FederalDaily.com > EEOC: Fed Work Force Seeing Fewer Employees with Disabilities

FederalDaily - January 17, 2008

EEOC: Fed Work Force Seeing Fewer Employees with Disabilities

The proportion of the federal work force made up of people with targeted disabilities in Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 dropped to its lowest level in 20 years, according to an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) report released Jan. 15. The proportion of those with targeted disabilities—called the federal work force participation rate—declined to 0.94 percent of the federal government’s total work force. Targeted disabilities include deafness, blindness, missing extremities, partial or complete paralysis, convulsive disorders, mental retardation, mental illness and distortion of the limb and/or spine. According to the report, the targeted disabilities work force rate has declined each year since reaching a peak of 1.24 percent in FY 1993 and FY 1994. Carlton Hadden, director of EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations, which prepared the report, called on the federal government to remember its role as a model employer. “Under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, federal agencies have an affirmative action requirement to hire and advance individuals with disabilities,” Hadden said, “yet 35 long years later there is little progress. Agency leaders must make this issue a priority.” The report offers best practices that agencies can adopt to reduce barriers and help draw more individuals with disabilities into the federal workplace. “Our goal is to ensure that the federal government is the employer of first choice for individuals with disabilities,” said Hadden. To see more, go to: www.eeoc.gov/press/1-15-08.html

Lawyers Group Urges Pay Bump for Federal Judges

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) passed a resolution calling on lawmakers to approve a pay raise for the nation’s federal judges. In a Jan. 14 statement, NACDL noted that a veteran federal judge soon could be earning less than rookie associates at major law firms. A U.S. district court trial judge earns $165,000 per year, while starting salaries for lawyers just out of law school are expected to climb as high as $180,000 by this summer, NACDL said. Bills now are pending in the Senate and House which would fix the pay situation. H.R. 3753, approved 28-5 by the House Judiciary Committee, would raise the pay of district court judges to $218,000 and provide corresponding increases for federal appellate judges. A similar bill, S. 1638, is before the Senate Judiciary Committee. NACDL noted that a judicial pay increase also has been championed by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. To see more, go to: www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/newsreleases/2007mn032?OpenDocument

President OKs 3,200 Marines for Afghanistan

President Bush approved a plan to send an additional force of about 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan this spring to help confront rising violence there, DoD said on Jan. 15. The troop expansion, which increases the number of U.S. forces deployed to Afghanistan by more than 10 percent, is meant to help NATO troops and Afghan security forces already in place. The seven-month temporary deployment will fill a standing NATO request for a maneuver force in southern Afghanistan. The bulk of the additional forces will be deployed in March from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. In April, about 1,000 Marines from 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, in Twentynine Palms, Calif., will be deployed, the Marine Corps said in a statement. The United States has a total of about 27,000 troops in Afghanistan. About one-half serve in the 40,000-member NATO-led force. To see more, go to: www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11619 or www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/releaseview/4823BE4DC492B55C852573D10063EA3F?opendocument.