
progress;
- Providing reasonable accommodations for
qualified applicants and employees with disabilities, consistent
with each agencies’ reasonable accommodation policies as
well as guidance from the Office of Personnel Management
(OPM) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC);
and
- Providing appropriate training to senior
leadership and managers to ensure they understand both the agency's
commitment to employ individuals with disabilities and that
they can use special programs to recruit, appoint, and provide
reasonable accommodation.
RECRUITMENT
AND PLACEMENT
Recruit widely for positions at all levels
of the agency's workforce, including GS-13 to 15, Senior Executive
Service and other senior levels.
Recruitment Strategies
In developing recruitment strategies for people
with disabilities, the agency should recruit widely. This includes
establishing partnerships with state and local vocational rehabilitation
agencies and becoming thoroughly familiar with their requirements,
as well as working closely with community outreach groups and college
offices that provide services to students with disabilities. Some
strategies available to agencies include:
- Examining existing recruitment programs to
identify any barriers to hiring underrepresented groups, including
individuals with disabilities, and to improve applicant pool diversity.
- Organizing a recruitment task force with
participation of both the human resources and EEO offices.
- Sharing successful approaches for recruitment
of people with disabilities through the Human Resources Management
Council (HRMC) and other venues, so that other agencies may benefit
from their experiences.
- Providing a host of work-life programs and
initiatives that offer flexibility and support for employees to
balance the needs of the workplace with the rest of their lives.
These include alternative work schedules, flexiplace, job sharing,
and part-time employment.
- Establishing a position devoted to diversity
recruitment and other special needs.
- Reviewing and updating all employment information
and recruitment materials to ensure access to information for
people with disabilities. All information posted on an agency's
Internet site must be reviewed for screen-reader compatibility.
Employment information must also be made available in alternate
formats such as large print, audiocassette, Braille, and computer
disk.
- Recruiting from all sources when filling
positions, including those in the Senior Executive Service, managerial
and supervisory positions at grades GS-13 to15, in an effort to
attract a more diverse applicant pool, including candidates with
disabilities.
- Developing and publishing a recruitment and
diversity action plan to increase the applicant pool, particularly
people with disabilities.
- Using a variety of resources and networks
to remove barriers to employment and actively recruit people with
disabilities, including:
- State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies
(SVRAs) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). They
provide counseling, evaluation, training and other services
to individuals with disabilities, including disabled veterans.
Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies can assist with information
regarding accommodations, effective retention strategies, Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance, and sensitivity training
for the Department's offices. They play a critical role in certification
of candidates for applicable Schedule A appointing authorities.
- The Job Accommodation Network (JAN). JAN
provides accommodation information before, during, and after
the recruitment process. It is a confidential service that allows
any manager or employee to receive individualized information
on his or her accommodation issue. It is a consulting service
that works with the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability
Employment Policy (ODEP), and may be reached at (800) 526-7234.
- The Workforce Recruitment Program for College
Students with Disabilities (WRP). This is a source of candidates
for Federal employment opportunities jointly managed by the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment
Policy (ODEP) and the Department of Defense. The program helps
connect public and private sector employers nationwide with
highly motivated post-secondary students and recent graduates
with disabilities. The WRP seeks to: (1) provide college students
with disabilities the opportunity to obtain summer employment
that may lead to permanent employment in the Federal or private
sector; and (2) break down attitudinal barriers held by employers
and co-workers by demonstrating that people with disabilities
can work successfully in a variety of jobs. Agencies can employ
summer interns through the WRP as well as use it as a source
of candidates for both temporary and permanent positions.
- Ticket to Work. Social Security Administration
administers the Ticket to Work program. Ticket to Work provides
vocational rehabilitation services, employment services, and
other support services to assist Social Security and Supplemental
Security Income beneficiaries with disabilities in obtaining,
regaining, and maintaining employment.
- Employer Assistance Referral Network (EARN).
