SECTION 501—AFFIRMATIVE ACTION POLICY STATEMENT

JULY 2001

 

 

Over the next several years, the U.S. Department of Transportation will face a significant challenge in recruiting candidates to fill vacancies created by retirements and departures from federal service.  This challenge, however, also presents an historic chance to open job opportunities at the Department to individuals who may have had difficulty accessing them in the past, including people with disabilities.

 

Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits Federal executive branch agencies from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities.  It also requires agencies to take affirmative action in hiring, placing, and advancing people with disabilities.

 

As one of the authors of the Americans with Disabilities Act during my service in Congress, I am firmly committed to making the Department of Transportation a model employer in opening job opportunities and building a positive work environment for people with disabilities.

 

All applicants and employees have the right to be treated with respect and individuals must be recruited, hired, and promoted based upon their qualifications and experience.  The Department has both an ethical and legal obligation to provide reasonable accommodations that will allow applicants and employees with disabilities an equal opportunity to compete in the workplace.

 

The current generation of Americans with disabilities is well prepared for the job market, yet nearly one half of working age people with disabilities in the United States are unemployed.  An aggressive affirmative employment program of recruiting, outreach, and employee development directed toward people with disabilities has the potential both to help the Department meet its workforce needs and to help bring Americans with disabilities into the mainstream of the Department and society as a whole.

 

 

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Americans with disabilities come from all walks of life and all racial, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds.  Our commitment to opening job opportunities to all Americans, including Americans with disabilities, is a reflection of our commitment to building a Department that works for, includes, and responds to the needs of all Americans.

 

I urge all U.S. Department of Transportation employees to join me in finding the very best means of implementing Section 501 and in working aggressively to create opportunities to recruit, hire, train, mentor, and promote persons with disabilities. 

   

 

 

 

 

Norman Y. Mineta

 

 

 

A MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARY

 

I am proud to present the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities’ Plan.  The Committee exemplifies ONE DOT as it brings together representatives from all Operating Administrations, the appropriate Secretarial Offices, and other Departmental organizations representing employees with disabilities.  This Plan has my strong endorsement and that of the Department’s senior management. 

 

The Department needs a skilled, competent, and diverse workforce to succeed in the 21^st century and cannot afford to allow any part of its population be excluded from contributing to DOT’s success and mission.  To accomplish these goals, it is imperative that we work together to eliminate workplace barriers — physical, attitudinal, social, and technological — to create the affirmative employment opportunities that Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act mandates.   

 

We must be leaders in providing opportunities for everyone to reach his or her full potential.  The DOT Plan for the Employment of People with Disabilities has been developed to serve as our road map for recruiting, hiring, developing, promoting, and retaining people with disabilities.  Departmental managers and supervisors are directly accountable for the effective implementation of this Plan.  To achieve real results, each of us is expected to closely monitor this Plan’s implementation in our areas of responsibility.

 

Our Nation’s civil rights laws prohibit discrimination and mandate equal employment opportunities for all.  By adopting this Plan, the U.S. Department of Transportation affirms its commitment to civil rights and its vision of the inclusion of people with disabilities as integral contributors to our critical transportation mission.  Together, we must work to make the hopes and aspirations of people with disabilities achievable in the DOT workplace.

 

 

 

 

Norman Y. Mineta

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

Introduction............................................................................................................................. 1

 

Directive.................................................................................................................................. 3

 

DOT Plan Action Items........................................................................................................... 5

 

Recruitment and Placement...................................................................................................... 5

 

Employment Opportunities for Students.................................................................................... 8

 

Career Development................................................................................................................ 10

 

Monitoring and Evaluating Progress.......................................................................................... 10

 

Reasonable Accommodation.................................................................................................... 12

 

Attachments

 

   Attachment 1.  Terms and Definitions.................................................................................... A-1

 

   Attachment 2.  DOT Operating Administrations..................................................................... A-2

 

   Attachment 3.  DOT Projected Hiring Goals......................................................................... A-3

 

   Attachment 4.  DOT Model Curriculum................................................................................ A-4

 

 

 

 

1

 

INTRODUCTION

 

 

On March 13, 1998, Executive Order 13078 established the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities.  The Task Force’s mission is to create a coordinated and aggressive national policy to bring adults with disabilities into gainful employment at a rate comparable to that of the general adult population.  The Task Force's first report, “Recharting the Course,” was accepted on December 14, 1998.  Based on that report, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was directed to develop a plan to increase the representation of adults with disabilities in the Federal workforce. 

 

On October 16, 1999, a Presidential Memorandum was sent to the Heads of Federal agencies and departments directing them to step up efforts to hire and promote persons with disabilities at all levels of the Federal Government (Presidential Directive).  Concurrently, OPM released “Accessing Opportunity: The Plan for Employment of People with Disabilities in the Federal Government,”[1] and its companion employment guide, “People with Disabilities in the Federal Government:  An Employment Guide.”[2]  These documents provide Federal agencies with detailed and practical guidance on ways to recruit people with disabilities for positions at all levels of government; provide opportunities for students with disabilities; ensure career opportunities for people with disabilities; collect and maintain data to monitor their success; and, provide reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities.  The previous Administration directed all Federal agencies and departments to implement the plan immediately and to bring qualified people with disabilities into the Federal workforce. 

 

In addition to the obligations imposed by the Presidential Directive, the U.S. Department of Transportation, along with all other Federal agencies and departments, has a longstanding statutory obligation under Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended, 29 U.S.C. Section 791(b), to engage in affirmative action with respect to the hiring, placement, and advancement of individuals with disabilities.  Section 501 also prohibits disability-based discrimination in employment and requires Federal employers to provide "reasonable accommodations" for applicants and employees with disabilities.  In complying with this statutory obligation, the Department is guided by its own implementing regulations, as well as regulations, guidance, and Management Directives issued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

 

In order to develop a plan that was tailored to the needs and structure of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Departmental Office of Civil Rights (DOCR) established the ONE DOT Advisory Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities.  To ensure that the plan ultimately reflects the needs of the entire Department, the Advisory Committee is comprised of representatives from each Operating Administration’s Civil Rights and Human Resources Offices, staff from appropriate Secretarial offices, and members of DEAF/DOT and DOT/ADA, organizations established to represent the views of the Department's employees with disabilities. 

 

 

 

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As a result of the efforts of the ONE DOT Advisory Committee, a DOT Plan for the Employment of People with Disabilities was drafted and circulated for comment throughout the Department. 

 

On July 26, 2000, the 10^th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, two new Executive Orders were signed that further emphasize the Federal government's role as a model employer of people with disabilities.  Executive Order 13163 commits the Federal government to the goal of hiring 100,000 individuals with disabilities over the next five years. In furtherance of that goal, each Federal agency is required to prepare a plan to increase employment opportunities for persons with disabilities at all levels and occupations in the Federal government and to submit that plan to OPM.  Under guidance issued by OPM, each agency's plan is required to describe how it intends to recruit and hire qualified individuals with disabilities, especially targeted disabilities.  The plan must include the aggregate number of people with disabilities the agency believes it can hire over the next five years and "a compilation of the occupations and grade levels of the positions for which the agency plans to hire, and the number of individuals with disabilities that the agency estimates hiring in each occupation." 

 

In addition, the plan must describe the agency'