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Individuals with Disabilities Program

Background

On July 26, 2010, President Obama issued Executive Order 13548, which provides that the Federal Government, as the Nation's largest employer, must become a model for the employment of individuals with disabilities. The order directs Executive departments and agencies to improve their efforts to employ Federal workers with disabilities and targeted disabilities through increased recruitment, hiring, and retention of these individuals. The Executive Order also adopts the goal set forth in Executive Order 13163 of hiring 100,000 people with disabilities into the Federal Government over 5 years, including individuals with targeted disabilities.

In addition to the Executive Order, federal agencies are obligated under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended to affirmatively employ people with disabilities and to provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and qualified employees unless doing so would cause undue hardship. The specific requirements of this obligation are spelled out in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Management Directive (MD) 715.

The Disability Program is responsible for providing policy guidance and oversight to ensure the Department complies with these legal and statutory requirements. Also, through the Disability Program, the Department develops strategies to increase the recruitment, hiring, and retention of employees with disabilities, ensure procedures for the reasonable accommodation program and accessibility standards are met, and conducts inclusion and awareness training.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM)

NDEAM is observed each October to recognize and celebrate the contributions of workers with disabilities and to educate on the value of a workforce inclusive of their skills and talents. NDEAM dates back to 1945, when Congress declared the first week in October "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week." The return of service members with disabilities from World War II sparked the public interest in the contributions of people with disabilities in the workplace. In 1962, the word "physically" was removed to acknowledge the employment needs and contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities. Then in 1988, Congress expands “National Employ the Handicapped Week” to “National Disability Employment Awareness Month.” To learn more about the origins and evolution of NDEAM and other important disability employment information, visit the Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), website at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep

 

Executive Orders

  • Executive Order 13078, Increasing Employment of Adults with Disabilities, March 13, 1998.
  • Executive Order 13124 - Amending the Civil Service Rules Relating to Federal Employees with Psychiatric Disabilities, June 4, 1999.
  • Executive Order 13164 - Requiring Federal Agencies to Establish Procedures to Facilitate the  Provision of Reasonable Accommodation, October 20, 2000
  • Executive Order 13548 - Increasing Federal Employment of Individuals with Disabilities, July 26, 2010 -

Department of Commerce Administrative Orders

Laws

The text of Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Pub. L. 93-112) (Rehab. Act), as amended, as these sections appear in volume 29 of the United States Code, beginning at section 791. Section 501 prohibits employment discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the federal sector. Section 505 contains provisions governing remedies and attorney's fees under Section 501. Relevant definitions that apply to sections 501 and 505 precede these sections.

Section 508 requires that Federal agencies must ensure comparable accessibility to persons with disabilities whenever that agency uses electronic or information technology, unless such access would impose an undue burden. This web site contains the text of Section 508, as amended, as well as other materials.

  • The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) - Effective November 21, 2009 This law makes it illegal to discriminate against employees or applicants because of genetic information. genetic information includes information about an individual's genetic tests and the genetic tests of an individual's family members, as well as information about any disease, disorder or condition of an individual's family members (i.e. an individual's family medical history). The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.
  • Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) 

This law makes it illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities in employment (Title I), in public services (Title II), in public accommodations (Title III) and in telecommunications (Title IV). EEOC is responsible for enforcing Title I's prohibition against discrimination against people with disabilities in employment. The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit. The law also requires that employers reasonably accommodate the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability who is an applicant or employee, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the employer's business.

This law made a number of significant changes to the definition of “disability.” It also directed the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to amend its ADA regulations to reflect the changes made by the ADAAA. EEOC provides information about the ADAAA.

Guidance and Regulations

Resources

Commerce Program Manager: Monique Dismuke

In August 2023, the Department of Commerce issued its updated Reasonable Accommodation (RA) procedures (DAO 215-10). In November 2023, the Office of Civil Rights hosted a special panel discussion for DOC employees to learn what’s new in the updated DAO. The discussion was facilitated by Commerce subject matter experts who provided insightful information on common questions raised about the RA process.

Featured Panelists:

  • Mr. Jean Vincent, Team Lead, Reasonable Accommodations Branch, Human Resources Division, Census Bureau
  • Ms. Naveen Paul, Supervisory Attorney Advisor, Informal Complaints/RA Program Manager, Office of Equal Employment Opportunity & Diversity, US Patent and Trade Office
  • Ms. Lilia Irizarry-Felix, Reasonable Accommodation Coordinator, Office of Civil Rights, Office of the Secretary
  • Moderator:  Ms. Monique Dismuke, DOC Disability/Reasonable Accommodation Program Manager, Office of Civil Rights, Office of the Secretary
  • 0:00

    what I like to do is have each one of you go around and introduce yourself first so can we start with you Jean can

    0:06

    you please introduce yourself the audience please thank you good morning everyone I'm John Jensen and I'm over at

    0:13

    the Census Bureau as the team lead rmo accommodations I've been here for about four years and I truly truly enjoy the

    0:21

    work that I do thank you and I'll pass it on to mine

    0:27

    now you can go next and introduce yourself hi everyone my name is navine Paul I am

    0:33

    the AR program manager at the United States patent and trademark office um so

    0:38

    if you're within doc you may not be familiar with who I am but we uh

    0:43

    essentially do the same thing that Mo'Nique and her team do um just at the patent and trademark

    0:49

    office hi everybody I'm Lilia I'm the reasonable accommodation coordinator for

    0:55

    the office of the secretary um we are here in hbhc today

    1:02

    and looking forward to your questions thank you all for introducing

    1:10

    yourself uh to the uh audience today and I also want to bring out that this

    1:16

    training definitely is needed as we are uh recently have revised the department to revised their reasonable

    1:21

    accommodation procedure so for all those in attendance the Department of Commerce

    1:27

    um there are procedures outlined in Dao 25-10 in August 2023 that uh revised

    1:35

    version was released and available to you on the OCR web page it would eventually be available on you on to you

