2018 – 2019

DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM

STRATEGIC PLAN

2018–2019 DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN | 1 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Vision 2

Introduction 2

Definitions 3

Employees with Disabilities 

in the Workforce 5

Objectives, Strategies and 

Actions 7

Monitoring and Evaluating 13

DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM

STRATEGIC PLAN

2018 – 2019
2 | 2018–2019 DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN

VISION

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) will be a model employer of persons with 

disabilities, persons with targeted disabilities, and disabled veterans, and ensure they are 

included in all areas of the FDIC workforce.

INTRODUCTION

The FDIC is committed to ensuring equal opportunity in the employment of all persons, including 

persons with disabilities, persons with targeted disabilities, and disabled veterans. This Disability 

Employment Program Strategic Plan (Plan) details specific strategies to address the recruitment, 

employment, development, advancement, and inclusion of persons with disabilities. Additionally, 

the Plan addresses the goals of Executive Order (EO) 13548, Increasing Federal Employment of 

Individuals with Disabilities, dated July 26, 2010, which seeks to increase federal employment 

of persons with disabilities through compliance with EO 13163, dated July 26, 2000, titled 

Increasing the Opportunity for Individuals with Disabilities to be Employed in the Federal 

Government. EO 13163 was issued to promote the hiring of persons with disabilities and 

support the goals articulated in Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended 

(federal hiring of persons with disabilities). 

The goals, strategies, and actions presented in this Plan align with the FDIC’s Diversity and 

Inclusion (D&I) Strategic Plan, the FDIC’s annual Federal Agency Annual Equal Employment 

Opportunity Program Status Report to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 

(EEOC) pursuant to Management Directive 715 (MD-715), and the FDIC’s annual Disabled 

Veterans Affirmative Action Program (DVAAP) report/plan to the U.S. Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM).

In January 2017, the EEOC released regulations identifying new government-wide goals of 

12 percent for persons with disabilities and 2 percent for persons with targeted disabilities, 

effective January 2018. These goals are for the overall workforce, as well as for employees who 

have salaries less than the salary at the GS-11, step 1 level in the Washington, DC locality and 

employees who have salaries equal to or greater than GS-11, step 1 in the Washington, DC locality. 

The FDIC has adopted these goals and has begun tracking progress against the goals. To adhere to 

the EEOC regulations on “Affirmative Action for People with Disabilities in Federal Employment,” 

the FDIC has completed the EEOC’s required “Special Program Plan for the Recruitment, Hiring, 

Advancement, and Retention of Persons with Disabilities,” and will use the Plan in continuous efforts 

to include persons with disabilities, persons with targeted disabilities, and disabled veterans 

in its workforce. The Plan also provides for critical support to divisions and offices, fosters 

collaboration and coordination of acceptance, accommodation and accessibility, and encourages 

relationships with organizations that support the employment of persons with disabilities.
2018–2019 DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN | 3 

The FDIC’s Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Executive Advisory Council (EAC) will oversee and 

monitor the implementation of this Plan and will draw upon the in-house expertise of the 

Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) and Division of Administration (DOA) to 

promote leadership engagement in the Plan. As advisor to FDIC leadership on issues related 

to diversity and inclusion, OMWI will provide analytics and reports on disability employment 

progress and increase organizational awareness and engagement about disability employment 

and inclusion throughout the agency on an ongoing basis. As advisor to FDIC leadership on 

issues related to human resources, DOA will provide guidance on disability recruitment and 

the use of special appointing authorities to employ persons with disabilities. DOA will also 

make recommendations regarding FDIC policies and procedures that may assist in increasing 

the employment of persons with disabilities.

DEFINITIONS

Disabled Veteran – A person who has served on active duty in the armed forces, has been 

separated therefrom under honorable conditions, and has established the present existence 

of a service-connected disability or is receiving compensation, disability retirement benefits, 

or pension because of a public statute administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs 

or a military department.

Individual/Person with a Disability – A person with a physical or mental impairment that 

substantially limits one or more major life activities (such as walking, talking, seeing, hearing, 

or learning), has a record of such impairment, or is regarded as having an impairment unless 

the impairment is both transitory and minor.

