Executive Order Aims to Create More Jobs for Disabled

On July 26, 2010, President Obama signed an Executive Order directing Office of Personnel Management, which oversees federal hiring, to create new recruitment and hiring strategies that will significantly increase employment for people with disabilities in the federal government.

Citing the goal of hiring 100,000 people with disabilities within the next five years, the Executive Order calls on all federal agencies to implement the soon-to-be-developed hiring policies within the next six months. The President has called for each federal agency to designate specific hiring targets and numerical goals that can be used to assess progress toward the government's employment goals. The Executive Order also requires that each agency designate a senior level official to be accountable for increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

While the majority of the Executive Order deals with new hires, the order also asks the Office of Personnel Management to design and implement policies that result in the retention of skilled workers with disabilities in the federal government. The order demands that agencies make special efforts to accommodate workers injured on the job and it requests that agencies develop more programs to encourage injured workers to return to work.

To read the full text of the President's Executive Order, which goes into effect immediately, click here.