Disability Employment: Hiring Has Increased but Actions Needed to Assess Retention, Training, and Reasonable Accommodation Efforts
Fast Facts
We looked at federal agencies’ efforts to hire and retain individuals with disabilities.
Agencies hired about 143,600 persons with disabilities from 2011-2015—exceeding the federal target of 100,000. Agencies made an additional 79,600 hires in 2016 and 2017.
About 39% of those with disabilities hired in 2011-2017 stayed less than a year, compared to about 43% of those without disabilities. About 60% of hires—both those with and without disabilities—stayed less than 2 years.
We made 6 recommendations, including that the Office of Personnel Management track and report retention data of employees with disabilities to help determine why they leave.
The federal government generally increased hiring of persons with disabilities, fiscal years 2011 through 2017
Bar chart showing number of persons with disabilities employed in full-time permanent positions and part-time or temporary positions
Highlights
What GAO Found
Approximately 143,600 persons with disabilities were hired during 2011 through 2015—plus an additional 79,600 hires in 2016 and 2017—across the 24 Chief Financial Officers Act agencies, exceeding the stated goal of 100,000 by 2015.
The Federal Government Generally Increased Hiring of Persons with Disabilities, Fiscal Years 2011 through 2017
About 39 percent of individuals with disabilities hired during 2011 through 2017 stayed less than 1 year and approximately 60 percent stayed less than 2 years. Of the total individuals without disabilities hired during that same time period, approximately 43 percent stayed less than 1 year and approximately 60 percent stayed less than 2 years.
Although targeted data tracking and analyses could help pinpoint root causes contributing to departure rates, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) does not track or report retention data on disabled employees. Doing so, and making such data available to agencies would facilitate more comprehensive analyses of the retention of employees with disabilities and identify needed improvements.
Officials at three agencies GAO examined—Department of Justice (DOJ), Small Business Administration (SBA), and Social Security Administration (SSA)—used various practices to increase hiring, such as training staff on Schedule A—a commonly used hiring authority to employ individuals with disabilities. However, the agencies neither assess the impact of training nor how it relates to contributing to performance goals of increasing the number of disabled hires.
Agencies are expected to track performance related to providing reasonable accommodations. The selected agencies reported having processes in place for receiving reasonable accommodations requests, but only SSA has procedures for obtaining feedback from employees after an accommodation is provided. Without such feedback, DOJ and SBA are limited in their ability to assess the continued effectiveness of reasonable accommodations provided to employees.
Why GAO Did This Study
Federal agencies are required to provide equal opportunity to qualified individuals with disabilities in all aspects of federal employment.
GAO was asked to examine agencies' efforts to increase the employment of individuals with disabilities. Among other objectives, this report examines: (1) the extent to which agencies met the 2010 federal goal to hire an additional 100,000 individuals with disabilities by 2015, and the retention rates of those employees between 2011 and 2017; and (2) practices selected agencies used to increase hiring and retention of individuals with disabilities.
GAO analyzed data and documents from OPM and interviewed agency officials. GAO interviewed officials from DOJ, SBA, and SSA about their efforts to enhance employment opportunities for disabled persons. GAO selected these three agencies because they represent a range of agency size and relatively high or low percentages of total employees with disabilities.
Recommendations
GAO is making 6 recommendations: OPM should track and report retention data; DOJ, SBA, and SSA should assess training impacts; and DOJ and SBA should obtain employee feedback on reasonable accommodations. OPM and SSA concurred with GAO's recommendations; SBA concurred with one and partially concurred with one recommendation; DOJ did not agree or disagree with the recommendations. GAO continues to believe all recommendations are warranted.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Office of Personnel Management | The Director of OPM should routinely track and report retention data for employees with disabilities and make such data available to federal agencies, including EEOC, through a centralized web portal—such as MAX.gov. For example, OPM could track and report such data by General Schedule level pay groupings, which could help pinpoint root causes that contribute to retention rates, inform assessments of government-wide progress on employee retention, and identify needed improvements. (Recommendation 1) |
OPM concurred with this recommendation. In response, in December 2020, OPM stated it is tracking retention data for employees with disabilities and has made such data available to federal agencies, including EEOC, through a centralized web portal (https://community.max.gov/x/QYz4UQ). OPM provided screen shots from the web portal and documentation showing 2-year retention rates for employees with disabilities for fiscal years 2017 and 2018 by agency and by General Schedule level pay groupings. In April 2021, EEOC confirmed that its staff has access to the portal and was able to view these data. According to OPM, the agency plans to provide retention data for employees with disabilities in future Employment of People with Disabilities in the Federal Executive Branch Reports. As of April 2021, OPM stated that its 2017-2019 report is currently in draft form and the final report will include retention data.