The U. S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment
Policy has implemented a nationwide employer service to increase
the representation of people with disabilities in the workforce.
The EARN is designed to assist employers in locating and recruiting
qualified workers with disabilities.
- The Rehabilitation Services Administration
(RSA). The Department of Education administers the RSA
program. This program provides Federal funds in support of the
Projects with Industry (PWI) program, the Centers for Independent
Living (CIL) program and the Migrant Seasonal Farm Workers (MSFW)
program. Individuals receiving services from these programs
are not always clients of State Vocational Rehabilitation Services
programs. Often times, through the provision of independent
living services, individuals with severe disabilities can reach
a level of employment.
- Seeking collaborative recruiting relationships
with community, academic, and governmental groups to improve outreach
and access to employment opportunities for minority individuals
with disabilities.
- Cultivating contacts at university and other
placement offices to ensure they are aware of agency interest
and vacancies. Working with college offices serving students with
disabilities to identify possible candidates. Attending college
job fairs at schools that include students with disabilities.
- Using the Internet to help recruit individuals
with disabilities and raise awareness of the agency as an employer.
Internally, using the agency's Intranet and e-mail systems to
publicize diversity recruitment initiatives, including the employment
of people with disabilities, and to communicate progress to the
current workforce. Incorporating additional websites into the
routine recruitment efforts, such as those used by clients of
rehabilitation agencies and personnel separating from military
service.
- Ensuring thorough outreach by regularly updating
lists used to distribute electronic copies of vacancy announcements
and electronic vacancy listings. Widely disseminating information
on the telephone numbers for the job information line and TDD
as well as on the availability of job announcements on the agency
website.
- Developing an electronic mailing list of
various disability advocacy groups in the local geographic area.
Send these organizations a quarterly email notice to remind them
that all job vacancies are posted on the Internet with the USAJOBS
website. The notice will also reinforce the agency's commitment
to become a model employer of people with disabilities. The human
resources offices in field facilities will establish similar links
with local disability advocacy groups.
- Expanding the agency's presence at meetings
and conferences of disability organizations to expose a greater
pool of potential candidates to employment opportunities.
- Continuing to educate and train managers
and supervisors on various hiring programs and resources available
for recruiting, promoting, and retaining employees with disabilities.
Offering a training module on reasonable accommodations and the
employment of people with disabilities that confers credit toward
the agency's managerial core curriculum training requirements.
Promoting the business necessity of providing enhanced accessibility
and increased employment opportunities for persons with disabilities
to senior management officials.
- Using observances such as Disability Employment
Awareness Month (October) to highlight and educate employees and
managers on issues related to hiring, accommodating, developing,
and retaining employees with disabilities. This presents an opportunity
to demonstrate assistive technology available to facilitate reasonable
accommodation of employees with disabilities.
- Conducting mass mailings to students with
disabilities listed in the ODEP annual CD-ROM. The message will
encourage students to visit the agency's website for job vacancy
announcements or bulletins for special student programs offered
each year.
- Contracting with an advertising firm to design
recruitment brochures that will better identify the opportunities
available. They will be distributed during campus visits and other
events.
- Marketing success stories concerning the
employment and placement of people with disabilities.
Vacancy Announcements
- Using plain language in vacancy announcements
that communicates the agency's intent to make reasonable accommodations
for qualified job applicants and employees with disabilities.
All vacancy announcements must state that the agency is an equal
opportunity employer and should encourage all interested candidates
to apply.
- Posting vacancy announcements on the Internet.
Using targeted outreach and advertising through various media,
as appropriate.
- Sharing the agency's plan and information
on recruitment and related efforts with employees, with an internal
recruitment/outreach council made up of internal agency representatives,
and with selecting officials to educate them on the enormous potential
of people with disabilities as a recruitment source.
- Distributing vacancy announcements and job
postings to local groups that provide support to people with disabilities.
Ensuring that announcements can be issued in alternative formats.
These alternate formats will include large print, audiocassette,
Braille, computer disks and accessible Internet websites.