Personal Assistance Service – Assistance with performing activities of daily living for a 

person with a targeted disability who would typically perform these activities if he or she 

did not have a disability, and that is not otherwise required as a reasonable accommodation, 

including for example, assistance with removing and putting on clothing, eating, and using 

the restroom.

Reasonable Accommodation – Any change in the work environment (or in the way things 

are usually done) to help a person with a disability apply for a job, perform the duties of a job, 

or enjoy the benefits and privileges of employment.

Self-Identification of Disability – The voluntary completion and submission of information 

from OPM’s Standard Form 256 (SF 256) identifying that a person has a disability, either by 

hard copy of the SF 256 to the servicing Human Resource Branch (HRB) personnel in DOA, 

or electronically through the MyEPP system using the appropriate code from the SF 256. 
4 | 2018–2019 DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN

Targeted Disability – Specific disabilities targeted for emphasis in affirmative action planning, 

and include: developmental disability; traumatic brain injury; deafness; blindness; missing 

extremities; partial paralysis; complete paralysis; epilepsy; intellectual disabilities; psychiatric 

disabilities; dwarfism; and significant disfigurement.
2018–2019 DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN | 5 

EMPLOYEES WITH DISABILITIES IN 

THE WORKFORCE

The FDIC has a longstanding commitment to the employment of persons with disabilities, 

persons with targeted disabilities, and disabled veterans. Each year, the FDIC conducts a 

workforce analysis to assess the participation and inclusion of those individuals via its MD-715 

report, DVAAP report/plan, and other assessments of the FDIC workforce. These workforce 

analyses inform FDIC leadership on progress and permit the development and implementation 

of additional strategies to eliminate barriers and increase employment opportunities. 

When evaluating data produced from FDIC reporting systems, the FY 2017 workforce 

representation of FDIC employees who self-identify as having disabilities is 10.4%, an 

increase from 7.3% in FY 2016. The representation of employees with targeted disabilities 

increased from 0.6% in FY 2016 to 2.1% in FY 2017, which is above the prescribed EEOC 

goal for persons with targeted disabilities of 2.0 percent.

Chart 1 below on FDIC Trend and Comparison by Disability provides a five-year and current 

look at the FDIC’s workforce representation of all employees identified as having a disability 

or targeted disability. There has been an upward trend in the representation of persons with 

disabilities over time, and a positive change for persons with targeted disabilities. This change 

can be partly attributed to modifications in data tracking and additional outreach to employees 

to self-identify. In FY 2017, The National Finance Center began enabling self-service for 

employees to update their disability self-identification, and the FDIC verified that outdated 

disability codes were updated in personnel systems to match the correlating data in the most 

recent SF 256. In addition, in September 2017 and March 2018, all FDIC employees received 

a notification requesting them to update their disability self-identification. Based on the biannual resurveys and electronic self-service, employees are reminded to update their disability 

self-identification more frequently which has allowed the FDIC to more accurately calculate its 

disability data. 
6 | 2018–2019 DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN

Chart 11: FDIC Trend and Comparison by Disability

6.6% 6.6% 6.7%

7.3%

10.4% 10.5%

12.0% 12.0%

0.7%

1.0%

2.1% 2.2%

2.0%

0.00%

2.00%

4.00%

6.00%

8.00%

10.00%

12.00%

14.00%

FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 (Q1)

Disability Goal

FDIC Disability

FDIC Targeted Disability

Targeted Disabilty Goal

0.6%

As of the end of 2017, the FDIC Grade Distribution by Disability (Chart 2) shows that the 

largest percentage of persons with disabilities and targeted disabilities is in the CG-01 to 

CG-08 grade levels. 

Chart 2: FDIC Grade Distribution by Disability2

13.0%

11.7%

9.5% 8.7% 8.4%

3.5%

2.5%

1.8% 1.1% 1.5%

0.00%

2.00%

4.00%

6.00%

8.00%

10.00%

12.00%

14.00%

01-08 09-12 13-15 CM EXEC

Disability Targeted Disability

1 FDIC personnel action data from the Corporate Human Resources Information System (CHRIS) 

2 FDIC personnel action data from CHRIS
2018–2019 DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN | 7 

OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES AND 

ACTIONS 

GOAL 1 Build a diverse, high-performing workforce 

that reflects all segments of society, 

including persons with disabilities.

