Current and former federal employees, job applicants, and in some cases contractors who believe that a federal agency has discriminated against them can file a discrimination complaint.
Generally, you must contact the EEO representative within 45 calendar days from the day discrimination occurred, the day you became aware of the discrimination, or when you should have become aware of the discrimination.
Contact with the EEO representative can be made by email, phone, letter, or office visit. An EEO representative will counsel you about your complaint and then you can decide whether or not you want to file an informal complaint, also known as the pre-complaint.
During the informal complaint process you can elect to remain anonymous, but anonymity is not extended to the formal stage.
No, the EEO counselor is a neutral party to the process and cannot represent you, nor can the EEO counselor represent management.
The informal or pre-complaint process can take between 30 to 90 calendar days. If resolution is not reached, you will receive your notice of right to file a formal complaint during the final interview. You will have 15 calendar days to file with the instructions you get from your EEO counselor. The timeline of the formal stage is on a case-by-case basis. The agency will review the formal complaint, decide if the case should be dismissed for procedural reasons or accepted for investigation. If accepted, the investigation generally has 180 calendar days from the day you filed your formal complaint to conclude the investigation. The EEO representatives will keep you informed of the timelines associated in each case.
Both you and your representative, if an employee of the agency, are entitled to a reasonable amount of official time to present the complaint and respond to requests for information and documentation. The amount of time should be mutually agreed upon between you and the agency.
ADR is a process used to assist parties in an attempt at resolving a dispute with the assistance of a neutral party. There are different techniques available in ADR, but the most common technique used by USMC is mediation. The goal in mediation is help the parties reach a voluntary agreement and can help improve communication between the parties.
The ADR process is voluntary, and you can withdraw at any time.
Once the agency has determined that a matter is appropriate for ADR, it can decide who should represent the agency and can require the responsible management official (RMO), or the agency official directly involved in the case, to cooperate in the ADR process. However, in the EEO ADR process, the responsible management official may not be the agency official that has settlement authority.
The ADR process ends, and the discrimination complaint process continues.
It is a change to work environment, or the way things are usually done at work.
Complete SECNAV form 12306/1 and submit to your immediate supervisor and local EEO Office?
You will contact your local EEO office, an Appropriated Fund (APF) or NAF EEO Specialist can assist you?
An individual with a Qualified Disability. A current employee or applicant for employment.
"Reasonable Accommodation" is for the employee only.
If the disability is not visible, then yes, you will need to provide medical documentation.
Yes, the local command can request supplemental medical documentation to seek clarity on diagnosis and how the command will evaluate the reasonable accommodation to distinguish if the employee is able to complete the essential functions of their position of record.
It depends, the local command will assess the request to determine if they are able to provide an interim accommodation to the requestor?
It depends, however only those that are in a “Need to Know” regarding your specific reasonable accommodation request. Those in the “Need to Know” status must keep all information confidential.
They will be stored in a secured database separate from the employee’s Official Personnel File (OPF).
The local command hiring supervisor of the position if for an applicant, a supervisor of the employee and subject matter experts as applicable.
Yes, the local command can provide only a portion of the reasonable accommodation suggested by the medical provider. The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a business, and the essential functions of a position must be able to be done with/without a reasonable accommodation.
Only current employees, that are unable to perform the essential functions of their position of record and have made the election to go through the reassignment process.
No, an employee can not be promoted, they can be assigned to a lateral or position grade below if they meet the qualifications if a position is found during the reassignment process.
The employee will request for jobs to be searched with an internal Job Search or a DON - Wide Job Search. The employee can also search on their on behalf during the Job search process.
The local command will proceed with their current business process rules.
PAS allows employees to perform activities of daily living that an individual would typically perform if he or she did not have a disability, such as assistance with removing and putting on clothing, eating, and using the restroom.
Enforcement date January 3, 2018, amendment to Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, (CFR 1614.203).
Yes, the employee is required to have a targeted disability; which are those that are identified as severe on the SF-256.
Yes
An employee can make an initial request for PAS verbally or in writing to the immediate supervisor or Reasonable Accommodation point of contact.
A law that President Biden signed into law on December 29, 2022, that requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation to a worker’s known limitations.
Contact your immediate supervisor and local EEO Office.
June 27, 2023.
Yes, the concepts are not new.
Yes, you can request a reasonable accommodation for your known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation will cause an undue hardship to the local command.
Some examples are longer, or more flexible breaks to eat, drink, rest, or use the restroom. A change in work schedule. A change in food or drink policy to allow a worker to have a water bottle or food. Receive appropriately sized uniform and safety apparel. Receive closer parking. Excused from strenuous activities and/or exposure to chemical not safe for pregnancy.
Title VII, The ADA, The Family and Medical Leave Act, and the PUMP Act.
No. Participation in disability reporting is entirely voluntary.
We want to ensure that the depiction of our workforce is an accurate representation. By obtaining a truer picture of IWD and IWTD representation within the Marine Corps, we can enhance our existing efforts to identify and eliminate barriers to equal employment opportunities for IWD and IWTD. In addition, having current disability data can assist in better understanding how to allocate resources to disability-related programs, such as for reasonable accommodations and maximizing accessibility for IWD. Most importantly, increased self-identification of a disability can help foster a greater culture of inclusion in your work environments, which can positively affect job satisfaction, commitment, and productivity. An individual’s disability status can change at any time. Taking a moment to verify and update your disability status is crucial in enhancing the DON’s affirmative employment efforts for IWD.
Targeted Disabilities are a subset of disabilities that are identified as particularly severe. This distinction of “Targeted Disabilities or Serious Health Conditions” is made on the SF-256 through 12 categories below:
Developmental Disability, for example, autism spectrum disorder
Traumatic Brain Injury
Deaf or serious difficulty hearing, benefiting from, for example, American Sign Language, CART, hearing aids, a cochlear implant and/or other supports.
Blind or serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses.
Missing extremities (arm, leg, hand and/or foot)
Significant mobility impairment, benefiting from the utilization of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports.
Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
Epilepsy or other seizure disorders
Intellectual disability
Significant Psychiatric Disorder, for example, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, or major depression
Dwarfism
Significant disfigurement, for example, disfigurements caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders.
Your servicing Human Resource Office (HRO) or Equal Employment Opportunity Office can provide hard-copy versions of the SF-256 upon request. If you have access to a computer outside of the workplace, you can complete a fillable version of the SF-256 from the OPM website at this path: SF-256 (https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf256.pdf). Please be sure to provide the completed form to your servicing HRO so that they can ensure timely processing while maintaining the confidentiality of your personal information.
Due to the structure of the SF-256 created by OPM, you can only choose one disability code. Therefore, you would select the disability or health condition with which you most identify. If you have a disability but do not identify with any of the targeted or other disabilities or serious health conditions listed on the SF-256, then you would select code “06 – I have a disability or serious health condition, but it is not listed on this form.”
It depends, however only those that are in a “Need to Know” regarding your specific religious accommodation request. Those in the “Need to Know” status must keep all information confidential.
They will be stored in a secured database separate from the employee’s (OPF).
You will contact your local EEO office, an Appropriated Fund (APF) or NAF EEO Specialist can assist you.
An individual with a sincerely held belief. A current employee or applicant for employment.