Special Appointing Authorities
The Department will continue to take advantage
of the special appointing authorities available when employing people
with disabilities. These special appointing authorities include:
Schedule A, 5 CFR 213.3102(ll) for hiring
readers, interpreters, and personal assistants. This excepted
authority is used to appoint readers, interpreters, and personal
assistants for employees with severe disabilities.
Schedule A, 5 CFR 213.3102(t) for hiring
people with mental retardation. This excepted authority is used
to appoint persons with cognitive disabilities (mental retardation).
They may qualify for conversion to permanent status after two years
of satisfactory service.
Schedule A, 5 CFR 213.3102(u) for hiring
people with severe physical disabilities. This excepted authority
is used to appoint persons with severe physical disabilities who
have demonstrated satisfactory performance through a temporary appointment,
or have been certified as likely to succeed in performing the duties
of the job. After two years of satisfactory service, they may qualify
for conversion to permanent status.
Schedule A, 5 CFR 213.3102(gg) for hiring
people with psychiatric disabilities. This excepted authority
is used to appoint persons who have demonstrated their ability to
perform satisfactorily under a temporary appointment or who are
certified as likely to be able to perform the essential functions
of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation. Upon completion
of two years of satisfactory service under this authority, the employee
can be converted to competitive status.
5 CFR 315.604 for hiring disabled veterans
enrolled in a VA training program. This authority is used to
hire veterans with disabilities who are eligible for training under
the VA vocational rehabilitation program (38 U.S.C. chapter 31).
The veterans may enroll for training or work experience at an agency
under the terms of an agreement between the agency and VA. While
enrolled in the VA program the veterans are not Federal employees
for most purposes, but are beneficiaries of the VA. Upon successful
completion, an agency may appoint the veterans non-competitively
under a status quo appointment that may be converted to permanent
status at any time.
5 CFR 316.201(b) for hiring worker-trainees for programs such
as the Welfare to Work program. Federal agencies are encouraged
to expand the use of the worker-trainee authority under TAPER (Temporary
Appointment Pending Establishment of a Register) and other excepted
service hiring authorities to appoint welfare recipients to entry-level
positions.Accordingly, the worker-trainee authority may be used
as an additional tool to increase employment opportunities for people
with disabilities under the Welfare to Work program.
5 CFR 316.302(b)(4) and 5 CFR 316.402(b)(4)
for hiring 30 percent or more disabled veterans. These authorities
are used to hire veterans with a compensable service connected disability
of 30% or more who was issued a notice of retirement or discharge
from active military service due to the disability; or who was rated
by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) within the preceding
year as having a compensable service-connected disability of 30
percent or more. If the appointment is for more than 60 days, they
may be converted, without a break in service, to permanent status
at any time during the appointment.
Other Hiring Strategies
- Establishing and utilizing a People with
Disabilities Special Emphasis Program which provides awareness
and educational programming; advising agency management and employees
on issues relating to employees with disabilities; and identifying
systemic policies, practices, procedures and barriers that impede
the hiring and advancement of people with disabilities.
- Implementing, monitoring, and tracking the
agency's Affirmative Action Plan for hiring individuals with disabilities.
- Encouraging senior level managers to serve
as champions on issues involving accessibility and the employment
of individuals with disabilities.
- Placing special emphasis on using temporary
appointments under the lapse rate to introduce qualified disabled
candidates to the workforce and develop them towards permanent
placement.
- Reviewing programs to determine where part-time
employment opportunities could be created to accommodate employees
with disabilities.
EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS
Provide opportunities for students with
disabilities to participate in internship and student employment
programs.
In addition to other appointing authorities
listed previously in this plan, agencies can employ students with
disabilities through student employment programs and ensure greater
emphasis on employment strategies to recruit students with disabilities.
These strategies include:
- Having the EEO and human resources staff
jointly coordinate employment opportunities for students and work
to incorporate outreach efforts to students with disabilities.