    1:43

    on the opo web page but you can also look um information on the OCR web page

    1:49

    that Dao RIS to uh be in accordance with the depart the

    1:56

    US commiss standards for reasonable accommodation in harmony with Section

    2:02

    501 of the rehab act so the the uh revision was necessary because of course

    2:08

    things change over time but more importantly we just it was important for federal agencies to make sure that their

    2:16

    reasonable accommodation procedures were in line with the guidance provided in

    2:21

    the law so again it was a long procedure within the Department of Commerce to make sure we get that right but our

    2:27

    guidance is right there and and da 25-10 so today's presentation uh we are

    2:34

    providing guidance based on 25-10 so it's pry broad um your Bureau may have

    2:40

    some specific proceed processes that they utilize internally for Effective flow of the ra process so if some of the

    2:48

    procceed some of the things discussed today are U maybe more um Broad and you

    2:54

    have more unique things you would consult with your Bureau or a coordinator regarding those things we do

    3:00

    also encourage you to put questions in the chat but again based on the time we may not get a chance to get to all of

    3:05

    your questions but feel free as we go along to put those questions in the chat um let's go ahead start off with talking

    3:13

    about the reasonable accommodation process first of all for those who not

    3:19

    know we'll start off with what is a reasonable accommodation and why is it

    3:24

    important vny could you answer that question for us what is a reasonable accommodation why yes so accommodation

    3:30

    allows an individual with the disability to more participate in the application process perform the essential functions

    3:38

    of their job or enjoy equal benefits or privileges of employment so and if you

    3:44

    have some type of disability and you're requesting a change in the workplace

    3:49

    that's when you you would request a reasonable

    3:56

    combination aesome thank thank you and yeah elaborate a little bit more why

    4:02

    accommodations are important what how did they um how sure it's extremely important number

    4:10

    one if you are needing a change in the workplace they can be something as simple as hey I need a cant desk in the

    4:17

    office because you have a back issue and it doesn't have to start off with you

    4:23

    knowing why the reasonable accommodation is it could just be hey I need a change in the workplace because of a medical

    4:29

    condition and that's when you would start with your supervisor tell them hey

    4:35

    I'm needing this and then we would start the process of the reasonal

    4:42

    accommodation thank you so um when with

    4:48

    based off of what you're saying when must an agency actually provide that accommodation is there a certain time

    4:54

    period have to provide it um is it you know right right so you can request the

    5:00

    accommodation at any stage from the application process if you're starting a

    5:06

    job or anytime during the your tenure with the agency so you would go to your

    5:13

    supervisor and let them know I'm requesting a Reas more accommodation and they have 20 business days from the time

    5:19

    that you request it to process it again that's without any extera circumstances

    5:25

    that make make it longer we would and once we come to our office will alert

    5:30

    your supervisor let them know if you've requested a Reas more accommodation and that 20 business days is for the whole

    5:37

    process to be completed there will be times that it does take longer in the

    5:43

    event that we do request medical documentation from the employee then

    5:48

    that stops the 20 business day timeline but we do try to process it as soon as

    5:54

    possible the 20 business days typically is the max that it will take us

    6:00

    but we to process it as soon as possible well thank you you kind of give

    6:06

    us a broad overview and we'll get a little bit more into that time frame in just a few minutes so can does a person

    6:13

    have to use any specific words like do they have to say I have a dis do they have to say I need a reasonable

    6:19

    accommodation Are there specific words that they have to use absolutely not they just need

    6:24

    to alert the supervisor or office that they need a change in workplace because

    6:30

    of a disability or because of a medical condition and a lot of times a supervisor might not know exactly what

    6:37

    the employee is requesting and that's when it's extremely imperative that they

    6:43

    reach out to our office or let the individual know I believe you're requesting a reason accommodation let me

    6:49

    send you to the reasonal accommodation Branch where we would be able to help the individual more but if a supervisor

    6:56

    you have questions about a statement that was made to you you reach out to our office and we'll definitely guide

    7:02

    you in the direction we will take over from there and reach out to the individuals so were able to get the

    7:09

    person the accommodation that they're requesting and sometimes it might not be a reasonable accommodation they're just

    7:15

    letting you know that there's something going on with them and as a supervisor one thing you always want to start off

    7:22

    with is how may I help you and let the employee tell you exactly what they need

    7:27

    what they think they may need and if it's not a reasonal accommodation then help them that way but if it is a

    7:33

    reasonal accommodation send them to our office and most importantly if you are

    7:38

    able to give that accommodation and we'll talk about that later is the supervisor ultimately is some who's

    7:46

    going to approve or deny that accommodation so if you're able to provide that accommodation without the

    7:53

    idual coming through our office and through the whole process please do so and provide that accommodation

    7:59

    to the individual so I hear you I understand

    8:05

    you to say that the ra process begins with the person letting the uh supervisor or even in our office know

    8:12

    that they have a need and that they need something a change in the way things are customarily done or in their job or

    8:19

    their position based on a medical condition right so I'm just recapping

    8:25

    not necessarily they they don't have to say they have a disability but starts the process now since that begins the

    8:32

    process we'll talk a little bit more about what's the next step when it comes to the interactive process which is in

    8:39

    the in the Dao it outlines three steps in this process initiating the process

    8:44

    of what you said the interactive process and then the decision so it start staying with the in initiating the

    8:50

    process uh Jean do we have any specific forms or online systems that we want

    8:57

    people to use to to start the process to let us know that they have a request to kind of keep track of it right so couple

    9:06

    things so the first thing is once you come to our office we'll send you intake forms which is a

    9:11

    c575 which is what you're going to fill out to send back to our office to let us

    9:16

    know what it is that you're you're requesting so that form comes to us and we know go over it and we'll get back to

    9:24

    and ask you if you need additional medical documentation but now with the new release of the Dao when it gives the

    9:31

    intell track tracking system is another way that you can go and request a

    9:36

    reasonable accommodation and once you do that it's just like filling out the CD 575 and it'll come to our office we'll

    9:44

    provide you with the REO accommodation coordinator that process your case and

    9:49

    it is a lot easier to use that cd5 I'm sorry the intell track tracking system

    9:55

    it lets you track the whole progress of your accomodation from the time you

    10:01

    submitt it to our office to alert your supervisor that you request the reasonal accommodation every step of the way from

