ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Disabilities are no obstacle for great warfighter support at Robins.
More than 1,500 workers with various disabilities serve the mission here.
Each October, National Disability Employment Awareness Month is dedicated to raising awareness about disability employment issues and celebrates the many and varied contributions of America's workers with disabilities.
NDEAM dates back to 1945, when Congress declared the first week in October "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week."
Georgia’s Vocational Rehabilitation Agency and the Georgia Veterans Education Career Transition Resource Center will present briefings on the services each offers to help people with disabilities enter the workforce on Oct. 22, from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Robins Heritage Club.
Stephanie Hawthorne, a Human Resources specialist in the 78th Force Support Squadron’s Employee Relations section, said the disability awareness month informs management and employees at Robins about the benefits of hiring and working with individuals with disabilities, and how individuals with disabilities diversify an organization and help achieve the warfighter mission at Robins.
Hawthorne said opening the door of opportunity to people with disabilities taps a great source of talent.
“Hiring qualified people with disabilities at Robins, as well as at other military installations, allows us to employ the best and the brightest employee regardless of their limitations,” she said.
Hawthorne said the federal government uses Schedule A Hiring Authority, Workforce Recruitment Program, and 30 or More Disabled Veteran Hiring Authority to hire people with various disabilities.
Once a person with a disability is hired by the federal government, the reasonable accommodations process begins, Hawthorne explained.
“The employee gets with their immediate supervisor to request accommodations and provide medical documents to support their request,” she said. “This is an interactive process between management and the employee on finding accommodation that works for the employee and management. For employees that are in the hiring process, we process an on hold with restriction request which is similar to the reasonable accommodation process to ensure that we can accommodate the new hires’ disability requests.”
As of fiscal year 2015, about 100,000 people with disabilities work for the federal government, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
For more information on the Oct. 22 briefing event at Robins, contact Stephanie Hawthorne at (478) 222-9874 or via e-mail at stephanie.hawthorne.1@us.af.mil.