Ensuring that guidance counselors and other contacts at sponsoring
schools realize the agency's interest in and commitment to employment
of students with disabilities.
- Using the Student Temporary Employment Program
(STEP) and the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) to offer
employment opportunities to students with disabilities and complement
disability and diversity recruitment efforts.
- Participating in the Workforce Recruitment
Program (WRP) and increasing the agency's commitment to hire more
students through this program over the next five years. Encouraging
managers to use the WRP database to fill permanent positions as
well as temporary positions, as many of the candidates are completing
college or graduate degrees and are seeking permanent positions.
- Improving awareness among managers and supervisors
of student employment as additional avenues to attract students
with disabilities to the workforce.
- Participating in the Presidential Management
Intern (PMI) Program.
- Improving outreach efforts through campus
visits and partnerships both with the career placement offices
and the campus organizations and other networks providing services
to students with disabilities. Targeting professional organizations
and publications serving the interests of people with disabilities.
Encouraging staff members (particularly those with disabilities)
to participate in campus visits to recruit students with disabilities
through the WRP.
- Exploring how the Federal Career Intern Program
(FCIP) can offer additional employment opportunities for individuals
with disabilities.
- Identifying and participating in special
recruitment venues like job fairs, expos, conferences, college
recruiting initiatives and other events. These are opportunities
to advertise the agency's interest in recruiting diverse pools
of qualified candidates, including those with disabilities.
PROJECTED
HIRING PLAN
The Department is committed to improving
employment opportunities for people with disabilities across all
career fields and grade levels.
Recruitment Planning
Executive Order 13163 challenges the Federal
Government to increase the employment of people with disabilities
over the next five years. Federal agencies should demonstrate their
enthusiastic support of the President’s New Freedom Initiative,
which is designed, in part, to increase employment opportunities
for people with disabilities. Agencies’ recruitment and hiring
plans should include information about its mission, size, workforce
demographics, and projections of recruitment needs.
- Include information about how the agency
plans to address its human capital needs, emphasizing the strategies
it will use to recruit people with disabilities.
- Emphasize that people with disabilities will
be recruited across the broad spectrum of grade levels and occupations
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Give consideration to employees with disabilities
for inclusion in developmental opportunities designed to enhance
their leadership skills and to advance their careers.
Federal agencies should implement strategies
to ensure that employees with disabilities have an equal opportunity
to participate in all learning activities. These strategies have
three goals. The first one is to establish partnerships between
employees and supervisors that allow employee development within
the framework of corporate needs and initiatives. The second one
is to use an established framework for a dialogue supporting diversity
goals for persons with disabilities. The third one is to employ
relevant performance tools to measure the progress in employee development
and advancement. Some of the strategies used could include the following:
- Establishing a system to monitor and report
on the use of special hiring authorities, promotion, and participation
in career development programs for people with disabilities in
general and people with targeted disabilities in particular.
- Ensuring that persons with disabilities are
made aware of, and have equal opportunity to apply for, career
development opportunities and training at all levels.
- Creating a training program that focuses
on developing broad-based and general competencies used throughout
the agency as well as core skills that are transferable from position
to position. Creating a team of training and other consultants
to conduct research and develop appropriate recommendations to
address this goal.
- Providing formal leadership training or expanding
previous opportunities for inclusion. This includes participation
in career development programs such as the USDA Graduate School's
Aspiring Leader Program, New Leader Program, Women's Executive
Leadership Program, and Executive Potential Program.
- Working closely with providers of on-site
training (contractors and vendors) to ensure they are compliant
with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. Any agency training
must allow all employees to participate fully in the training
and course materials must be made available in alternative formats
(Braille workbooks, closed-captioned videos, etc).
- Taking an active leadership role in advocating
disability awareness to other government agencies and non-government
groups by sharing information about software and distance learning
accessibility issues.