    10:09

    has there made has there been a recommendation is there an approval you can view that on your own to see what

    10:15

    the process is at but if you don't go through that route of course the bureau

    10:22

    Rex will keep you updated throughout the whole process also and and Okay so let me clarify

    10:30

    again with that one so now we we utilize the um on online automated tracking

    10:36

    system which you mentioned is a new system for the Department of Commerce it's the ell track reasonable accommodation tracking system and a

    10:43

    person a person may go in and put their request into the system and the system allows them to verify their request and

    10:52

    then track as it proceeds along in the process now who maintains that system

    10:57

    who actually monitors and maintains and updates that system so the only people who have access to that system is going

    11:04

    to be the bureau rack so it's not open to the supervisors to be able to see

    11:10

    what you're submitting it's not going to if you submit your medical documentation

    11:15

    in there no one is going to see what you submitted into the system other than for

    11:21

    the REO accommodation coordinators that's going to be processing the request for you and of course the

    11:29

    Department of Commerce and you you also track to make sure everything's moving Al

    11:35

    along thank you Vinny and and I am the disability program manager and the product administrator so so yes I I do

    11:42

    have access to that system for the department and and so thank you for clarifying and and verifying that it is

    11:48

    a confidential system U no one has access to except those limited individuals to what you put in that

    11:53

    system now another thing another good great thing about that system is we don't it's not mandatory that you use

    11:59

    that system it's not mandatory that you fill out a CD 575 those are just two options for us to confirm and verify

    12:07

    what you've requested so if an employee contacts an RA coordinator um submits a

    12:13

    request they can do it verbally they can do it in an email but and then the ra

    12:18

    coordinator now they are responsible for ensuring that that uh request is put

    12:24

    into the system so it can be tracked but we do ask individuals to put it to go in

    12:30

    and and do it because we want to hear from you specifically and make sure we got your request right so that system

    12:36

    definitely is like a confirmation verification for us of what you're requesting okay so I want to make sure

    12:41

    that individuals know that yeah right and we will also I some questions coming

    12:46

    into for the link for the intell track system we'll put that in there also but

    12:52

    most importantly you do not have to fill out a CD 575 right it's not a requirement for you to do so but we do

    13:00

    need to know what you're requesting so we will fill it out for you and typically it will go into etk and you

    13:07

    will get an alert notice tell you exactly what you requested so if it's not what you think or we didn't capture

    13:15

    it correctly get back to our office and said no what I'm actually requesting is this we'll fix it for you but again it's

    13:22

    not a requirement that you fill it out but we do want to hear from you to let us know exactly what it is so it's not

    13:29

    we're not missing anything or the request that you are asking for is exactly what it is and of course we'll

    13:36

    follow it up with the medical documentation to support it but we definitely want to capture the request

    13:43

    that is going to be sent to us in your supervisor to let us know exactly what

    13:48

    you will need okay awesome thank you n let me ask

    13:54

    you is PTO uh that you're you have an online tracking system that's separate from the system that we use uh

    14:00

    throughout the rest of the department fortunately PTO had the system first before it became a department-wide

    14:06

    system so we were able to kind of see learn about that system you got it a few years ago so naine is your system work

    14:13

    the same way as far as like tracking and submitting a request do they use that online system or a different form okay

    14:21

    yes we do and the capabilities I think differ in a little bit but it's essentially the same uh you register for

    14:28

    the software once you can log on you'll see a a screen that says submit new

    14:33

    request and you fill out the for the online form and it will ask you uh you

    14:39

    know your home address because it's important that we' be able to get in touch with you uh the duties that you're having difficulty performing what

    14:46

    accommodation you're requesting and if you're unsure about the accommodation that you need uh there is a list on the

    14:54

    new request page uh and maybe the accommodation you need is not on that list it's not an exhaustive list if

    15:00

    there's something different that you need you can fill that in maybe you already know because your doctor made a

    15:06

    recommendation um but if you don't know you can always interact uh with your case processor and they'll work with you

    15:12

    and your medical provider to identify what you need so you know then you certify that your request is accurate

    15:20

    you hit submit um you are automatically assigned an eeo specialist to process

    15:25

    your case you're automatically assigned a deciding official um and we begin

    15:30

    processing your case immediately okay and so I will U add

    15:35

    some clarification too on slight differences in processes So within PTO

    15:41

    that the you um you have automatic deciding official within uh the rest of Doc we operate just a slight difference

    15:48

    so your supervisor is your deciding official or someone in your chain of command who will be notified as you

    15:54

    mentioned that uh system does notify the supervisor once you put that request in

    15:59

    that you've submitted a request so whoever you put down in that system as your supervisor uh for the rest of Doc

    16:07

    separate from USPTO that's who will get the notification that a request has been submitted now I we also have a question

    16:13

    there did you discuss it with your supervisor so if you have you'll say yes if not then we're aware that this is the

    16:20

    first time your supervisor may be aware of uh your need so it's important that

    16:25

    you let us know that as well one last thing I'll say about that then Lily I want to ask you if you have any other

    16:30

    input on that as well on the um initiating the process one last thing about that is that um there are

    16:37

    categories on that uh screen on that form online form that are M marked with

    16:43

    an aster that means you have to fill those in the others are optional but again even with the optional information

    16:48

    is helpful to us so please put in the um optional information if you have it okay

    16:54

    thank you very much now Lilia yes yes hi um here um under the office of the secretary yes

    17:02

    um the same as PTO um it's different as PTO and closer

    17:08

    to what the census does uh the deciding official is the uh immediate supervisor

    17:13

    base on your essential functions and the accommodation you are requesting we are

    17:18

    also Beering out uh to of having more um

    17:24

    files on on each accommodation on the electron um file system the etk because it

    17:32

    creates continuity it creates you know um a safe place to have your

    17:38

    information uh it's accessible from you know anywhere that you have a computer and you have access to the Department of

