System Number: 60-0315

System name:

 

Reasonable Accommodation for Persons with Disabilities (RAPD), Social Security Administration, Deputy Commissioner for Human Resources.

Security classification:

 

None.

System location:

 

 In Headquarters:

Office of the Chief Actuary, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401.

Office of the Chief Information Officer, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235- 6401.

Office of the Chief Strategic Officer, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235- 6401.

Office of the General Counsel, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401.

Office of the Inspector General, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401.

Deputy Commissioner for Communications, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235- 6401.

Deputy Commissioner for Disability and Income Security Programs, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401.

Deputy Commissioner for Finance, Assessment and Management, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401.

Deputy Commissioner for Human Resources, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235- 6401.

Deputy Commissioner for Legislation and Congressional Affairs, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401.

Deputy Commissioner for Operations, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401.

Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401.

Deputy Commissioner for Systems, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-6401.

For Office of Central Operations:

Manager, Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Staff, Social Security Administration, Office of Central Operations, Room 7190 SWT, 1500 Woodlawn Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21241.

Regional addresses:

Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Regional Manager, Boston Region, Social Security Administration, Room 1900, John F. Kennedy Federal Building, Cambridge Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02203-1900.

Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Regional Manager, New York Region, Social Security Administration, Room 40-100 Federal Building, 26 Federal Plaza, New York, New York 10278.

Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Regional Manager, Philadelphia Region, Social Security Administration, 7th Floor, 300 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19123.

Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Regional Manager, Atlanta Region,

Social Security Administration, Suite 22T64, 61 Forsyth Street, S.W., Atlanta Federal Center, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.

Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Regional Manager, Chicago Region, Social Security Administration, 10th Floor, 600 West Madison Street, Chicago, Illinois 60661.

Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Regional Manager, Dallas Region, Social Security Administration, Suite 500, 1301 Young Street, Dallas, Texas 75202.

Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Regional Manager, Kansas City Region, Social Security Administration, Room 436, 601 East 12th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106.

Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Regional Manager, Denver Region, Social Security Administration, Room 1468, 1961 Stout Street, Denver, Colorado 80294.

Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Regional Manager, San Francisco Region, Social Security Administration, 6th Floor, 1221 Nevin Avenue, Richmond, California 94801.

Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Regional Manager, Seattle Region, Social Security Administration, Suite 2900, Mail Stop 291A, 701 5th Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98104.

For Office of Hearings and Appeals:

Director, Equal Employment Opportunity Staff, Social Security Administration, Office of Hearings and Appeals, Suite 1700, One Skyline Tower, 5107 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, Virginia 22041.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:

Employees who have requested a reasonable accommodation.

Categories of records in the system:

The records maintained in this system of records are collected for all reasonable accommodation (RA) requests made by employees. Specifically:

The employee's name, Social Security number (SSN), number and types of RA requests and whether those requests have been granted or denied;

Medical documentation about the disability;

Occupational series, grade level and Agency component for which RAs have been requested;

Types of RAs for each job, by Agency component, that have been approved, and the number and types of RA requests that relate to the benefits or privileges of employment, and whether those requests have been granted or denied;

Reasons for denial of requests for RA;

Amount of time taken to process each request for RA; and

Sources of technical assistance that have been consulted in identifying possible RAs.

Authority for maintenance of the system:

The Rehabilitation Act of 1974, as amended, 29 U.S.C. 791; Executive Order (E.O.) 13164; Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Policy Guidance on E.O. 13164; Establishing Procedures to Facilitate the Provisions of Reasonable Accommodation; Directives Transmittal Number 915.003, October 20, 2000.

Purpose(s):

Information in this system will be used to provide RAs to qualified employees with disabilities. SSA will provide RAs when:

A qualified individual with a disability needs an accommodation to be considered for a job;

A qualified employee with a disability needs an accommodation to enable him or her to perform the essential functions of the job or to gain access to the workplace; and

A qualified employee with a disability needs an accommodation to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purpose of such uses:

Disclosure may be made for routine uses as indicated below.

1.  To the Office of the President for the purpose of responding to an individual pursuant to an inquiry received from that individual or from a third party on his or her behalf.

 

2. To a congressional office in response to an inquiry from that office made at the request of the subject of a record.

 

3. To the Department of Justice (DOJ), a court or other tribunal, or another party before such tribunal when:

  (a) SSA, or any component thereof; or

  (b) Any SSA employee in his/her official capacity; or

  (c) Any SSA employee in his/her individual capacity where DOJ (or SSA where it is authorized to do so) has agreed to represent the employee; or

  (d) The United States or any agency thereof where SSA determines that the litigation is likely to affect the operations of SSA or any of its components, is party to litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and SSA determines that the use of such records by DOJ, a court or other tribunal, or another party before such tribunal, is relevant and necessary to the litigation, provided, however, that in each case, SSA determines that such disclosure is compatible with the purpose for which the records were collected.

4.  To the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) when requested in connection with investigations into alleged or possible discriminatory practices in the Federal sector, examination of Federal affirmative employment programs, compliance by Federal agencies with the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, or other functions vested in the Commission.

5.  To the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the General Counsel, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the Federal Service Impasses Panel, or an arbitrator when information is requested in connection with the investigations of allegations of unfair practices, matters before an arbitrator or the Federal Impasses Panel.