- Ensuring that managers are offered specific
courses, such as Disability Access Workshops, where they obtain
information and skills needed to hire and supervise employees
with disabilities. Managers should learn how to make sure the
workplace is accessible and how to assess the ability of a potential
employee with disabilities to perform the essential functions
of the job. They should also learn about the reasonable accommodation
policies and the requirements of the Rehabilitation Act.
- Working with providers of software and on-line
training to ensure that all courses available to agency employees
through the Intranet/Internet comply with the requirements of
section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
- Sponsoring a mentoring program and encouraging
all employees to participate. Mentors work with the mentees to
help build self-confidence, expand individual awareness, and provide
insights and new perspectives on the organization. Individuals
with disabilities could participate as mentees and be paired with
more senior employees, managers, and executives to enhance interpersonal
skills and gain organizational information. Persons with disabilities
could also participate as mentors and thereby serve as role models,
advisors, and confidants.
- Identifying career ladders and career paths
for positions to be filled. Exploring the development of bridge
and/or upward mobility positions to provide career paths in which
workers can move.
- Supporting a system that allows all employees
the opportunity to develop new skills through details in other
parts of the organization.
- Providing professional career counseling
services to all employees to help assess job skills, work related
skills building, as well as personal and professional goal setting.
Counselors conduct workshops or work with individuals one-on-one
as needed on topics such as resume writing, interviewing techniques,
and individual development planning.
MONITORING
AND EVALUATING PROGRESS
Monitor success in increasing the applicant
pool of individuals with disabilities in the agency's recruitment
efforts.
Effective efforts to change workforce demographics
require valid workforce data, data-driven decisions, leadership,
and management accountability. An agency’s equal employment
opportunity (EEO) offices should regularly monitor data concerning
workforce composition, as set forth in EEOC Management Directives.
One agency’s EEO office has implemented
an automated analysis tool that provides efficient long-term tracking
of employment data and trends. Periodic review of this data determines
whether the agency is making progress toward achieving greater employment
of people with disabilities in support of Executive Order 13163.
In the same agency, the Special Programs Recruiter in the human
resources office maintains contact with the EEO office to ensure
that recruiting and retention strategies are developed in response
to actual workforce diversity data. In addition, Senior Officers
are advised periodically of the progress within their respective
Principal Offices. Further, the agency's General Performance Appraisal
System includes a required performance element on workforce diversity
for all supervisors. During performance reviews, efforts by managers
and supervisors to achieve diversity in their organizations are
considered--including efforts to hire people with disabilities.
REASONABLE
ACCOMMODATION
Provide reasonable accommodations for
qualified applicants and employees with disabilities, consistent
with Executive Order 13164 and guidance from the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission.
Agencies have developed or are in the process
of developing their own accommodation policies in concert with Executive
Order 13164 and resulting EEOC guidance dated October 20, 2000.
A reasonable accommodation is an adjustment or alteration that enables
a qualified person with a disability to apply for a job, perform
job duties, or enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment.
Agencies are required to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified
individuals with disabilities unless to do so would impose an undue
hardship on the agencies.
The concept of reasonable accommodation applies
to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, training, promotion,
reassignment, and developmental assignments. It begins with recruitment
activities. In accordance with the OPM memorandum to agencies of
March 2, 2000, the agency's vacancy announcements state that accommodations
will be made for qualified applicants or employees with disabilities.
Some agencies use services or organizations
that coordinate requests for reasonable accommodations. Some organizations
maintain a central fund for reasonable accommodations including
readers, interpreters, and personal assistants. Coordinating organizations
can help managers and employees apply accommodation policies and
procedures.
Widely disseminate information about hiring
people with disabilities, providing reasonable accommodations, and
making the agency accessible to people with disabilities. This includes
making use of a wide array of media for disseminating the message
including websites, newsletters, and in recruitment and orientation
materials.
Host events such as speaker forums and training
sessions to raise awareness about the employment of people with
disabilities, including accessibility issues and integrating people
with disabilities into the workforce.
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