    17:45

    Commerce um also I would like to add to when when you become uh when you have a

    17:52

    disability when for the first time in your life or you become you know um you

    17:57

    find yourself in need need of requiring uh diagnosed with uh something um you

    18:05

    find yourself that you need something to continue working but sometimes you don't know what and it's always helpful to

    18:12

    have your job description and discuss it with your supervisor that with your doctor and um see you know which

    18:19

    essential functions you need to perform in order to kind of like have you know

    18:24

    your full potential at work that will be that will not nrow uh the list uh of

    18:31

    potential accommodations that you can request um the person with a disability

    18:38

    is the person that uh has firsthand knowledge of their

    18:43

    limitations uh but sometimes it's hard to point out what kind of accommodation

    18:49

    will work with my limitation it's very important that you create a relationship

    18:54

    with your reasonable accommodation coordinator because um we we can offer you not only resources to this process

    19:02

    but we can offer you resources to where to seek information like the Department of

    19:08

    Labor um ask genen uh or or that um agency which can help you and give you

    19:16

    examples of uh certain accommodations uh depending on your condition or what you

    19:22

    are experien everything with re yes yes

    19:28

    and and thank you so you and again you know I I didn't mean to cut you off I I apologize for that but you're leading

    19:34

    right into the next segment which is interactive process and I really appreciate that for the sake of time

    19:39

    we'll just kind of keep the flow going but you just really connected us to the interactive process so after a person

    19:45

    has now um said hey I have I have a need I have a medical condition I need to change something in a way I customarily

    19:51

    do my job or whatever um now I need to figure out what I I want to request um

    19:59

    or what the agency can provide for me or what what is you know what I can get in terms of what I need what this we go

    20:07

    into what we call the interactive process can you kind of talk just briefly about what this process is what

    20:12

    happens during the interactive process tell me a couple of the things that people need to know about what happens during that

    20:19

    process um first uh it's confidential very important because

    20:25

    that's open up the um the flow of information for anything you know you

    20:31

    need to say or about your condition that you don't want anybody else to know um

    20:38

    basically it will be giving you an overview of the process and what what we

    20:43

    need what we don't need uh and what will happen and within what time this

    20:49

    interactive process will happen um like you mentioned before the etk has uh a

    20:56

    question that says uh and etk is the electronic format that says have you spoken to your supervisor

    21:03

    some people are very open about their life H with their supervisor and with the whole office other people are more

    21:10

    uh reserved so I mean it's not a requirement but if you feel more comfortable you should know that um we

    21:17

    won't discuss your medical history we won't reveal anything that uh just basically uh we will focus on your

    21:24

    limitations and what would you would need to keep performing the same level that you were performing

    21:30

    before this disability or It's ability you will be doing something the same job

    21:36

    but with some in a different way I like to put it like that I don't like to use

    21:41

    the word much disability so very good so yeah so you have some

    21:47

    limitation maybe some functional limitation if you have a a condition that um impacts your ability to you know

    21:55

    maybe walk or sit down or stand or something like that that those are what we call functional limitations so now I

    22:03

    have a limitation I'm talking to the ra coordinator about my limitations and am

    22:08

    I required to give you medical documentation on this um during this interactive process

    22:15

    Lilia well basically if you have a obvious uh

    22:21

    disability uh some no uh but in some cases um yeah we do need to see you know

    22:29

    some medical documentation that will help us um assess and classify you as

    22:36

    you know as a person that does have disability under the law and or has an impairment for you know a short period

    22:43

    of time um and that's something that um uh we do need to have that evidence in

    22:50

    order to kind of like process and I appreciate it you adding

    22:55

    that the impairment so when we Define disability we say that it is a physical

    23:01

    or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more life activities right and we major life activities and we

    23:08

    don't need the employee to determine that they have a disability we don't need the superviser to determine that

    23:14

    they have a disability the determination on as to whether a person has a disability or not rest within a

    23:20

    reasonable accommodation office so the coordinators program managers we assess based on your medical documentation

    23:28

    information we receive from you and sometimes in in uh you know using the

    23:33

    the requirements outlined in guide the EOC and the law we determine if you have

    23:38

    um a disability now but that being said you that's the reason why we don't have

    23:44

    to you don't have to say I have a disability just if you have an impairment that impacts one or more of

    23:50

    your major life activities or bodily function talk to your ra coordinator and

    23:55

    the determination will be made at that point the fol focus is what do you need so how do we do uh A needs assessment

    24:02

    and I'm going to ask all three of you to kind of chime in on that just slightly how do you determine if a per what the

    24:09

    um the options are for accommodation how how does a person um kind of help how do

    24:15

    you help a person or how do they provide information on what they need for an accommodation and we'll start with you

    24:21

    Lilia can you help I would I will say that um based on the um

    24:28

    essential functions what kind of job you do are you sitting down in a computer all day are you an analyst are you you

    24:36

    know just all all that kind of your your essential functions what you do every day um I I I always like to give an

    24:44

    example oh I am i t I'm a typist I type all day uh suddenly I broke my arm I can

    24:51

    no longer type uh it could we know it could be a temporary limitation uh so

    24:58

    what would you need you know maybe then you look into the um resources out there

    25:04

    that can be used to help you you know work during that temporary limitation or

    25:10

    permanent limitation I mean technology definitely has help us make out our job

    25:16

    a little better thank you and how about you Johan

    25:22

    what what what would you say on that question added information what I would

    25:27

    say is the person who would know best what's going to work for them is that individual right they're the one who has

    25:34

    that disability so through the interactive process we listen to get exactly what they think will work for

    25:41

    them and a lot of times it's a life from disability that might have just gotten to the agency so they know exactly what

    25:47

    worked for them in the past so that's where we we still starting point is what you say is going to be that's going to

    25:55

    work best for you and the next step is want to make the recommendation to the supervisor that individual might think

    26:01

    that's the best thing but the supervisor might say Hey you know it might not work for my business needs but here's an

    26:08

    alternative accommodation that should be just as effective and that's that's where we're gonna try that first and see

