EEOC issues new rules on disabled workers

Federal managers can more freely reassign disabled workers if such employees cannot be accomodated in their current workplaces, under proposed changes to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's federal sector regulations published Wednesday in the Federal Register.

The new standards, which reflect discrimination standards laid out in the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, contain guidance on agencies' responsibility to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities as well as outline when such accommodations impose an undue hardship on the agency.

"This proposed rule will assure that federal employees have the same rights as all other employees to be free of disability discrimination," said EEOC Chairwoman Ida L. Castro.

As a practical matter, the new language probably won't have much effect on federal employees' daily lives, said Carol R. Miaskoff, assistant legal counsel at EEOC. But, "as a legal matter, it controls which legal standards apply," she said.

"For the federal employer, the most notable change is that reassignment is now treated as a reasonable accommodation," the proposed rule said.

EEOC's current guidance places restrictions on when employees can be reassigned to vacant positions. But with the new standards, reassignment is considered a form of reasonable accommodation, and the constraints on when it can be used are lifted.

Reassignment should be a last resort if no other reasonable accommodations are possible, EEOC said. Even positions outside the current appointing authority and geographic location must be considered.

In addition, the process through which employers find a vacant position to reassign an employee are well-defined in the new regulations, but hardly mentioned in the old ones. Under the new rules, employers are required to help look for vacant positions for which the disabled employee is qualified through an informal, interactive process with the employee.

"The regulation really stresses the importance of a bilateral interactive process between the employer and employee in terms of coming up with an accommodation," Miaskoff said.

However, employers can deny a request for reassignment if it poses an undue hardship on the agency. Reassignment to another federal agency, for example, will be considered undue hardship because "under current procedures, one federal department cannot compel another to accept a transferred employee, even as a reasonable accommodation," the proposed rule said.

Another change in wording affects when an agency can disqualify an individual from employment if he or she poses a direct threat to health or safety. Under current standards, disabled employees must prove up front that they can perform a job safely. But the new language shifts the burden of proof to the employer, who must prove that the employee would not be safe.

The proposed rule would also incorporate a recent Supreme Court decision defining how remedies such as eyeglasses or medication should be considered when determining whether someone is protected under the ADA.

The EEOC has posted a list of common questions and answers about the proposed rule on its Web site.

Comments on the proposed changes are due to the EEOC by May 1. Send written comments to: