SUPPORTING STATEMENT
U.S. Department of Commerce
Office of the Secretary, Office of Civil Rights
Reasonable Accommodations for Employees and Applicants Tracking Form
OMB CONTROL NO. 0690-0022
A. JUSTIFICATION
1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary.
Under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, Federal agencies must provide reasonable accommodation (such as an interpreter, reader, assistive technology, etc.) to qualified applicants and employees with disabilities. Unless the Department can demonstrate that a particular accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of its program, accommodations will be provided to a qualified individual with a disability who is an:
applicant who needs an accommodation in order to be considered for a job;
employee who needs an accommodation to enable him or her perform the essential functions of the job or to gain access to the workplace; or
employee who needs an accommodation to have equal benefits and privileges of employment.
Executive Order 13164 requires Federal agencies to provide written procedures for reasonable accommodation for employees and applicants. The records must be maintained in order to evaluate the fair application of the procedures for the Department of Commerce (DOC). To do so, a form has been developed to comprise the report for each reasonable accommodation request. In order to ensure that the DOC processes requests for reasonable accommodation in a fair, timely, and equitable manner, applicants for employment and current employees are asked to verify their requests in writing by using the DOC Form CD-575.
2. Explain how, by whom, how frequently, and for what purpose the information will be used. If the information collected will be disseminated to the public or used to support information that will be disseminated to the public, then explain how the collection complies with all applicable Information Quality Guidelines.
The information collected is used by the Office of Civil Rights to evaluate the efficacy and consistency of the reasonable accommodation process. Information gathered from managers and Human Resources (HR) representatives on Reasonable Accommodation Form CD 575 will be compiled and analyzed annually for the Report on Provision of Reasonable Accommodation and transmitted to the servicing Bureau EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) or Human
Resources (HR) office. The report and accompanying documentation are subject to periodic review by the DOC Office of Civil Rights and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to ensure compliance.
This collection complies with the Office of the Secretary’s Information Quality Guidelines.
There is a note to applicants on the form that gives notice that if for any reason the employee or applicant is dissatisfied with the decision on the request, they may file a complaint of EEO discrimination. This tracking form has not yet gone into circulation, it must go through EEOC and DOC approval processes first. The existing policy for Reasonable Accommodation does not have a tracking form, however employees are notified by the EEO or HR office of this right.
3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological techniques or other forms of information technology.
The form will be available electronically in PDF or Word on the OCR website (http://www.osec.doc.gov/ocr/) and as an attachment to Departmental Administrative Order
215-10. The form is not fillable and submitted online, but can be completed and sent via email or fax to the servicing Bureau EEO or HR office.
4. Describe efforts to identify duplication.
Each request for reasonable accommodation is to be considered separately, and on a case-by-case basis. The information is specific to the individual applicant and employee. Duplication will be avoided through the monitoring of the deciding officials (supervisors in most cases).
5. If the collection of information involves small businesses or other small entities, describe the methods used to minimize burden.
Not applicable.
6. Describe the consequences to the Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently.
If this information is not collected, DOC would be in violation of Executive Order 13164, which requires Federal agencies to maintain records in order to evaluate the fair, timely, and equitable application of the procedures. EEOC has required that each Federal Agency submit for approval reasonable accommodation procedures, including tracking forms; and will ask for periodic reports on the data collected on these forms. Without the regular collection of this information, DOC would be unable to comply with EEOC’s requests for reports.
7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with OMB guidelines.
Not applicable.
8. Provide a copy of the PRA Federal Register notice that solicited public comments on the information collection prior to this submission. Summarize the public comments received in response to that notice and describe the actions taken by the agency in response to those comments. Describe the efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.
A Federal Register Notice soliciting public comment was published on June 22, 2006
(Vol. 71, pg. 35863). No comments were received.
9. Explain any decisions to provide payments or gifts to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.
No payments or gifts are provided to respondents.
10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.
The Departmental Administrative Order 215-10 (DAO) addresses the requirement for deciding officials and all other individuals associated with the reasonable accommodations process to safeguard the requestor’s privacy, especially with respect to medical information and documentation. All requestors will receive an electronic copy of DAO 215-10.
11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.
In some cases, medical information may be required to determine if the individual meets the legal definition of disability, and is thus entitled to a reasonable accommodation.
12. Provide an estimate in hours of the burden of the collection of information.
The estimated time to complete the form is 10 minutes x 100 respondents = 17 hours.
13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to the respondents or record-keepers resulting from the collection (excluding the value of the burden hours in #12 above).
There is no cost burden to respondents.
14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government.
The cost to the Federal government is minimal.
15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 or 14 of the OMB 83-I.
The program change increase from 20 respondents to approximately 100 is due to the inclusion of DOC employees to the request form.
16. For collections whose results will be published, outline the plans for tabulation and publication.
Not applicable.
17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons why display would be inappropriate.
Since the form is part of a DAO, which can be effective for decades, it is illogical and
non-economical to include the expiration date. The OMB approval expiration date will be displayed on the online forms.
18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19 of the
OMB 83-I.
None.
B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
This collection of information does not employ statistical methods.
| File Type | application/msword |
| Author | gbanks |
| File Modified | 2007-05-07 |
| File Created | 2007-04-06 |