    26:15

    if it works but at any point in time if that accommodation that you're requested does not work for you then it's time to

    26:22

    come back to us or go back to the supervisor and say can we reevaluate this so it's a continuous process to get

    26:29

    the exact accommodation that works best for not only you but for the the

    26:35

    business needs of that unit thatal working for okay awesome now we have a lot of

    26:44

    questions coming in in the chat but what I'm going to ask is that we're we're trying to get through um the primary

    26:49

    information that you need to have we're going to have about we're going to try to leave about 10 or 15 minutes at the

    26:54

    end to respond to these questions and if there are questions that we do not get

    26:59

    to we we definitely will ask you to contact your Bureau ra coordinator your bureaus do conduct training on a routine

    27:06

    basis so I would say look out for the training but also you can reach directly out to your ra coordinator for your

    27:12

    specific questions okay so definitely we do want the questions we thank you for the questions and we will definitely get

    27:18

    back uh to you on those answers okay thank you all right so again we're

    27:24

    talking about the interactive process so nine in the interactive process do it it

    27:29

    the the person may say well you know do do I have to get something from my

    27:34

    doctor specifically to State certain things what should I tell my doctor what needs to be on my form or my information

    27:41

    um can you talk about that a little bit what are ask for yeah so uh hopefully we

    27:48

    all know that uh every human is different um and the way that we experience disabilities can be different

    27:54

    you can have the same disability but need something else as someone uh who has the same disability um so if they

    28:00

    don't know what their doctor needs to say well the great thing is we have internal forms docc has forms PTO has

    28:06

    forms and those forms are very specific to the information that the agency needs

    28:12

    now sometimes you don't need that form so in lilia's example someone who has a broken arm or a broken wrist it might be

    28:18

    obvious right dictation software is going to help them because they won't be able to type sometimes there are more

    28:24

    complicated conditions like neurodiversity conditions for example and that affects different people in

    28:30

    many different ways maybe someone needs extra time maybe someone needs a different schedule maybe someone uh you

    28:37

    know needs a different kind of assistance um in that case we would have a conversation there is usually a

    28:43

    release attached to the form so it is up to the employee to authorize uh the

    28:49

    agency to reach out to their medical provider uh so that there's no delay you don't have to do that um but it

    28:54

    certainly helps and it makes things quicker if we can just pick a the phone and call your provider and say this was

    29:00

    unclear these are the employees duties you know can you tell us what would work

    29:05

    for this employee wonderful and just to clarify a

    29:10

    little bit more what's needed in the medical documentation I know sometimes folks submit to us their VA rating um

    29:16

    letter and sometimes they even give us like I have a um State decal for

    29:22

    handicap parking um so therefore you know that shows that I have disability

    29:28

    and I should be able to get you know something whatever I request it is that sufficient I will take that from anyone

    29:35

    or what do you what do you it it is not so it needs to be specific um you know

    29:42

    sometimes your medical documentation the easy example is they broke their wrist that you know we know what we can

    29:47

    provide in that situation but if there is a general statement that you have a disability or that you have they could

    29:54

    even specify the disability but it could affect you and different ways we need specificity as to the condition and

    30:01

    specifically what accommodation will assist you because we are not medical professionals we cannot guess what you

    30:08

    might need um if for example you have ADHD which has a broad range of symptoms

    30:14

    and also a wide variety of uh technology and accommodations that can

    30:20

    help thank you and and go ahead yes I add Monique that I i' like to say that

    30:28

    like naine perfectly mentioned earlier I mean each ACC accommodation is unique

    30:33

    you may have like shean like she said you may have the same disease but it

    30:39

    manifests differently or your limitations are different so it's it's

    30:45

    something that uh people tend to compare uh I may need a chair I may not need a

    30:50

    big monitor I may need a big monitor I may not need a chair I mean it's it's

    30:56

    yes it's human nature to compare but each accommodation is unique it's

    31:02

    tailored to the individual need limitations and

    31:07

    job very so that is very important to have in the uh interactive and part of

    31:14

    our job in the interactive if is also educate the um supervisors um because we

    31:22

    always come from the perspective of the employee having the disability but that

    31:28

    supervisor may not be um you know the first time that he's dealing with something like this uh or it's something

    31:36

    that and we tend to immediately go to our memory um experience of something

    31:42

    that oh I remember seeing such and such doing this um so we are here to educate

    31:48

    both you you and help you through the process and help the supervisors to the

    31:53

    process um so it's it's very important to to remember that when it comes to

    31:59

    medical documentation support your condition and the accommodation your

    32:05

    requesting thank you Lilia so one one last question on this interactive process before we move into the

    32:11

    decision-making process and I I'll point this to Jean so Jean once is my medical

    32:16

    information safe who gets my information who gets to see it how is it kept confidential so one of two things so if

    32:24

    you go to the intell track system and you upload that documentation on there only our office is going to see it at no

    32:32

    point in time should you as a supervisor request medical documentation from an employee and vice versa an employee you

    32:39

    should never give that documentation to your to your supervisor it's only going

    32:44

    to be kept in our office confidential and most importantly we never discuss

    32:50

    what your medical condition is with the supervisor throughout the whole process you'll never know what your disability

    32:56

    is and we won't div that information we only provide the function limitations

    33:02

    associated with the request that's coming to our office so you do not have

    33:07

    to ever worry that your medical documentation is going to be given to your supervisor or once it's uploaded to

    33:14

    the intell track system that anyone other than the pure rack is going to be

    33:20

    able to see that information thank you and I'll add one point to this so we know that that the

    33:28

    confidentiality um uh requirement um extends to even the knowledge of you having a reasonable accommodation so a

    33:35

    supervisor can talk about your reasonable accommodation request with you those in the chain of command may

    33:40

    have a need to know in terms of making a decision and they would discuss your limitations along with your needs right

    33:48

    your actual needs which they can get from the ra coordinator and if the employee has that relationship and they

    33:54

    give it to the supervisor their medical you haven't done anything wrong but again that confidentiality to protect

    33:59

    your confidentiality we recommend that it only be provided to your ra coordinator or upload uploaded in our

