Just hours after the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a report noting that less than 1 percent of the federal government workforce includes people with “targeted disabilities,” such as blindness, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to “establish the federal government as a model employer of individuals with disabilities.”
The executive order, signed on July 26, 2010, as part of the administration’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), requires that:
- Hiring managers get training.
- Agencies develop strategic plans that must be approved by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
- OPM develop model guidelines and assistance for hiring people with disabilities.
- Agencies report regularly to the president about progress.
- Results be published on a web site as a way to promote transparency.
“We’re going to boost recruitment, we’re going to boost training, we’re going to boost retention,” the president said during the celebration. “Each agency will have a senior official who’s accountable for achieving the goals we’ve set. And I expect regular reports. And we’re going to post our progress online so that you can hold us accountable, too.”
The text of the executive order mentions that President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 13163 on July 26, 2000, calling for an additional 100,000 individuals with disabilities to be employed by the federal government over five years. “Yet few steps were taken to implement that executive order in subsequent years,” the order noted.
In addition, the Obama administration expects federal agencies to focus on retaining federal workers with disabilities through “the use of centralized funds to provide reasonable accommodations, increasing access to appropriate accessible technologies, and ensuring the accessibility of physical and virtual workspaces.”
“Equal access. Equal opportunity. The freedom to make our lives what we will. These aren’t principles that belong to any one group or any one political party. They are common principles. They are American principles,” the president continued. “No matter who we are—young, old, rich, poor, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled or not—these are the principles we cherish as citizens of the United States of America.”
Seeking to Lead Once Again
This is not the first time the federal government has sought to achieve model employer status. In June 2006 the EEOC launched the LEAD Initiative (Leadership for the Employment of Americans with Disabilities) under the leadership of Christine M. Griffin, deputy director of OPM, who sat next to the president as he signed the new executive order.
In announcing the LEAD Initiative, Griffin, who was an EEOC commissioner at the time, said “the federal government must set an example for all employers, public and private, that demonstrates the very best in recruitment, hiring, promotion and retention practices, in order to be the model employer. When it comes to individuals with severe disabilities, our example needs serious improvement.”
According to the EEOC web site, the percentage of permanent federal employees with targeted disabilities reached its peak of 1.24 percent in fiscal year (FY) 1994 with 32,337 employees. The percentage has declined each year since then.
The agency was quick to emphasize some good news in its Annual Report on the Federal Work Force for FY 2009, released on the anniversary of the ADA: “For the first time since FY 1995, the percentage of people with targeted disabilities in federal jobs held steady, halting a 13-year decline,” the EEOC noted in a statement. Targeted disabilities include deafness, blindness, missing extremities, partial or complete paralysis, convulsive disorders, mental retardation, mental illness, and distortion of a limb and/or spine.
“However, despite a modest net gain of 236 employees in FY 2009 over FY 2008, people with targeted disabilities still remain below one percent (0.88 percent) of the total workforce,” the EEOC statement continued.
“As the largest employer in the nation, the federal government should lead the way in creating a diverse and just workplace,” said EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien. “Government employers need to continue to recruit and promote employees who represent the tapestry of America. … We look forward to assisting the federal government to become an exemplary employer.”
Notable Achievements
The White House celebration of the ADA anniversary made note of significant events, such as March 12, 1990, when approximately 60 disability activists left their wheelchairs and crawled up the steps of the U.S. Capitol in support of the legislation. It was “a ragtag army” of people who couldn’t hear, walk, talk, see or speak who did what everyone said couldn’t be done, noted Marca Bristo, president of Access Living, in opening remarks.
More recently, the U.S. joined 140 nations in signing the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. “America was the first nation on Earth to comprehensively declare equality for its citizens with disabilities,” the president said. “We should join the rest of the world to declare it again—and when I submit our ratification package to Congress, I expect passage to be swift.”
And, speaking of Congress, Obama noted that the federal government was celebrating an important milestone: “Congressman Jim Langevin wanted to be here today, but he’s currently presiding over the House chamber—the first time in our history somebody using a wheelchair has done so.”
The 20th anniversary of the ADA is unquestionably a milestone, but work remains. As Melody Barnes, the president’s domestic policy adviser and the director of the Domestic Policy Council, said during the White House event, “This is a beginning, not an ending. Tomorrow we all go back to work.”
Rebecca R. Hastings, SPHR, is an online editor/manager for SHRM.
Related Articles:
Government Faulted on Hiring, Retaining Workers with Disabilities, HR News, April 6, 2010
New EEOC Resources Encourage Feds to Hire Disabled, SHRM Online Diversity Discipline, Dec. 21, 2009