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| Department of Justice | The Attorney General of the United States should develop and implement policies and procedures for assessing the impact of training provided to agency hiring managers and human resources staff on Schedule A hiring authority. This includes assessing the impact of its training on agency performance goals related to increased hiring of individuals with disabilities and targeted disabilities. (Recommendation 2) |
DOJ has taken steps to implement this recommendation. In January 2022, DOJ stated that the Justice Management Division (JMD) Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) staff and Human Resources (HR) Office requested that DOJ Component HR Offices account for training their Components conduct or offer on Schedule A hiring authority. Components were asked to report on whether they offered training to hiring officials and HR staffing specialists, including Selective Placement Coordinators and how often; if there is a requirement to take Schedule A training; and what training on Schedule A is conducted or offered, including the title of the training, brief description of the training, method of instruction, and length of the training. DOJ stated that the JMD EEO staff and JMD HR will review information reported by the Components to help determine the need to update or develop new Schedule A training, and whether to standardize Schedule A training across the Department. In September 2022, DOJ provided an update on its efforts to implement this recommendation. Specifically, DOJ stated that JMD EEO and HR staff reviewed the survey results and identified that all Components require individuals involved in the hiring process to take Schedule A training, believe that it should be required, and offered training either in-person or virtually. DOJ described this effort as a first step to help develop baseline information. To fully implement this recommendation, DOJ needs to describe what efforts it has taken since collecting the baseline information and provide related documentation of policies and procedures it has developed to assess the impact of training provided to agency hiring managers and HR staff on Schedule A hiring authority. This includes assessing the impact of its training on agency performance goals related to increased hiring of individuals with disabilities and targeted disabilities. We requested an update from DOJ in May 2023 and are awaiting a response. In April 2024, we requested an update from DOJ and are awaiting a response.
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| Department of Justice | The Attorney General of the United States should develop and implement policies and procedures for obtaining employee feedback about the agency's reasonable accommodations efforts and use such information to evaluate the ongoing effectiveness of the program. This may include identifying any effects on employee retention, identifying potential risks, and determining any improvements that may be warranted. (Recommendation 3) |
DOJ has taken several steps to implement this recommendation. In January 2022, DOJ stated that from December 2020 through January 2021, DOJ invited employees who have requested or participated in the reasonable accommodation (RA) process within the past three years to complete a survey regarding their experience. DOJ further stated that the Department, in coordination with DOJ Components, reviewed survey results to determine if changes are necessary to improve or strengthen the RA process. Participation in this survey was voluntary and all responses were aggregated and kept confidential. DOJ stated it will continue to issue this survey every three years. To further increase employee awareness of reasonable accommodation matters, DOJ stated that the JMD EEO staff have developed a RA webpage on its public facing website to provide policy and guidance information on RA requests, information about personal assistant services, and a list of DOJ Component Reasonable Accommodation Coordinators (RAC). In addition, the JMD EEO Staff developed training on the Department's RA process. DOJ stated that the training is posted on the Department's learning management system and covers various topics including how to request a reasonable accommodation, required information and privacy, examples of reasonable accommodations, and how to seek redress if there is an issue or conflict in obtaining an effective reasonable accommodation where warranted. In September 2022, DOJ provided documentation to support the actions described in its previous update. For example, we received a copy of the broadcast announcement to employees, which included instructions on how to access the survey. We also received the weblink and reviewed information on its RA webpage (https://www.justice.gov/jmd/reasonable-accommodation), and received a copy of the training slides titled, "Department of Justice Reasonable Accommodation Policy and Procedures: Essential Information." DOJ further stated that JMD EEO staff meet with Component RACs on a quarterly basis or as needed to address issues and questions pertaining to the RA process and to facilitate the sharing of best practices. These actions address the intent of this recommendation and will assist DOJ in conducting ongoing reviews of the effectiveness of its RA program.
