June 28, 1999

MEMORANDUM FOR HEADS OF DEPARTMENT COMPONENTS

FROM:                THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

SUBJECT:         Hiring, Promoting, and Providing Accommodations to Department of Justice Employees with Disabilities

As you may know, the Federal Government has embarked on a major initiative to improve the hiring, promotion, and accommodation of people with disabilities. To ensure progress in this area of great concern to me, I established the Attorney General's Advisory Committee on Disability Employment (Committee) in January 1997. The Committee comprises Department of Justice attorneys and other staff with disabilities from a representative group of components. In addition, representatives from the Department's Equal Employment Opportunity Staff (EEOS) and the Office of Attorney Personnel Management (OAPM) serve as advisors to the Committee-and attend all its meetings.

The Committee was given the responsibility for reviewing the existing situation concerning the hiring, promotion, and accommodation of attorneys and other persons with disabilities at the Department and making recommendations directed at developing and implementing Departmentwide, fair and effective policies for hiring, promoting, and accommodating people with disabilities. The Committee has completed its review and sent its recommendations to me. I want to thank the Committee, co-chaired by Fred Parmenter of the Antitrust Division and Liz Savage of the Civil Rights Division for their hard work.

Based on the Committee's recommendations, I am adopting a number of new initiatives. In addition, the Committee will continue its work. Its membership will be expanded to include individuals with knowledge of other occupations and bureau issues.

You should expect additional initiatives in the near future regarding the Department's accommodation policies and funding for accommodations. Your role in providing timely and effective accommodations is often critical in making progress in this area.

I ask that you help advance disability employment in the Department through the following new initiatives. The initiatives concern the advertisement of vacancies, accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities, personnel initiatives, reporting requirements, and training opportunities.

INITIATIVES

Each Department component should undertake an initiative to actively recruit, hire, and promote qualified people with disabilities, including a special emphasis on attorneys with disabilities, to fill positions within the component, including upper-level management positions. Employment data from the National Finance Center as of September 30, 1998, reveals that the Department had only 181 attorneys with disabilities, i.e., 2 percent of a total attorney workforce of 9,031.

This initiative should be a high priority in all components. Under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C §791(b), the Department has an affirmative duty to hire, place, and advance persons with disabilities that goes beyond a duty not to discriminate.

To measure compliance with this initiative, each component should report annually to me, through the Committee, statistics concerning the composition of its existing workforce, including the number of individuals with disabilities employed by that component, the types of disabilities represented, positions occupied by grade, including whether such positions are permanent or temporary, and the number of individuals with and without known disabilities promoted into management or supervisory positions. In addition, each component should report all outreach and recruitment efforts it undertakes specifically to hire persons with disabilities and the results of these efforts. These reports will include information about the number of vacancies announced by the component during the reporting period and the number of those vacancies filled by persons with readily apparent or voluntarily disclosed disabilities.

When gathering statistics, employees should be informed that information regarding disability status and type is voluntary. Many components currently report this information in their Affirmative Action Reports. Your Equal Employment Opportunity Staff is available to assist you.

2.  Targeted Advertising and Recruiting for Hiring Experienced Attorneys and Other Staff With Disabilities

The Department will undertake a targeted advertising and recruiting initiative for hiring experienced attorneys and other staff with disabilities. This initiative will include supervisory and management positions. Components either on their own or through their Equal Employment Offices or the OAPM, should advertise experienced attorney and other staff positions in publications targeted for persons with disabilities, utilize data bases available from the American Bar Association, the President's Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities, and other sources, and recruit qualified experienced attorneys and other staff at conferences for persons with disabilities and other forums where qualified people with disabilities are likely to be reached.

The OAPM has initiated a new pilot program for recruiting experienced attorneys. As part of the program, OAPM is assembling a list of publications targeted at persons with disabilities for advertising attorney positions. Components are encouraged to utilize this resource by providing OAPM with information about open attorney positions. The OAPM will then include these positions in the advertisements it places. The Department's Equal Employment Opportunity Staff (EEOS) is directed to provide all components with a list of conferences where attorneys with disabilities are likely to attend and where recruitment efforts can be focused.

Concerning general employment opportunities at the Department, these positions are currently advertised on the Internet. To insure that persons with disabilities know how to access the web address where the positions are advertised, the Department will annually advertise the Internet web address where these positions are posted in selected publications targeted for persons with disabilities.

3.  Modifying the Equal Employment Opportunity Disability Language Placed in Department of Justice Employment Announcements

The following language will be placed in Department employment announcements:

Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination because of color, race, religion, national origin, politics, marital status, disability, age, sex, sexual orientation, membership or nonmembership in an employee organization, or on the basis of personal favoritism.

The Department of Justice welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities and will reasonably accommodate the needs of those persons. The Department is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department of Justice.

Competitive status is not required if the person selected is an individual with a disability who is eligible for appointment under Schedule A of the excepted service, or is a veteran who is eligible for appointment under the Veterans Benefit Improvement Act of 1984 (as amended), or the direct-hire authority to appoint veterans with service-connected disabilities of 30 percent or more. Appropriate documentation to support this claim for eligibility will be required.

4.  Adoption of Procedures for Obtaining Accommodations

Each component should establish written procedures for processing accommodation requests and for obtaining information about the technology available to satisfy such requests. These procedures should be provided to the Committee for review and comment.

Because the lack of an accommodation may directly impact the ability of the employee or applicant to perform his or her job, and, in certain instances, his or her health, accommodation requests will be given a priority over other procurement requests. A statement of Department of Justice reasonable accommodation policies is attached.

Each component should designate one or more persons in the office to be responsible for providing reasonable accommodations to employees and applicants with disabilities. Those individuals must attend Department training on the appropriate method for handling accommodations requests.

