Accessibility Grows Among Federal Workforce, Correlates with EEO Complaints Rise
Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported that opportunities for individuals with disabilities are improving in the federal workforce, however, rentention and leadership representation remain key challenges.
The report examined the hiring and advancement of federal employees with disabilities as well as departures from federal employment, complaints of disability discrimination, and steps taken to improve accessibility by federal agencies.
Between fiscal years (FY) 2014 and 2018, the number of federal employees with disabilities increased from 8.7 percent of the workforce to 9.4 percent. EEOC noted this correlation is due to federal agencies promoting accessibility for individuals with disabilities and enhancing technological resources. However, EEOC also highlighted those employees with disabilities were less likely to hold leadership positions than employees who did not.
The report illustrates those individuals with targeted disabilities (blindness, deafness, paralysis, missing extremities, dwarfism, epilepsy, intellectual and psychiatric disabilities) involuntarily left the federal workforce at more than twice the rate of people without disabilities. Further, those with any disability were 53 percent more likely to involuntarily leave than persons without disabilities. Individuals with disabilities and targeted disabilities were also more likely to leave the federal workforce voluntarily than those without disabilities.
“There’s something wrong with this picture when so many more people with disabilities leave the government than those without,” said Carlton Hadden, director of the EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations. “Our government needs to be the best workplace it can be for everyone. Federal managers and policymakers need to take a good look at this situation and figure out ways to improve this picture.”
Over the same period, the number of physical disability-based complaints has increased by 22 percent, as have mental disability-based complaints by 72 percent, which far outpace the overall increase in complaints about discrimination in the federal sector. The increase could be attributable to increased discrimination against persons with disabilities or to an increased comfort level with filing an EEO complaint among persons with disabilities, the report stated.
The report is based on the EEOC’s 2017 final rule, which clarifies that federal employers must take proactive steps to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
