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Overview of Disability Employment Resources
Understanding Roles, Rights, and Responsibilities
The Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management (OEODM)
staff has decades of experience in the field of disability employment
policy. We can help you learn more about rights and responsibilities
under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, as well as relevant Executive
Orders and other directives.
If you are an employee with a disability
or a manager of an employee who happens to be disabled, you might
have lots of questions concerning your rights and responsibilities.
OEODM can help you gain a fuller understanding of disability issues
in the workplace, and address the concerns you might have, such
as:
- Am I obligated to tell my manager about my disabling
condition or illness?
- Am I required to do anything "special" for
my disabled employee?
- What is a "Reasonable Accommodation" and
how do I know if my employee is entitled to one?
- How
do I ask for a Reasonable Accommodation?
- I have an employee
who is going blind. How can I help him/her continue to work effectively?
Learning about the Reasonable Accommodation Process
The reasonable
accommodation process generally begins when an employee discloses
a disability to a manager or supervisor. An important first step
in the reasonable accommodation process is communication between
the employee with a disability and his or her manager. The OEODM
can facilitate this communication in providing disability-specific
information to the manager as it relates to the employee's job
functions and in providing solutions to workplace barriers to
the employee with a disability.
For many managers, this experience
can
trigger a myriad of questions. The OEODM Disability Branch
is available to provide answers to these questions using NIH's
policy
guidance,
in addition to fact sheets, and technical assistance resources
- many of which are published by the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC).
Navigating through the reasonable accommodation
process can be confusing if you're not sure what you or your
employee needs. The OEODM staff is available to help facilitate
communication,
conduct needs assessments, identify resources, and procure
assistive technology or services as needed.
Disability-Specific Information
Just as there are different skin
tones within any group of individuals within our society, there
is great variation within each specific disability group. For example,
two individuals with the same level of hearing loss may require
different types of amplification and may function very differently
in the workplace. Similarly, there may be two individuals who use
wheelchairs. However, they may have different disabilities and
certainly may have different job responsibilities. The OEODM can
work with you in offering general guidelines on how to work effectively
with employees with disabilities based on the individual's functional
abilities and job responsibilities. With that information in hand,
we can facilitate positive communication to you and your workgroup
that may lead to improved acceptance and understanding by all employees
in the NIH workplace.
Etiquette and Cultural Issues
“Is it
OK to use words like ‘look’ or 'see' when talking with
a blind person?”
“How do I get a Deaf person's attention?”
“If
I see a woman in a wheelchair struggling to get through a doorway,
what should I do?”
These are three very common questions often
asked by people who are unfamiliar with disability etiquette or
disability culture. OEODM can help answer your questions about
working or interacting with people with disabilities. We can work
with you as an individual or schedule training for a group of employees.
Confidentiality
All aspects of the Reasonable Accommodation process
are protected by the Privacy Act and should be treated with confidentiality.
It is important for managers and their employees to know:
- How
to safeguard the privacy of the affected employee.
- Who
should or should not be "in the loop" on the Reasonable
Accommodation process.
- Procedures for safeguarding records
or confidential documents.
Information pertaining to an employee's
request for accommodation cannot be maintained in the Official
Personnel File. OEODM will help you understand the need for confidentiality
and make it easy for you to do your part.
Facility Accessibility
and Emergency Procedures
Although OEODM cannot pay for facility
modifications within NIH, we can advise you and your local
facilities team on accessibility requirements or on how to improve
access
for persons with disabilities at your location. We can also
provide assistance with understanding and employing safe evacuation
techniques
for individuals with disabilities, and can help you customize
a plan that works best for the employees at your facility.
Resource
Library
The OEODM maintains a resource library with materials
focusing
on disability issues related to employment and transportation.
The library includes videos, books, brochures, and CD-ROMs
on the following topics: Accessible Design, Blindness/Low
Vision, Cancer,
Communication, Deafness/Hard of Hearing, Disability Awareness,
Disability Rights, Ergonomics, General Disability Resources,
Hidden Disabilities, Learning Disabilities/Attention Deficit,
Physical
Disabilities, Technology Resources, and Transportation.
We can also recommend additional resources to help you gain insight
into
your areas of concern.
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