Legal Rights of Persons With Disabilities - Ossh.com

employment, including recruitment, hiring, promotion, benefits, social or recreational programs,
termination, and any other term, condition or privilege of employment.
1. Federal Agencies
The Rehabilitation Act applies to the entire federal government and to all federal agencies in their
capacity as employers. Each agency of the executive branch, including the U.S. Postal Service, must have
an affirmative action plan for the recruitment, hiring, placement, and advancement of individuals with
disabilities. The plan must include a description of the way special needs of persons with disabilities are
being met.
a. Prohibitions
Under the Rehabilitation Act, discrimination against a "qualified individual with a handicap" who
is a federal employee or an applicant for a federal job is prohibited. (29 C.F.R. ' 1614.101.) Federal
employees who are hired under an "excepted service" program, that is, certified by a vocational
rehabilitation counselor, are also protected, and must be given the same equal employment rights as other
federal employees.
b. Federal Employer Responsibilities
Federal agencies must make reasonable accommodations for a known limitation of an otherwise
qualified applicant or employee with a disability, unless the agency can demonstrate that the
accommodations would impose an undue hardship. Reasonable accommodations include, but are not
limited to, making facilities accessible, restructuring jobs, changing work schedules, acquiring equipment
or devices, changing exams and providing readers and interpreters. In determining whether
accommodations would impose an undue hardship on the operation of an agency, factors to be considered
include the overall size of the agency's program, the number and type of facilities, the size of the budget,
and the nature and the cost of the accommodations. (29 C.F.R. '' 1614.102(a)(8) and 1614.203(b).)
An agency may not use employment tests or other ways of selecting employees which tend to
screen out qualified individuals with disabilities, unless the agency can prove that the test score or selection
process is related to the specific job in question and that other testing or selection methods are unavailable.
The employment test must reflect an applicant's or employee's ability to perform the functions of the job,
rather than focusing on an individual's disability, unless the disability is directly related to the skills being
measured for the job. (29 C.F.R. ' 1614.203(b).)
Agencies may not ask whether a job applicant is disabled or inquire about the nature and severity
of the disability. An agency may ask whether an applicant is able to meet, with or without
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