    34:06

    tracking system to protect your confidentiality um if a supervisor receives it again pass that on to the ra

    34:14

    coordinator it takes that burden off of your shoulders of holding on to that because again it is protected by

    34:20

    confidentiality laws so again thank you for uh providing that information and helping folks to understand that your

    34:26

    medical documentation is confidential we do not need or want your full medical history so work with your coordinator

    34:33

    they'll tell you specifically what's need needed okay so we don't want to have all your information we just need

    34:38

    to know that you have an impairment U that is substantially limits oneor your major life activities um how it impacts

    34:46

    you doing your essential functions of your job and what kind of accommodations may be recommended by your physician to

    34:53

    help that um help you to be able to do your job or uh provide what you need on

    34:59

    the job okay so let's move quickly into the decision making process and let's talk a little bit about this because

    35:05

    this is a topic that comes up quite often um is the is the agency required

    35:11

    and we'll start with you on this one nine is the agency required to provide me with the accommodation I requested

    35:18

    and what what what might the agency consider to be you know unreasonable since you give me reasonable

    35:24

    accommodations what might be unreasonable so uh unpopular answer uh

    35:29

    no the agency is not required to give you the accommodation that you request I

    35:34

    would love an accommodation of a billion dollars my doctor might say that I need the accommodation of a billion dollars

    35:41

    the agency does not have to provide it um a more uh realistic example would be

    35:48

    if an employee with on-site duties requests Tor and the reason for the request is perhaps they're distracted

    35:55

    while they're on site um the agency does not have to in the

    36:00

    first instance Grant Tork if there are equal and alternative accommodations

    36:05

    available such as private office space noise cancelling headphones maybe a

    36:10

    modified schedule so that there are less people around to distract the employee so that answers the first question and

    36:17

    two what is considered unreasonable um that is a little bit out of our hands

    36:22

    because the law and the courts sort of tell us what is unreasonable and include removing essential functions uh reducing

    36:30

    performance standards personal use items um and sort of the catchall is anything

    36:36

    that uh would cause an undue burden to the agency um that's a legal standard

    36:42

    I'm not sure folks need to worry about the specifics of it because it's a very high burden to meet um but there is a

    36:47

    specific list of what the law considers unreasonable all right thank you so much

    36:54

    and so to to follow up on that question I want to ask about so there are times when has

    37:03

    a particular accommodation and it was provided um in

    37:09

    a particular job and now they either no longer have the job move to a new

    37:15

    position um or uh the the commodation

    37:21

    had a particular time frame so is there it can accommodation be changed is it a

    37:27

    permanent accommodation once I get it I always got it if I move to a new job I keep that accommodation do I have to

    37:32

    resubmit a request what exactly um is is is uh the process there when it comes to

    37:38

    um that accommodation and um you want to take that one Leia

    37:44

    basically you change supervisor you change you need to request you need to subm made it because

    37:52

    that accommodation was approved on the that uh previous job

    37:58

    uh job duties um

    38:03

    position that's the first answer and

    38:09

    when it com excuse me Lilia I think you're breaking up a bit um yeah okay so

    38:16

    could you you might have to turn your camera off and

    38:22

    continue hear me now better I can hear you go ahead yes keep

    38:29

    talking okay so Bas the

    38:36

    um I'm so sorry yeah you're still breaking up Lilia but yeah I'll answer

    38:42

    can you take thatn okay yes an accommodation even though some

    38:48

    accommodations might be permanent if you move to another place that permanent

    38:53

    accommodation that you might have had out of previous is under even another supervisor or another division might not

    39:00

    work for the next place you go to right so that accommodation might follow you

    39:05

    but that new supervisor might say well it doesn't work for the essential function that's being performed at this

    39:12

    new location so we would start the process over again you would come to our office and we work with the

    39:18

    supervisor to the interactive process to ensure is there something that's just as

    39:24

    effective because they couldn't Grant you the accommodation you might have worked at a place where full-time Tork

    39:30

    was something that could be done I go to another office where you have to be on site now we start the process all over

    39:38

    again but a lot of times that same accommodation will follow you to the next place if it's not causing any type

    39:44

    of undo hardship to the next place that you're at but we will typically again

    39:50

    reach out to the next supervisor if you let us know we're going to a new place so we can start that process

    39:57

    over again if it needs to be started to add that um can

    40:08

    you yeah we we can hear you Lilia I think it's still breaking up though but we you could try I just want to add that

    40:16

    um you know once you get an accommodation is I think that it's a

    40:22

    it's a dynamic process it's not the end of everything of all the process it's

    40:28

    it's more of a let's say that you know they approve a software for you to use

    40:34

    and you that software is not working uh for you so don't think you don't have a

    40:41

    resource just go back and engage in the process until we find a suitable

    40:46

    accommodation for you within and has mention we you

    40:54

    know thank you Lily you broke up but I I think I'll recap what you said basically if the

    41:00

    accommodation is provided if it's not working uh if it's not effective if it's not working for you or you're not able

    41:06

    to perform the essential functions you can go back to the drawing board and um look at more accommodation options what

    41:12

    else is out there what else can be done um to provide you an accommodation at works now the department is required to

    41:19

    provide a reasonable accommodation but we know uh many times the the department is not required and folks are sometimes

    41:26

    a little confused about this they're not required to provide the accommodation that the employee requested now they may

    41:32

    they try to work with you to provide what you request but ultimately the final decision comes down to the

    41:37

    deciding official and it must be reasonable so there is a process that's

    41:42

    what we're talking about you with you today to determine what is reasonable and what's effective in terms of you

    41:50

    being able to perform the essential functions of your of your position always keep that in mind so next

    41:57

    question who is with that in mind who is responsible for considering that

    42:02

    individual's request and making the ultimate decision or deciding I know it's slightly different with PTO than it

    42:08

    is with the uh the procedures that we use for the rest of the department so we can just talk briefly um John if you

    42:14

    will answer for the rest of the department and then PTO you kind of mention your Nuance there at PTO show me

    42:21

    sure yeah first senses typically if you're at headquarters it's going to go directly to your first my supervisor as

