DISABILITY
RESOURCES FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYERS
Legal Information
Employment
Presidential Orders & Initiatives
Federal Accommodation Programs
LEGAL
INFORMATION
Under
Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, federal agencies are
prohibited from discriminating against their employees or applicants
based on disability. Private employers and state/local governments
have the same mandate under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 (ADA). When Title I was enacted, some of the legal requirements
of the ADA differed from the Rehabilitation Act, even though the two
laws shared the same purpose: ending employment discrimination based
on disability. However, in 1992, Congress made the laws essentially
the same by amending the Rehabilitation Act to apply the ADA standards
to federal employment. Pursuant to the Rehabilitation Act Amendment
of 1992, the ADA's employment standards apply to all non affirmative
action employment discrimination claims of individuals with disabilities
who are federal employees or applicants for federal employment. Pub.
L. No. 102-569 §503(b), 106 Stat. 4344, 4424 (1992) (codified as amended
at 29 U.S.C. §791(g)(1994)).
One major
difference between the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA is the way in
which the two laws are enforced. For a summary of the enforcement
process under the Rehabilitation Act, see: http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-fed.html.
Final
Rule on Application of ADA Standards to the Federal Workforce
Information on federal sector Alternative
Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Facts about Federal
Sector Equal Employment Opportunity Complaint Process Regulations
For additional
information on the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA, see the following
links
Federal Guide to
Disability Right Laws
EEOC's The
Americans with Disabilities Act: Your Responsibilities as an Employer
Section 501 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973: Section 501 prohibits employment discrimination against
individuals with disabilities in the federal sector.
Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973: Section 504 states that
no qualified individual with a disability in the United States shall,
solely by reason of his or her disability, be excluded from the participation
in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under
any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
Section 508 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973: Section 508 requires that federal
agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people
with disabilities, including employees and members of the public.
Section 508 establishes requirements for any electronic and information
technology developed, maintained, procured, or used by the federal
government. Section 508 exempts national security systems from its
requirements. See: http://www.access-board.gov/news/508-final.htm
for an overview.
DoD/CAP's
Section 508 Portal: CAP provides this DoD Section 508 portal as
a central location to learn about section 508 requirements, access
contact information for DoD section 508 accessibility coordinators,
and to link to members of the DoD community along with other resources
in the Federal government.
Uniform
Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS): This document sets standards
for facility accessibility for federal and federally-funded facilities.
These standards are to be applied during the design, construction,
and alteration of buildings and facilities to the extend required
by the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, as amended.
Federal
Workers' Compensation: The resources listed here provide information
about claims under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA),
which is administered by the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs
(OWCP).
The
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has published several guidances
to explain the obligations of employers under both the Rehabilitation
Act and the ADA. Because the laws are essentially the same, EEOC guidance
for both laws are highlighted below:
Establishing
Procedures to Facilitate the Provision of Reasonable Accommodation-Policy
Guidance on Executive Order 13164: This policy guidance explains
the requirements of Executive Order 13164, which requires federal
agencies to establish effective written procedures for processing
requests for reasonable accommodation.
EEOC's
Internal Accommodation Procedures: This is an excellent accommodation
resource for companies and other agencies to model.
EEOC's
Practical Advice for Drafting and Implementing Reasonable Accommodation
Procedures: This guidance provides information on how to develop
and implement a reasonable accommodation process.
Preemployment
Disability-Related Questions and Medical Examinations
Disability-Related
Inquiries and Medical Examinations of Employees Under the ADA
FMLA, ADA,
and Title VII
Reasonable
Accommodation and Undue Hardship under the ADA
Psychiatric Disabilities
and ADA
Workers' Compensation
and the ADA
Threshold
Issues: This section provides guidance and instructions for investigating
and analyzing coverage, timelines, and other threshold issues that
are generally addressed when a charge is first filed with EEOC.
EMPLOYMENT
Office of Personnel Management's
Federal Employment of People with Disabilities
LEAD (Leadership
for the Employment of Americans with Disabilities) is the EEOC's
Initiative to address the declining number of employees with targeted
disabilities in the federal workforce. The over-arching goal for this
initiative is to significantly increase the population of individuals
with disabilities employed by the federal government.
PRESIDENTIAL
ORDERS & INITIATIVES
Executive
orders are official documents, numbered consecutively, through which
the President of the United States manages the operations of the federal
government.
Executive Order 13078:
Increasing Employment of Adults with Disabilities-March 13, 1998
Executive Order 13163:
Employing People with Disabilities-July 26, 2000
The U.S.
Office of Personnel Management developed two publications to assist
agencies in the development of their implementation of the Executive
Order on Increasing the Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities
to be Employed in the Federal Government: "Accessing
Opportunity: The Plan for Employment of People with
Disabilities in the Federal Government" and its companion
piece, "People
with Disabilities in the Federal
Government: An Employment Guide." This Order is designed
to focus attention on the need to hire and advance qualified individuals
with disabilities within the federal government. Based on current
hiring patterns, expanded outreach efforts and appropriate accommodation,
the federal government is expecting to hire 100,000 individuals with
disabilities over the next five years.
Executive Order 13164:
Establishing Reasonable Accommodations-July 26, 2000
President George W. Bush's Freedom
Initiative: Fulfilling America’s Promise to Americans with Disabilities
FEDERAL
ACCOMMODATION PROGRAMS
Are
you a federal employer?