EEOC Launches Guides to Spur Federal Hiring of Individuals with Disabilities

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Press Release, December 14, 2009

The ABCs of Schedule A” Guides Tailored to All Involved in Federal Hiring Process

WASHINGTON – Advancing its campaign to increase federal hiring of employees with disabilities, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued a set of guides on leveraging Schedule A, an authority available to federal agencies to hire and/or to promote individuals with disabilities without competing the job.
The five “ABCs of Schedule A” guides are tailored for each participant in the federal hiring process: Service Providers, Applicants with Disabilities, Human Resources Professionals, Hiring Managers, and Disability Program Manager and/or Selective Placement Coordinator. Each guide is clear, concise, and simple.
“Despite our efforts, the participation rate of individuals with severe disabilities in the federal workforce continues to decline at an alarming rate,” said Acting EEOC Vice Chair Christine M. Griffin. “Agencies have got to do more! I hope that these guides will be useful to individuals seeking federal employment. And I truly hope they will be well used by all those who are responsible for some aspect of recruiting and hiring federal employees.”
The “ABCs of Schedule A” guides represent a continued effort of the EEOC’s LEAD (Leadership for the Employment of Americans with Disabilities) Initiative, which addresses the declining number of employees with targeted disabilities in the federal workforce. LEAD’s goal is to significantly increase the population of individuals with severe disabilities employed by the federal government, and the ABC guides should advance that mission.
Griffin stressed that EEOC’s partnership with the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), and ODEP’s vigorous efforts, made the guides possible.
During LEAD’s first two years, Griffin reached out to leaders throughout federal government to alert and enlist them in the hiring effort. Now, with the ABC guides and other measures, LEAD has shifted to a new phase, focusing on leveraging the “Schedule A” hiring authority to bring aboard employees with disabilities.
All five guides are available on the EEOC’s web site, eeoc.gov, and can be immediately downloaded and printed. Those who would like hard copies of the guides sent may contact the EEOC’s publications center at 800-669-3362.
The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.