Strategy 1.1 Demonstrate leadership commitment to the recruitment, 

employment, and advancement of persons with disabilities.

Actions a. Communicate to all managers, supervisors, and Human 

Resources staff regarding the FDIC’s hiring goals and 

commitment to the employment of persons with disabilities. 

b. Communicate to all employees about the Reasonable 

Accommodation procedures and Personal Assistance 

Services policy. 

c. Integrate disability employment initiatives with the FDIC’s 

Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan.

d. Host a roundtable discussion with other financial regulatory 

agencies to consider best practices in government for 

recruiting, hiring, advancement, retention, and inclusion 

of persons with disabilities.

e. The FDIC Disability Program Manager will continue to 

participate in federal-wide best practices working groups 

focused on disability employment and inclusion.

f. Stakeholders in Corporate University, DOA, and OMWI 

will meet quarterly to review progress.
8 | 2018–2019 DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN

Strategy 1.2 Increase the applicant pool of qualified persons with disabilities.

Actions a. Continue using the Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) for 

hiring college students and recent graduates for internships 

and permanent employment.

b. Establish a procedure to use the OPM Shared List of People 

with Disabilities. 

c. Enhance recruitment activities to develop closer relationships 

with colleges and universities with a high enrollment of 

students with disabilities.

d. Use FDIC Corporate Recruitment staff to coordinate with 

State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies (SVRAs) and build 

relationships with local and national organizations facilitating 

employment of persons with disabilities.

e. Continue using special appointing authorities that consider 

persons with disabilities, such as Schedule A (5 CFR 

213.3102(u), Disabled Veterans, and Pathways.

f. Consider creating a process for accepting and referring 

unsolicited resumes for current and future vacancies from 

candidates eligible under Schedule A, 5 CFR 213.3102(u).

g. Explore options for obtaining applications outside of the 

usual competitive hiring processes from candidates eligible 

for hiring under Schedule A, 5 CFR 213.3102(u), to invite the 

candidates to scheduled Corporate Employee Program (CEP) 

hiring events.

h. Encourage employees with disabilities to participate in 

outreach and recruitment activities, particularly alumni of 

schools with a high enrollment of persons with disabilities.

i. Evaluate the effectiveness of the reasonable accommodation 

program in the recruitment and hiring processes by creating 

and utilizing a feedback form.
2018–2019 DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN | 9 

Strategy 1.3 Enhance the Corporate Recruitment Program by improving and/

or expanding existing communication and marketing efforts to 

ensure that persons with disabilities receive real-time information 

about FDIC hiring events, job vacancies, webinars, and other 

employment-related communications and information.

Actions a. Make information about disability resources available 

externally at fdic.gov and internally at FDICnet, to include 

employment opportunities, reasonable accommodation 

procedures, and the hiring process for applicants with 

disabilities. 

b. Create information materials on the FDIC Disability 

Employment Program, including information about special 

appointing authorities, to disseminate to potential applicants 

and post externally at fdic.gov.

Strategy 1.4 Provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees 

and applicants with disabilities, as required by applicable laws 

and regulations.

Actions a. Provide training opportunities for managers and supervisors 

on reasonable accommodation procedures.

b. Provide training opportunities and/or information for 

employees or applicants on how to request a reasonable 

accommodation. 

c. Provide effective and timely reasonable accommodations 

to qualified individuals with disabilities, in accordance with 

applicable laws and regulations. 

d. Update the Reasonable Accommodation Request Information 

System (RARIS) to allow for employees and managers to 

submit electronic reasonable accommodation requests and to 

improve reasonable accommodation data.

e. Encourage employees requesting reasonable 

accommodations to update their disability self-identification 

by providing instructions to employees when they submit 

requests for accommodation.
10 | 2018–2019 DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN

Strategy 1.5 Identify and eliminate barriers to the employment and 

advancement of qualified persons with disabilities at all levels and 

in all occupations.

