The Postal Service is observing October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
The annual commemoration began in 1945 as a weeklong recognition of workers with disabilities and expanded to a full month in 1988.
The Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy promotes the observance, whose theme this year is “Celebrating Value and Talent.” The department’s website has an overview of National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
“Americans with disabilities have been a part of our nation’s success from the very start. Beginning with our Founding Fathers, there are examples of how Americans with disabilities shaped our nation,” Julie Hocker, assistant secretary of labor for disability employment policy said in a news release. “This year’s theme honors the value and talent of disabled Americans, past and present.”
Employees with a disability can self-identify, or update a disability already on file, by completing PS Form 2489, Self-Identification of a Physical or Mental Disability.
Information obtained from this form is kept confidential and serves as a tool to improve the recruitment, hiring, advancement and retention of individuals with disabilities. The information is used only to prepare aggregate statistics and not for any purpose that will affect the employee individually. The information is not shared with the employee’s supervisor. PS Form 2489 is not a request for reasonable accommodation.
Employees with disabilities who want to request a reasonable accommodation should contact a Postal Service supervisor or manager, their local human resources manager or their reasonable accommodation committee.
The Disabilities & Reasonable Accommodations page on the MyHR website has more information about reasonable accommodation at USPS.