5.  Tracking Component Accommodation Activities

All components should submit annual reports to me, through the Committee, detailing all accommodation requests made to the component and the outcome of each request. The Committee will report its findings to me regarding the provision of accommodations to employees and applicants with disabilities by each component and make recommendations when necessary to ensure that the components are meeting their obligations under the Rehabilitation Act to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified employees and job applicants.

6.  Component Budgeting for Recurring Accommodation Expenses

Each component should include sufficient funds in its budget to cover recurring accommodation expenses such as those for readers, interpreters, and personal assistants. In addition, each component must ensure its capacity to meet the legal requirement reasonably to accommodate (1) applicants, so that each applicant receives fair consideration and (2) employees who develop disabilities.

7.  Modifying the Performance Ratings Applied to Department Managers

Each component should assess, as part of its performance rating system for managers with hiring and promotion authority and those with the authority to grant accommodation requests, their success in hiring, promoting, and accommodating employees with disabilities. The Justice Management Division's EEO and Personnel Staffs have developed some model "human resources" performance elements which address this issue.

8.  Utilizing the Department's Training Program

The Department is developing a comprehensive program to educate managers at all levels of their legal obligations, including the need for reasonable accommodation and the types of accommodations that managers are required to provide. The program should be presented at your annual senior management seminars and retreats and attendance should be mandatory. An increase in funding and time spent for training is necessary to ensure success.

Training programs should also be developed for your employees about interacting with Department employees and other individuals who are disabled. I ask you to ensure that Department employees do not knowingly or unknowingly have attitudes toward persons with disabilities that are rooted in misinformation and misunderstanding about disabilities. Awareness is the first step toward change and should be your first priority in addressing this initiative.

With your support and assistance in implementing these initiatives, I believe the Department will make significant strides in more fully opening opportunities for employees with disabilities. Should you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact Ted McBurrows, Director, EEOS, on 616-4800.

Attachment

The Department of Justice's Reasonable Accommodation Policies
April 1999

The purpose of reasonable accommodations is to "level the playing field" for persons with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations provide individuals with disabilities the opportunity to perform the same activities with the same competence as persons without disabilities. Examples of reasonable accommodations are interpreters for persons with hearing impairments, specially designed office equipment for persons who use wheelchairs, and readers for persons with visual impairments. Another appropriate accommodation is for a U.S. Attorney to allow an Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) with mobility or vision impairment to live up to 25 miles outside the District in which he or she works, if necessary so he or she can find accessible housing and transportation. See 28 U.S.C.§545, as amended (1994).

The Department of Justice has a legal obligation to provide reasonable accommodations for employees and job applicants with disabilities. This policy statement provides examples of the types of accommodations that are appropriate and generally will be provided to Department employees and applicants with disabilities. The list of examples herein is not exhaustive; instead, it illustrates the broad spectrum of appropriate accommodations that generally will be provided at no cost to the employee or applicant. All of the listed accommodations are appropriate for virtually all employees (attorneys and other staff), regardless of grade level or experience.

In addition, the Department will evaluate the hardware and software it procures to determine its accessibility by users with disabilities. The Department has an obligation, under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C §§794 and 794d, as amended, to insure the accessibility of its programs and activities to individuals with disabilities, specifically its obligation to acquire accessible electronic and information technology.

Accommodation decisions should be based primarily on whether they will help the applicant or employee become a successful and productive member of the Department's workforce. Even though most job accommodations cost little or nothing, the Department will also satisfy more costly accommodation needs, such as providing personal assistants, readers, and sign language interpreters for employees needing those services to achieve maximum performance. A cost-benefit analysis is not appropriate when making accommodations decisions; instead, the standard of "undue hardship" should be applied to determine whether the cost of the requested accommodations is so large as to be a significant expense in light of the Department's overall resources. Managers should consult with their Equal Employment Opportunity Office about applying the "undue hardship" standard and about accommodation possibilities.

Accommodations for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or who have other communication-related disabilities:

The Department will accommodate employees and job applicants who are deaf, hard of hearing, or who have speech or motor impairments affecting communication, by providing appropriate auxiliary aids and services and other accommodations in order to ensure effective communication in all programs and services. Appropriate auxiliary aids may include, but are not limited to, telecommunication devices for the deaf ("TTY's"), sign language and oral interpreters, computer-assisted real-time transcription services, note takers (for training courses and meetings), and assistive listening devices and systems. Persons using hearing ear dogs may be accompanied by them in all Department activities and environments.

Accommodations or people with visual impairments:

The Department will accommodate employees and job applicants with visual impairments by providing readers and accessible computer equipment which is compatible with networks and other computer software. People using guide dogs may be accompanied by them in all Department activities and environments. All Department publications and training materials will be made available in accessible formats such as large print, computer disk, or Braille.

Accommodations for people with motor impairments:

For people with mobility impairments, the Department will provide office equipment, like raised desks, when requested to facilitate the employee's ability to work efficiently and without injury. Other examples of accommodation might include, but are not limited to, the use of personal assistants, voice recognition systems, and alternative keypad and keyboard access. Offices may be made accessible by adding ramps, automatic-door openers, and accessible toilet stalls. Persons using assistance animals may be accompanied by them in all Department activities and environments.

Accommodations for people with mental or psychiatric illnesses or disabilities affecting stamina:

Except where it is an undue burden, the Department will provide flexible work schedules and the ability to telecommute to people with some types of disabilities. Alternatives to the traditional structured work environment allow many people with disabilities such as HIV, cancer, and mental or psychiatric illness such as major depression or panic attack disorders, to work full-time without compromising the quality and quantity of their work for the Department, their health, or their ability to schedule frequent medical treatment, if necessary.

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