Actions a. Bi-annually solicit voluntary self-identification of disability 

data to allow employees to update their status.

b. Create promotional materials for distribution to Regional, 

Area, and Field Offices to encourage self-identification.

c. Conduct an annual trend analysis and barrier analysis 

specific to the employment and advancement of persons 

with disabilities.

d. Develop and provide guidance to managers and recruiters 

on trends in the recruiting, hiring, advancement, retention 

of persons with disabilities, and progress in implementing 

the FDIC and Division and Office diversity strategies targeted 

at persons with disabilities.
2018–2019 DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN | 11 

GOAL 2 Cultivate a work environment that is 

inclusive of persons with disabilities.

Strategy 2.1 Leverage the talents of the FDIC workforce and empower 

diverse perspectives throughout the organization through career/

leadership development.

Actions a. Encourage employees with disabilities to participate in 

available formal mentoring, career development, leadership, 

and management development programs and track 

representations.

b. Ensure all announcements to employees about career 

development programs include instructions for requesting 

reasonable accommodations.

c. Increase utilization of “Lunch and Learn” sessions and guest 

speakers to increase awareness and competency with 

respect to working with persons with disabilities.

d. Engage the Employee Resource Group for persons with 

disabilities, Corporate Advocacy Network for Disability 

Opportunities (CAN DO), to promote advancement and 

training opportunities. 
12 | 2018–2019 DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN

GOAL 3 Facilitate stakeholder relations through 

effective leadership and accountability.

Strategy 3.1 Strengthen relations with stakeholders, to include disability affinity 

groups, professional organizations, and educational Institutions 

serving persons with disabilities.

Actions a. Continue partnerships with Computer/Electronic 

Accommodations Program (CAP) and Job Accommodation 

Network (JAN) to support accommodating employees with 

disabilities.

b. Establish partnerships and affiliations with Disability Serving 

Institutions, professional organizations, stakeholders with 

disabilities, and other disability affinity groups to promote career 

opportunities and internships with the FDIC, as well as market 

the FDIC as an employer of choice to the Disability community.

c. Reach out to Disability affinity groups and professional 

organizations through participation at national training 

conferences and university/college career fairs aimed at 

providing FDIC career and employment information to the 

Disability community.

Strategy 3.2 Enhance FDIC leaders’ knowledge and skills to effectively lead a 

diverse workforce that includes persons with disabilities.

Actions a. Use computer-based training to increase the FDIC training 

portfolio for Diversity and Inclusion topics regarding special 

appointing authorities for veterans and persons with 

disabilities and inclusion of these individuals in the workforce.

b. Add a segment on disability awareness and competency in 

leadership training to managers and supervisors.

c. Provide senior leaders (D&I EAC, WE Steering Committee, 

etc.) an analysis of the satisfaction of employees with 

disabilities with the work environment based on the annual 

Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) results.

d. Develop and provide managers and supervisors with a 

disability “toolkit” of available resources, guidance, and other 

useful information.
2018–2019 DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN | 13 

MONITORING AND EVALUATING

In FY 2014, the FDIC added disability data to its existing D&I Analytics Dashboard, giving 

the agency access to relevant workforce data on a quarterly basis. The dashboard provides 

current workforce data, as well as four-year historical trend data. OMWI will create a matrix 

for tracking the implementation of the plan’s action, and will continue to monitor and evaluate 

hires, promotions, and separations of persons with disabilities. While this is a two-year plan, 

OMWI will report to the D&I EAC at midpoint regarding the plan’s implementation and the 

results of agency efforts to increase the representation of persons with disabilities, persons 

with targeted disabilities, and disabled veterans, and determine if any changes are necessary.

Effective Date: This Plan becomes effective upon signature of the FDIC Chairman.
14 | 2018–2019 DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN
2018–2019 DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM STRATEGIC PLAN | 15 

PAGE 

INTENTIONALLY 

LEFT BLANK

FDIC-028-2018