IRS Recruitment and Hiring of Individuals with Disabilities

by Richard Keeling

In 2004, the IRS established the Office of Chief Accessibility Coordinator (CAC) for the Wage and Investment Division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The purpose of this new office is to provide greater focus and structure to the IRS’s efforts to promote and coordinate the recruitment, hiring, support, retention and advancement of individuals with disabilities. This new office will work hand-in-hand with the IRS’s National Recruitment Cadre positioned in the Human Capital Office and the Equal Employment Opportunity Office to move forward on our agency’s goals.

Lee Giurlanda is the Chief Accessibility Coordinator of this new office which is located in Richmond, Virginia. Lee began his 35-year career with the IRS in 1973, after completing the Taxpayer Service Program at Lions World Services for the Blind (formerly known as Arkansas Enterprises for the Blind). He started as a GS-4 Taxpayer Service Representative (TSR) in San Diego, California and moved up through the organization serving as a Taxpayer Service Specialist, Frontline Manager, Branch Chief, Assistant Division Chief, Division Chief, and Operations Chief before being appointed as Chief Accessibility Coordinator.

Throughout his career, Lee remained a powerful advocate for employees with disabilities within the IRS. Being blind himself, Lee knows the physical and emotional barriers blind and visually impaired employees face daily. For years, he has worked effortlessly in hiring and promoting visually impaired and blind employees within the organization. Over the past several years, Lee has served as the IRS Program Coordinator for the Lions World Services for the Blind (LWSB). IRS and LWSB share a 41-year partnership in which the IRS has hired over 700 visually impaired and blind candidates. Lee has personally been involved with the hiring of over 150 candidates from LWSB. Several times a year, Lee, along with LWSB officials, meets with State Rehabilitation Counselors throughout the country to market the various programs available at LWSB. To quote Lee, “Lions World Services for the Blind did not just offer me a job, but a career.”
 
There are five staff members in the Office of CAC, one located in Richmond and four others located in Dallas, TX, Washington D.C., and Pittsburgh, PA, each with designated geographic territorial coverage.
 
Lee hopes to work with disability organizations to identify candidates eligible for available positions in various IRS locations throughout the nation. They expect that peak periods of recruitment will coincide with the annual pre-filing season hiring and corresponding training classes at our campus and remote call-site locations. They also anticipate that we may have year-round requests from some of our sites looking for candidates with specific skills or in specific locations. Whatever the case, they are hoping that a ready “network” of contacts will facilitate working together to place candidates into suitable jobs.
 
Why does the IRS want to hire a person with a disability? Some of these statistics help tell the story:

• 33% Working Age has a disability

• 20% Chance of becoming a person with a disability

• 50% chance of having a family member with a disability

 
It is important to note that every federal agency has an obligation to recruit and hire qualified individuals with disabilities.  The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) would like to see 2% of all jobs in the federal workforce filled by individuals with disabilities. Also, the Wage and Investment Division of the IRS is committed to hiring individuals with disabilities in 2008 and beyond.
 
The IRS often uses Schedule A as a hiring authority used to appoint individuals with disabilities, non-competitively. To be eligible for Schedule A appointments, a person must meet the definition for being disabled. The person must have a severe physical, cognitive, or emotional disability; have a history of having such disability; or be perceived as having such disability. To qualify for the position an individual must meet the education and/or experience qualifications and must be able to perform the essential job duties with or without accommodations at the time of employment. They must demonstrate their ability to perform satisfactorily based on a temporary trial appointment made or have been certified by a licensed medical professional, a licensed vocational rehabilitation specialist, or federal, state, or District of Columbia agency that issues or provides disability benefits.  This includes, State Vocational Rehabilitation Office and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
 
In addition to proof of disability, a certification of job readiness is required.   A certification of job readiness is a determination that a disabled individual is likely to succeed in the performance of the duties of the position they are applying for.  Agencies can accept certificates of job readiness from the same entities that are authorized to provide the disability status documentation.  Agencies also have the discretion to accept the individual’s prior employment under a temporary appointment in either the competitive or excepted service as proof of job readiness. 
 
This temporary employment option is not intended for individuals who are already in the federal workforce and have demonstrated the ability to perform a certain job.  If an agency utilizes the temporary employment option, the agency may then convert these appointments to time-limited or permanent appointments at any time during the temporary appointment.  After two years of satisfactory service, the agency may non-competitively convert these individuals to a career or career-conditional appointment in the competitive service.  Career-conditional appointment is not an employee right.  The agency maintains the discretion to determine whether an employee is ready for placement in the permanent career workforce. 
 
To find out more information or if you have any questions, or if you currently have clients looking for positions, please feel free to call Lee at 804-916-8903 or lee.giurlanda@irs.gov. You may also contact Ginger Miller, Policy Analyst, at 804-916-8908 or virginia.miller@irs.gov.

Richard Keeling
Senior Tax Analyst-SPEC/P&PD
Volunteer/Community Partnerships
Office: 404.338.8814