The Office of Personnel
Management issued interim regulations on December 11, 2001, requiring
Federal agencies to include a reasonable accommodation statement
on all future vacancy announcements. The purpose of this language
is to inform applicants with disabilities that Federal agencies
will consider reasonable accommodation requests.
OPM recommends the following
language in job announcements:
"This agency provides
reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate.
If you need reasonable accommodation for any part of the application
and hiring process, please notify the agency. Determinations on
requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case
basis."
Agencies may use wording
of their choice that conveys the availability of reasonable accommodation.
The statement must not list any specific type of medical condition
or physical impairment as appropriate for a reasonable accommodation
request.
In accordance with Executive
Order 13164, agencies should designate an individual as a contact
for reasonable accommodation requests. The contact must have sufficient
knowledge about the agency’s internal procedures for reasonable
accommodation requests to prevent misinforming or frustrating applicants
with disabilities. OPM suggests that agencies include a general
phone number, a TDD number, and an email address for the contact.
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