President Obama has signed an executive order calling on OPM, OMB and the Department of Labor to – by October — design model recruitment and hiring strategies for agencies seeking to increase their employment of people with disabilities and develop mandatory training programs for both HR personnel and hiring managers on the employment of individuals with disabilities.
The order is intended to revive a Clinton executive order calling for an additional 100,000 individuals with disabilities to be employed by the federal government over five years, but that fell short.
By the end of the year, agencies will have to develop an agency specific plan for promoting employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, subject to OPM and OMB approval, the order said.
It said each agency also is required to designate a senior-level agency official to be accountable for enhancing employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities and individuals with targeted disabilities.
The order further directs OPM, Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to assist agencies in implementing strategies for retaining federal workers with disabilities, including, but not limited to, training, the use of centralized funds to provide reasonable accommodations, increasing access to appropriate accessible technologies, and ensuring the accessibility of physical and virtual workspaces.
