Recruitment 411: The ADA Comes of Age

Today is the 21^st anniversary of the signing of Americans with Disabilities Act.

The ADA was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. It was designed to provide increased civil rights for people with disabilities.

This law became even more important to those of us in the business of recruitment when President Obama issued an executive order mandating all federal agencies increase their hiring of people with disabilities.

The IRS has always been committed to attracting, developing and retaining a qualified and diverse workforce. The president’s executive order helps us evaluate how we are doing business and how we can step up our game.

This evaluation led to the creation of the IRS Disability Office – affectionately known as I DO. Our disability office is a one-stop shop for disability program management throughout the Service. The IDO staff handle everything reasonable accommodations for employees to policy oversight and education.

“Like a child who must learn to walk, talk, learn and grow, so goes the ADA. After working for more than 25 years on disability issues, I can honestly say I have never been more optimistic about the IRS becoming a model employer for persons with disabilities,” says IDO Director TJ Cannady.

“With our new IRS Disability Office, we aspire to go above and beyond, to ensure every person with a disability at the IRS has reasonable accommodations, and enjoys a truly inclusive work environment. We call our office IDO for short …the acronym says it all!”

How does your agency or company make sure disabled employees experience an inclusive work environment?

Recruitment 411 is the official blog of the IRS Recruitment Office.