    42:27

    they're the ones who knows exactly what you do they're the ones who's going to be assigned your so that approval

    42:34

    process starts with your direct supervisor for field it is a little bit

    42:40

    different as it goes to the assistant regional directors that make the decisions for that specific region but

    42:48

    typically if we send a recommendation to that DMO the deciding management

    42:53

    official they will reach out to your first line supervisor to ensure that

    42:58

    before approving that it is going to be something that they can support so we do

    43:05

    things a little bit differently for field and same thing over at the national proess Center and PC for us it

    43:13

    doesn't go to the first line supervisors but they are involved as the deciding

    43:19

    management official will be the one who reaches out to ensure that it is something that can be supported and

    43:25

    approved okay awesome and so and PTO you you're a deciding management official

    43:32

    typically how do you do that over there so we have a dedicated pool of deciding

    43:38

    officials and they are regularly assigned cases we try to do someone

    43:46

    outside of the employees chain of command um just in case there's any concern about a conflict um sometimes

    43:54

    that's not always possible because of how high level someone up is they might

    43:59

    you know be an assistant commissioner and sort of everyone will eventually report to this person um but typically

    44:06

    uh we try to assign someone that is not within the chain of command so you're not going to have to report to this

    44:13

    person uh no one within your department is going to have information that you even have an RA other than your

    44:19

    supervisor to make sure that they implement it and that the terms of the RA are not violated so that's how we do

    44:25

    it f okay and so again to recap the most

    44:31

    important thing is that there is a deciding management official is designated by the ra requirements you

    44:37

    have to designate a management official to make a decision the reasonable accommodation Specialist or coordin

    44:42

    coordinator does not make decisions we are not decision makers we're advisers on the process so we guide employees

    44:48

    through the process we advise managers on the process we help you to make sure that you are engaging in the process as

    44:55

    the determined and outlined in the policy and procedures the deciding management official has that Authority

    45:03

    uh given to them to decide what accommodation will be granted on behalf

    45:08

    of that employee uh as a representative of the Department of Commerce so um keep

    45:13

    that in mind when you uh think about what we do as ra coordinators um that is not our role

    45:20

    that is their role now we will say that we do also utilize of guidance and advice um from

    45:26

    the partners um for legal you know for issues related to denials we ask that um

    45:34

    when there's a denial there's also a process we have an process for approving which is pretty straightforward simple

    45:40

    and then we have a process for denial so let's talk about that denial uh what is

    45:46

    the requirement um for denials of reasonable accommodations what what is the

    45:53

    requirement uh it has to be legally supported so we if we're going to deny it there's got to be a good reason to do

    46:00

    that right either the medical documentation doesn't support it it's one of the things on the list that would

    46:06

    make it an unreasonable accommodation maybe it's an ineffective accommodation

    46:11

    and we provide all of that information to the employee at the time of denial we also provide them and sorry if this uh

    46:18

    infringes on the next question but by law we have to provide a reconsideration process so if you are unhappy with the

    46:26

    decision that you receive you have the opportunity to request a

    46:31

    reconsideration and I appreciate you say and unhappy because again we we say to

    46:37

    the employees the agency has to provide a reasonable and effective not necessarily the one you want so when we

    46:43

    think about the term of unhappy we we're going to go back to this process if you feel that the process what is provided

    46:49

    is ineffective it does not U meet your needs or may cause some other hardship

    46:54

    or something for you or does doesn't help you overcome the barrier to performing The Essential functions of

    47:00

    your job that's what we're talking about you can ask for reconsideration if the accommodation provided is not meeting

    47:06

    that need and and be specific about you know why you feel that it's not working for you or it would be ineffective or

    47:14

    unreasonable from your perspective now in the Dao you will find um the Dao

    47:21

    25-10 outlines how you would go through that reconsideration process but that is a part of of of the reasonable

    47:27

    accommodation process if you're provided something that doesn't work now let's quickly go to time frame I know we don't

    47:33

    have a whole lot of time but I want to talk about um the required time frame

    47:38

    and um how uh we have challenges in terms of time frame because we do have a couple

    47:45

    of pieces in that time frame that have to be uh completed and it can be somewhat of a challenge so um we're

    47:52

    gonna start with you nine and then i' like to get uh Vinnie's input and Lily if they have any other closing comments

    47:59

    on that on time frame so PTO is a little bit different we have an internal 45-day policy to

    48:06

    process the requests and then we have to implement it as soon as reasonably possible um there's no hard and fast

    48:15

    deadline on that it's just what is reasonable and that's going to be case specific so if you were granted a type

    48:21

    of assistive software um and you try it and it doesn't work then obviously you

    48:26

    got to come back to the ra team and let them know it doesn't work right so then we sort of look for something else that

    48:33

    might assist you um so essentially it is what is reasonable if it's something simple like an ergonomic Mouse and it's

    48:39

    been two weeks and you haven't gotten one to me that's an unreasonable amount of time to wait and you should come back

    48:45

    to us so we can put pressure on folks to make sure you get the hardware or

    48:50

    software or anything else that you need okay awesome than thank you and

    48:56

    then um Vinnie when it comes to to that time frame as as uh um nine mentioned

    49:03

    it's no hard and fast but we have a recommended time frame um that we try to stick by in the department but there

    49:10

    could be extenuating circumstances so for the Department's uh Dao uh what is

    49:16

    the time frame and is it business days or calendar days so we have 20 business

    49:22

    days to get that accommodation process like you said the time does stop if we're requesting medical documentation

    49:29

    from you or any information that we may need to process that request like I said

    49:34

    it before the 20 days is the max we try to do it as soon as possible and as far

    49:40

    as implementation once it's been approved we do give you about 10 days to get that accommodation implemented and

    49:47

    we do let the employees we do tell them to let us know once it's been implemented so we know

    49:54

    it's closed but again if we have to order if we have to order any type of equipment that might take a while but

    50:01

    most important thing is keep the employee in the know and let them know hey that's where out in the process we