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| Small Business Administration | The Administrator of SBA should develop and implement policies and procedures for assessing and tracking the impact of training provided to agency hiring managers and human resources staff on Schedule A hiring authority. This includes assessing the impact of its training on agency performance goals related to increased hiring of individuals with disabilities and targeted disabilities. (Recommendation 4) |
SBA concurred with our recommendation to assess and track the impact of training provided to agency hiring managers and human resources staff on Schedule A hiring authority. According to SBA, as of December 2020, its evaluation survey for its Supervisory Community of Practice indicated that supervisors (1) understood the use of the Schedule A hiring authority, and (2) felt comfortable leveraging the flexibility to hire individuals with disabilities. In addition, SBA stated that it regularly provides training to agency hiring managers and human resources staff on Schedule A hiring authority. Most recently, in September 2020, SBA provided such training to supervisors and hiring managers during a quarterly Supervisory Community of Practice. The training also covered SBA hiring authorities and goals for hiring persons with disabilities and targeted disabilities. In July 2022, we contacted SBA for an update on the actions taken and to also provide supporting documentation of actions taken to implement this recommendation. SBA provided an update and corresponding documentation in August 2022, including training material used in its Supervisors' Community of Practice and SBA's Strategic Recruitment Plan. According to SBA, it has delivered training through numerous modes and formats; and post-session evaluations indicated that participants felt capable of leveraging the Schedule A hiring flexibility for hiring employees with disabilities. In January 2023, we requested SBA to provide additional documentation of how the agency's efforts are captured in SBA policies and procedures. This would help to indicate that the agency expects to continue and institutionalize its efforts with regard to assessing and tracking the impact of training provided to agency hiring managers and human resources staff on Schedule A hiring authority. In March 2023, SBA stated that it had taken steps to update the procedures. In July 2023, SBA provided us with materials that illustrate training is continual and that information regarding Schedule A is integrated into SBA's processes as part of its consultation with hiring managers. In addition, SBA provided an example of its ongoing monitoring of disability hiring through its HRstat quarterly evaluations. These actions meet GAO's recommendation.
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| Small Business Administration | The Administrator of SBA should develop and implement policies and procedures for obtaining employee feedback about the agency's reasonable accommodations efforts and use such information to evaluate the ongoing effectiveness of the program. This may include identifying any effects on employee retention, identifying potential risks, and determining any improvements that may be warranted. (Recommendation 5) |
According to SBA, as of December 2020, it had developed and deployed a Reasonable Accommodation Survey and noted that responses are completely voluntary for employees. SBA informed GAO that in 2021, the survey was not sent out for all RAs processed as the agency was operating virtually and most accommodation requests were received and processed under SBA's Workplace Flexibilities Plan. As the agency implemented its Workplace Reentry plan in March 2022, SBA stated that it resumed sending out the Reasonable Accommodation Survey to employees. In addition, SBA provided documentation showing it amended its Reasonable Accommodation and Personal Assistant Services Policy and Procedure in September 2023. This policy and procedure document included an update to the role and responsibilities of the Disability Employment Program Manager. Specifically, the role includes assessing "the effectiveness of the Reasonable Accommodation and Personal Assistant Program by conducting quarterly surveys to employees who have participated in the Reasonable Accommodation process." The policy and procedure document further states that survey results will help to identify any potential barrier to employee retention, identify potential risk, and put appropriate measures in place if any such barriers are identified. Documentation of SBA's updated policy and procedure along with its Reasonable Accommodation Survey meets the intent of this recommendation. SBA's actions indicate that the agency expects to continue and institutionalize its efforts with regard to obtaining employee feedback about the agency's RA efforts and using such information to evaluate the ongoing effectiveness of the program.
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| Social Security Administration | The Commissioner of SSA should develop and implement policies and procedures for assessing and tracking the impact of training provided to agency hiring managers and human resources staff on Schedule A hiring authority. This includes assessing the impact of its training on agency performance goals related to increased hiring of individuals with disabilities and targeted disabilities. (Recommendation 6) |
SSA concurred with our recommendation to assess and track the impact of training provided to agency hiring managers and human resources staff on Schedule A hiring authority. Since the issuance of our report, SSA began taking actions to implement this recommendation. For example, SSA initiated an update to its mandatory employer awareness training for employees and managers, which was released in April 2021, with a mandatory completion date of July 31, 2021. SSA officials stated the training was designed to provide an increased awareness of attitudes and behaviors, and provide information on the regulations, policies, processes, requirements, and available resources related to supporting employees with disabilities. In April 2023, SSA provided documentation of the training materials, as well as documentation indicating that 98 percent of its managers and employees completed the training. In December 2021, SSA released its Leadership Fundamentals Curriculum for managers and supervisors, which included a training module on Reasonable Accommodations. In April 2023, SSA provided us with copies of this curriculum and related training module. In addition, SSA provided survey results of its managers from January 2022, to September 2022, indicating positive experiences and assurance that the agency's Fiscal Year 2022 Reasonable Accommodations, Schedule A, and Disability Awareness Training for Managers would assist them on the job, helped them gain skills, and they were immediately able to use what they learned. Furthermore, in April 2023, SSA provided documentation showing there has been a correlation of an increase in hiring employees with disabilities in the time frame after the introduction of the training. In FY 2021, the percentage of hires that were employees with disabilities increased from 14.68 percent to 16.45 percent. The documentation showed that as of July 31, 2022, the percentage had further increased from 16.45 percent to 18.71 percent. SSA stated that it plans to continue the annual mandatory training to keep managers engaged with hiring flexibilities and retention tools for employees with disabilities. These actions address the recommendation and will help SSA's efforts to assess and track the impact of training provided to agency hiring managers and human resources staff on Schedule A hiring authority.
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