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Return to Article: New rule eases barriers to employing the disabled

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  I am trapped in a federal career. I am more than 15 years into my career and I was almost killed on the job. My reward for having worked myself almost to death was being knocked down three pay grades with no hope of advancement and assigned to work the same job, with the same duties as a group earning the pay I used to have.

  The federal employment through the OPM USAjobs website spouts all kinds of political smoke about the hiring of the disabled, and I have learned the experience to be like barking up a tree. You follow the instructions and send your paperwork to the designated individual and ....nothing.

  Recently the Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced a position that called for my exact experience and expertise. I applied and after 17 pages, I scored 100, and I know for a fact that only a few people could have come close to that score. Needless to say, word has it that they will be hiring from among their own but they still need two more people. They plan to issue another announcement. I phoned the hiring coordinator for the disabled and she just politely blew me off. I then began calling the Human Capital Officers in DC, who told me to see the "hiring authority", which is the Special Agent in Charge(SAC), here in Miami.

  The SAC has a secretary who informed me, "he doesn't meet with applicants". So now I've fired off some very angry emails to EEOC, OPM, and will probably write my congressmen. Quite simply, the Schedule A, non-competitive selection and hiring of the disabled does not exist at DHS. I've lost six years of my life, I'm partially blind, I sold my nice house to move into a walk-in closet size condo with access to public transportation. I've lost so much and I endure the insult of being trapped in a job going no where while doing the same tasks as a bunch who make what I used to.

  Renee N. Posted October 7, 2007 2:28 PM
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  You are 100% right in that the government is a dead-end for those who seek to increase their career. Mine is a 20 year plus sojourn, stuck at the same level for 12 of those years. I am hearing impaired-that alone restricts my life functions and future money prospects.

  Also, if you complain about discrimination issues, do not try to win your case by choosing mediation or asking your agency to decide your fate by a ruling (it's akin to asking the IRS to fill in your tax form for you).

  Ernest C. Posted March 15, 2007 3:32 PM
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  As a person who became permanently disabled because of employment by the federal government, I would be the first to tell other disabled people to stay away from federal employment.

  New rules do not change the unsafe working conditions in many federal facilities. They do not change that lack of accountability for managers to maintain appropriate working conditions. They do not prevent you from being kept as a token disabled worker, given meaningless, unfulfilling tasks to do and basically being made to understand that you need to stay out of everyone's way.

  Worst of all, God help you if you are injured doing your federal job because management and the federal OWCP will do everything possible to discredit your claim for federal workers compensation. You can be sure that they'll say your injury is a condition of your disability and is not job related.

  The federal government is a dead end for disabled workers looking for a real career.

  Robert M. Posted July 27, 2006 11:53 AM