    50:07

    we're purchasing this equipment is going to get here at about this time most if

    50:13

    the employee knows the timeline that yes it's coming they'll feel a lot better than not knowing what's going on with

    50:19

    that reason more accommodation okay and I will add to to

    50:24

    your statement to that the uh the 20 business days um are based on decision

    50:30

    so we have 20 business days to make a decision we have a little bit additional time for implementation so basically we

    50:38

    try to get the the deciding official all the information that they need um so

    50:43

    that they can make an effective uh decision and that's why it's important that the when you come in F ra if you

    50:50

    don't have a visible disability um or obvious disability we ask for medical

    50:56

    because we we can't interpret we can't see we work and all of us a lot of us

    51:02

    work in these hybrid or telework environments so um it's very difficult sometime to assess what your needs are

    51:09

    or to determine you have a disability so we just need to have the medical documentation basically explains what

    51:15

    your limitations are and what type of accommodations would be effective in helping you to um overcame overcome some

    51:21

    workplace barrier or help you to perform the essential function of your job all right so we are almost at the end we

    51:28

    have about four minutes and I do thank all of the individuals who have been putting uh questions in um the chat I

    51:35

    the questions are all is a lot you have a lot of questions there panelists but

    51:40

    thank you for those who have been helping me um Stacy Carter and Laura soraa to be able to respond to some of

    51:46

    these questions we have a lot of information on reasonable accommodations on the website which was posted um on uh

    51:53

    the OCR website for reasonable accommodations that was posted in the chat so you can definitely go out there

    51:59

    and look at that and also resources for reasonable accommodations there the link to the Dao 25-10 is there your Bureau

    52:07

    coordinator you can find that also on that website you can find who your Bureau coordinator is so that you can uh

    52:13

    go specifically back to them and ask your questions um I will say also that

    52:20

    if you just feel like um the uh information we provided to you today was

    52:26

    just a just a little taste please look out for your bureau's reasonable accommodation training there you can

    52:32

    definitely get into more details ask more questions I know that there were you know there's some guidance in the

    52:38

    Dao about telework um other than coach class uh travel sometimes individuals

    52:46

    request accommodations for um other than what we typically provide economy or coach travel U because of their specific

    52:53

    medical needs that is in there here also in the Dao we um talk about the need for

    53:00

    personal assistant services so if you have a disability and you you have

    53:05

    certain medical conditions that require you to have assistance with activities

    53:11

    of daily living like eating dressing um you know doing things like that you can

    53:17

    actually get a service call you can get your personal assistant Services uh paid for during your work time if you have an

    53:24

    assistant that assistant will be paid for by the Department of Commerce during

    53:29

    the time that you work so to get more details on that you can look in the Dao you can also talk to your ra coordinator

    53:36

    who can assist you with that um before we leave I just want to go around the room and see if I missed anything is

    53:43

    there anything important that maybe we should have mentioned you got about 30 seconds or so uh we'll start off Miss

    53:49

    Lilia because I think you're coming in clear and strong real quick about 30 seconds or so oh

    53:55

    unmute yourself you're coming in clear but we can't hear you because you're

    54:01

    muted you look clear okay apologies so sorry about this I thought that coming

    54:08

    to hchp today was gonna help with the presentation because using uh VPN from

    54:16

    home I confronted several issues too previously so if you have any questions

    54:23

    uh if you want clarification on anything that we said today just email us um I'm

    54:28

    pretty sure um La Monique have putting the information for all of us I will be

    54:35

    putting uh my contact information uh in the chat room for anybody that has a

    54:41

    question and would like to kind of like um clarification on

    54:47

    anything perfect thank you um

    54:53

    Johan y so yeah one thing I will do I will put my information in the chat also

    54:59

    but a couple questions that were asked before we came into the training was

    55:04

    there's a new Dao there's a new Intel track tracking system do I need to request a new accommodation the answer

    55:11

    is no you do not need to request your accommodation that's already in place

    55:17

    just because the Dao has been republished re-released in the event

    55:22

    that there is anything like that we would let you know and you did mentioned the other than coach travel one big

    55:28

    thing that has changed with that is that it does have to be renewed on an annual

    55:34

    basis now no longer is a permanent accommodation so even if you do need it

    55:41

    every year you just have to reapply for it we're not going to ask you for the medical documentation to support that

    55:47

    again if we already have it but we do need to recertify that request on an

    55:52

    annual basis so the fin who would have that information thank you for bringing that

    55:59

    up so yeah that's critical and important it's not our requirement it is a requirement um for

    56:06

    the for government employees utilizing that travel because it is other than coach's business first class and oig has

    56:12

    the report on it every year so it is required that you just let us know that you still need it so if you have a

    56:19

    permanent lifelong disability we have documentation then we could just certify you still need that um

    56:25

    that that travel Arrangement thank you all right Miss

    56:30

    navine uh just thank you for having me and I'm I'm sorry that we couldn't get to all the questions you all can see how

    56:37

    quickly they're coming in um but for folks at PTO who have any questions I dropped my email address in the chat so

    56:43

    feel free to reach out to me whenever you have a moment yes and thank you for doing that as well because we again we thank you

    56:50

    for your time because these are our um um these are the the experts that you

    56:55

    will contact within your agency if you are in the hchb Miss Lilia ireri fix is

    57:02

    your PC for the bureau and hchb Jean Vincent thank you for joining us from

    57:07

    census naine thank you for joining us for USPTO you also have uh a p out at nist

    57:15

    Miss uh khila Amin and then you have Miss uh Debbie Ferrara and a Jolie

    57:21

    Braxton who are with Noah so again reach out to your poc's at your Bureau for

    57:27

    additional questions comments I'm also here Monique dmuk if you need uh to ask

    57:33

    me a question um your Rax work with me as well in ogc we also consult with them on various information pieces of

    57:39

    information but we thank you so much for your time and unfortunately our time is up so thank you again for for being here

    57:47

    today and uh if you put your questions in the chat we will definitely respond

    57:52

    and get back to you on those questions um if

    57:58

    not from directly from your and again thank you so much for your time today

    58:03

    thank you