332 Applicant’s Responsibilities

332.1 Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Tests

An applicant who needs an adjustment to or change in the testing process because of limitations caused by a disability must request such accommodation immediately upon receiving his or her schedule for a testing session. An applicant may make a request to one of the following:

• The testing vendor.
• The exam administrator.
• Human Resources (staff or manager).
• Any Postal Service employee connected with the application process (including those listed above, a point of contact listed on the job posting, an employee who assists in scheduling the interview, or a member of the review committee).

Note: Applicants who are deaf or hard of hearing and are current Postal Service employees who have a Communication Accommodation Plan (“Plan”) on file need only advise the testing vendor, the examiner, selecting official, or manager, Human Resources, of their specified communication accommodation. If necessary, the applicant may contact the district disability coordinator for direction or assistance. If a current Postal Service employee who is deaf or hard of hearing applies for a position and does not have a Plan in place, the employee must follow the procedure described in 212.

Applicants are responsible for making a request for accommodation as soon as the applicant knows the need for accommodation. The applicable Postal Service employee activates the reasonable accommodation process whenever an employee or applicant, or someone acting on the individual’s behalf, requests orally or in writing a reasonable accommodation.

332.2 Documentation Required

An applicant requesting a reasonable accommodation may be required to provide documentation sufficient to establish both of the following:

• The applicant, in fact, does have a disability as defined by federal law.
• The disability interferes with validly assessing the knowledge, skills, and abilities that the test covers.

Relevant documentation may include the following:

• Information on how the disability or impairment would affect performance on the test (i.e., the specific test behaviors affected by the disability).
• The specific accommodation the applicant is requesting.
• Current documentation supporting the existence of a disability from a bona fide expert source (e.g., a licensed professional, a state department of rehabilitation, or an approved agency).

The applicant must provide additional information upon request when the applicable Postal Service employee needs information to determine whether a disability exists for which accommodation is required or to identify appropriate accommodation. The applicant’s failure to provide the required information in a timely manner may delay responses to requests for accommodation.

The need to provide documentation substantiating the existence of a disability may be unnecessary depending on the type of accommodation requested. For example, if an applicant or employee who is deaf or hard of hearing requests a sign-language interpreter as a testing accommodation, the Postal Service can provide the interpreter without requiring the individual to provide evidence of the following:

• The disability; or
• How the disability interferes with valid assessment.