The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced May 15 its intent to issue regulations that create a plan for federal employers to serve as “model employers” of workers with disabilities — a plan that may include a hiring goal, according to the commission. The announcement came just weeks after a 7-percent hiring goal for federal contractors took effect.
Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires the federal government to exemplify the nondiscrimination and affirmative action requirements in the law but does not state how it should do so. Other than requiring federal agencies to “give full consideration to the hiring, placement, and advancement of qualified individuals with disabilities,” existing Section 501 regulations do not explain what this obligation means, according to EEOC. Without additional information, federal agencies may not fulfill their Section 501 obligations, the commission said.
In the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (79 Fed. Reg. 27824), EEOC asked the public to submit comments and answer several questions, including the following.
- Would requiring federal agencies to adopt employment goals for individuals with disabilities help them to become model employers of individuals with disabilities?
- Should an agency’s goal be to have a workforce that reflects the availability of individuals with disabilities in the national labor pool, to increase the number of individuals with disabilities it employs by a certain amount each year, or to have its new hires reflect the availability of qualified individuals with disabilities in the applicant pool?
- Should there be separate goals for individuals with disabilities as defined by the Rehabilitation Act and individuals with the most significant disabilities (known in federal employment as “targeted disabilities”)?
- To determine whether a goal has been met, should an agency rely solely on voluntary self-disclosure through forms currently used to collect demographic information on job applicants and employees? Or should it also consider individuals who have requested reasonable accommodation or entered the workforce through the Schedule A excepted hiring authority?
- Should there be consequences for federal agencies that fail to meet the goals? If so, what should they be?
- Should the regulation require agencies to work with entities specializing in the placement of individuals with disabilities, such as state vocational rehabilitation agencies or the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs?
- Should the regulations require agencies to interview all qualified job applicants with disabilities; to assign additional “points” to qualified applicants with disabilities; to subject their qualification standards to internal or external review to identify unnecessary barriers to people with disabilities; to include certain information about affirmative action for individuals with disabilities in their job advertisements; to observe certain guidelines for determining the essential functions of the job; or to engage in additional, targeted outreach?
- Are there any policies or that a federal agency should be required to adopt to become a model employer of individuals with disabilities? For example, are there particular policies related to travel, technology or security measures that could eliminate systemic barriers to federal employment of people with disabilities? Should agencies be required to gather feedback regarding their efforts to retain, include, and advance employees with disabilities on an ongoing basis?
- Are there any policies or practices related to reasonable accommodation that federal agencies should be required to adopt to become model employers of individuals with disabilities? For example, should the proposed regulation require agencies to establish time limits for the provision of accommodations; observe certain limitations on the collection of medical information during the interactive process; or adopt certain methods of funding, or budgeting for, reasonable accommodations?
Members of the public may submit comments until July 14 at http://www.regulations.gov using Regulation Identifier Number 3046-AA94. Instructions for mailing, faxing or hand delivering comments are available in the ANPRM.
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