6.  To the Merit Systems Protection Board or the Office of the Special Counsel in connection with appeals, special studies of the civil service and other merit systems, review of rules and regulations, investigation of alleged or possible prohibited personnel practices, and other such functions promulgated in 5 U.S.C. Chapter 12, or as may be authorized by law.

7.  To contractors and other Federal agencies, as necessary, for the purpose of assisting SSA in the efficient administration of its programs. We contemplate disclosing information under this routine use only in situations in which SSA may enter into a contractual, or similar agreement, with a third party to assist in accomplishing an Agency function relating to this system of records.

8.  To student volunteer individuals working under a personal services contract, and other individuals performing functions for SSA, but technically not having the status of agency employees, if they need access to the records in order to perform their assigned agency functions.

9.  To the General Services Administration (GSA) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under 44 U.S.C. Sec . 2904 and Sec. 2906, as amended by the NARA Act of 1984, non-tax return information which is not restricted from disclosure by federal law for the use of those agencies in conducting records management studies.

10.  To Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies and private security contractors, as appropriate, information necessary: to enable them to protect the safety of SSA employees and customers, thesecurity of the SSA workplace, the operation of SSA facilities, or
to assist investigations or prosecutions with respect to activities that affect such safety and security or activities that disrupts the operation of SSA facilities.

 

11.  We may disclose information to appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies, entities, and persons when (1) we suspect or confirm that the security or confidentiality of information in this system of records has been compromised; (2) we determine that as a result of the suspected or confirmed compromise there is a risk of harm to economic or property interests, identity theft or fraud, or harm to the security or integrity of this system or other systems or programs of SSA that rely upon the compromised information; and (3) we determine that disclosing the information to such agencies, entities, and persons is necessary to assist in our efforts to respond to the suspected or confirmed compromise and prevent, minimize, or remedy such harm. SSA will use this routine use to respond only to those incidents involving an unintentional release of its records.



Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining and disposing of records in the system: Storage:

Records in this system are maintained and stored in both electronic and paper form at the systems locations identified above.

Retrievability:

Records in this system are retrieved by the employee's name and/or SSN.

Safeguards:

Security measures include the use of access codes to enter the computer system which will maintain the data and by storing computerized records in secured areas which are accessible only to employees who require the information in performing their official duties. Any manually maintained records will be kept in locked cabinets or in otherwise secure areas. SSA employees who have access to the data will be informed of the criminal penalties of the Privacy Act for unauthorized access to, or disclosure of, information maintained in the system. See 5 U.S.C. 552a(i)(1).

Contractor personnel having access to data in the system of records will be required to adhere to SSA rules concerning safeguards, access and use of the data.

Retention and disposal:

Records and data created, received, maintained for purposes of tracking agency compliance with Executive Order 13164 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidance, will be deleted/destroyed in accordance with NARA GRS 1, Sec. 24.

System manager(s):

Deputy Commissioner for Human Resources, Associate Commissioner, Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity, Social Security Administration, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235- 6401.

Notification procedure(s):

An individual can determine if this system contains a record about him/her by writing to the systems manager(s) at the above address and providing his/her name, SSN, or other information that may be in the system of records that will identify him/her. An individual requesting notification of records in person should provide the same information, as well as provide an identity document, preferably with a photograph, such as a driver's license or some other means of identification. If an individual does not have any identification documents sufficient to establish his/her identity, the individual must certify in writing that he/she is the person claimed to be and that he/she understands that the knowing and willful request for, or acquisition of, a record pertaining to another individual under false pretenses is a criminal offense.

If notification is requested by telephone, an individual must verify his/her identity by providing identifying information that parallels information in the record to which notification is being requested. The individual will be required to submit a request in writing or in person if it is determined that the identifying information provided by telephone is insufficient. If an individual is requesting information by telephone on behalf of another individual, the subject individual must be connected with SSA and the requesting individual in the same phone call. SSA will establish the subject individual's identity (his/her name, SSN, address, date of birth, and place of birth, along with one other piece of information, such as mother's maiden name) and ask for his/her consent in providing information to the requesting individual.

If a request for notification is submitted by mail, an individual must include a notarized statement to SSA to verify his/her identity or must certify in the request that he/she is the person claimed to be and that he/she understands that the knowing and willful request for, or acquisition of, a record pertaining to another individual under false pretenses is a criminal offense. These procedures are in accordance with SSA Regulations (20 CFR 401.40).

An individual who requests access to his or her medical records must also name a representative in writing. The representative may be a physician, other health professional, or other responsible individual, who would be willing to explain the contents of the medical record(s) before giving the entire medical record(s) to the individual. These procedures are in accordance with SSA Regulation (20 CFR 401.55).

Record access procedure(s):

Same as Notification procedures. Requesters should also reasonably specify the record contents they are seeking. These procedures are in accordance with SSA Regulations (20 CFR 401.50).

Contesting record procedure(s):

Same as Notification procedures. Requesters should also reasonably identify the record, specify the information they are contesting, and state the corrective action sought, and the reasons for the correction, with supporting justification showing how the record is untimely, incomplete, inaccurate, or irrelevant. These procedures are in accordance with SSA Regulations (20 CFR 401.65).

Record source categories:

Information in this system is supplied directly by the requesting individuals and SSA officials.

Systems exempt from certain provisions of the Privacy Act:

None.