Administration of Barack H. Obama, 2010 

Executive Order 13548—Increasing Federal Employment of Individuals With 

Disabilities 

July 26, 2010 

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United 

States of America, and in order to establish the Federal Government as a model employer of 

individuals with disabilities, it is hereby ordered as follows: 

Section 1. Policy. Approximately 54 million Americans are living with a disability. The 

Federal Government has an important interest in reducing discrimination against Americans 

living with a disability, in eliminating the stigma associated with disability, and in encouraging 

Americans with disabilities to seek employment in the Federal workforce. Yet Americans with 

disabilities have an employment rate far lower than that of Americans without disabilities, and 

they are underrepresented in the Federal workforce. Individuals with disabilities currently 

represent just over 5 percent of the nearly 2.5 million people in the Federal workforce, and 

individuals with targeted disabilities (as defined below) currently represent less than 1 percent 

of that workforce. 

On July 26, 2000, in the final year of his administration, President Clinton signed 

Executive Order 13163, calling for an additional 100,000 individuals with disabilities to be 

employed by the Federal Government over 5 years. Yet few steps were taken to implement 

that Executive Order in subsequent years. 

As the Nation's largest employer, the Federal Government must become a model for the 

employment of individuals with disabilities. Executive departments and agencies (agencies) 

must improve their efforts to employ workers with disabilities through increased recruitment, 

hiring, and retention of these individuals. My Administration is committed to increasing the 

number of individuals with disabilities in the Federal workforce through compliance with 

Executive Order 13163 and achievement of the goals set forth therein over 5 years, including 

specific goals for hiring individuals with targeted disabilities. 

Sec. 2. Recruitment and Hiring of Individuals with Disabilities. (a) Within 60 days of the 

date of this order, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with 

the Secretary of Labor, the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the 

Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall design model recruitment and hiring 

strategies for agencies seeking to increase their employment of people with disabilities and 

develop mandatory training programs for both human resources personnel and hiring 

managers on the employment of individuals with disabilities. 

(b) Within 120 days of the date the Office of Personnel Management sets forth strategies 

and programs required under subsection (a), each agency shall develop an agency-specific plan 

for promoting employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. The plan shall be 

developed in consultation with and, as appropriate, subject to approval by the Director of the 

Office of Personnel Management and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 

and shall, consistent with law, include performance targets and numerical goals for 

employment of individuals with disabilities and sub-goals for employment of individuals with 

targeted disabilities. 

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(c) Each agency shall designate a senior-level agency official to be accountable for 

enhancing employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities and individuals with 

targeted disabilities within the agency, consistent with law, and for meeting the goals of this 

order. This official, among other things, shall be accountable for developing and implementing 

the agency's plan under subsection (b), creating recruitment and training programs for 

employment of individuals with disabilities and targeted disabilities, and coordinating 

employment counseling to help match the career aspirations of individuals with disabilities to 

the needs of the agency. 

(d) In implementing their plans, agencies, to the extent permitted by law, shall increase 

utilization of the Federal Government's Schedule A excepted service hiring authority for 

persons with disabilities and increase participation of individuals with disabilities in internships, 

fellowships, and training and mentoring programs. 

(e) The Office of Personnel Management shall assist agencies with the implementation of 

their plans. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with the 

Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall implement a system for reporting 

regularly to the President, the heads of agencies, and the public on agencies' progress in 

implementing their plans and the objectives of this order. The Office of Personnel 

Management, to the extent permitted by law, shall compile and post on its website 

Government-wide statistics on the hiring of individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 3. Increasing Agencies' Retention and Return to Work of Individuals with Disabilities. 

(a) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with the Secretary of 

Labor and the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, shall identify and 

assist agencies in implementing strategies for retaining Federal workers with disabilities in 

Federal employment including, but not limited to, training, the use of centralized funds to 

provide reasonable accommodations, increasing access to appropriate accessible technologies, 

and ensuring the accessibility of physical and virtual workspaces. 

(b) Agencies shall make special efforts, to the extent permitted by law, to ensure the 

retention of those who are injured on the job. Agencies shall work to improve, expand, and 

increase successful return-to-work outcomes for those of their employees who sustain workrelated injuries and illnesses, as defined under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act 

(FECA), by increasing the availability of job accommodations and light or limited duty jobs, 

removing disincentives for FECA claimants to return to work, and taking other appropriate 

measures. The Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Personnel 

Management, shall pursue innovative re-employment strategies and develop policies, 

procedures, and structures that foster improved return-to-work outcomes, including by 

pursuing overall reform of the FECA system. The Secretary of Labor shall also propose 

specific outcome measures and targets by which each agency's progress in carrying out returnto-work and FECA claims processing efforts can be assessed. 

Sec. 4. Definitions. (a) "Disability" shall be defined as set forth in the ADA Amendments 

Act of 2008. 

(b) "Targeted disability" shall be defined as set forth on the form for self-identification of 

disability, Standard Form 256 (SF 256), issued by the Office of Personnel Management, or any 

replacements, updates, or revisions thereto. 

(c) Not less than 1 year after the date of this order and in consultation with the Equal 

Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, and the Office of 

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Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management shall review the effectiveness 

of the definition of targeted disability set forth in SF 256 and replace, update, or revise it as 

appropriate. 

Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or 

otherwise affect: 

(i) authority granted by law to a department or agency, or the head thereof; or 

(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to 

budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. 

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the 

availability of appropriations, and shall not be construed to require any Federal employee to 

disclose disability status involuntarily. 

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or 

procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its 

departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. 

BARACK OBAMA

The White House, 

July 26, 2010. 

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:15 a.m., July 29, 2010] 

NOTE: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on July 30. 

Categories: Executive Orders : Individuals with disabilities, increasing Federal employment 

opportunities. 

Subjects: Government organization and employees : Individuals with disabilities, expanding 

Federal employment opportunities. 

DCPD Number: DCPD201000631.