The Postal Service™ is required by federal law to collect information regarding the disability status of all applicants hired. This information is used to prepare statistical reports that show agency progress in hiring, placement, and advancement of disabled individuals. Effective immediately, disability status codes will be collected from newly hired employees on the revised PS Form 2489, Self-Identification of a Physical or Mental Disability. (See related article on page 36.)
Handbook EL-312, Employment and Placement, is updated with a new part 576 that explains the procedures for completing and processing revised PS Form 2489.
Handbook EL-312, Employment and Placement
* * * * *
5 Suitability
* * * * *
57 Medical Suitability
* * * * *
[Add 576 to read as follows:]
576 Self-Identification of a Physical or Mental Disability
Guidelines for the use of PS Form 2489, Self-Identification of a Physical or Mental Disability, are as follows:
a. After an applicant has been selected and given a job offer, he or she must be provided with PS Form 2489, Self-Identification of a Physical or Mental Disability, to complete. PS Form 2489 is typically provided to the new employee along with other forms that are completed after a job offer.
b. PS Form 2489 must not be included in a packet of forms if the packet is given to job applicants before a job offer has been made.
c. Identification of a physical or mental disability status code on PS Form 2489 is the sole responsibility of the new employee. Postal Service employees or contractors must not give advice or influence in any way the new employee’s selection of a disability status code.
d. Process PS Form 2489 as follows:
1. Give PS Form 2489 to a new employee to complete only after the applicant has been selected and given a job offer.
2. Review the completed PS Form 2489 to determine whether the new employee has circled a code and entered it on the form. If the new employee did not circle or enter a code, circle “01” and enter “01” in the space provided. Code “01” indicates that an individual does not wish to have his or her disability status officially recorded outside of medical records.
Special Instructions for New Employees Hired Under Noncompetitive Program for People with Severe Disabilities. These individuals must report disability data using the appropriate code, 13 to 94. If these persons do not furnish a code, Human Resources must obtain the code (13 to 94) from the employment records or medical documentation used to justify the appointment, circle it on the form, and enter the code in the space provided.
3. Enter the code from PS Form 2489 on the accession worksheet and in the applicable system when processing the accession action. If a new employee does not furnish a disability code, Human Resources must record code “01” when processing the accession action.
A current employee who wishes to change his or her self-identification may do so at any time by submitting a completed PS Form 2489 to Human Resources. A disability code change for a current employee must be processed as a profile change in the system for processing personnel actions.
4. Destroy the completed PS Form 2489. Do not file PS Form 2489 in the Official Personnel Folder or in the Preemployment Investigation File.
* * * * *
We will incorporate this revision into the next printed version of Handbook EL-312 and into the next online update, available on the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site:
(The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site is http://blue.usps.gov/cpim.)
Handbook EL-312 is also available on the Postal Service Internet:
- Go to www.usps.com.
- Click on About USPS & News, then Forms & Publications, then Postal Periodicals and Publications, and then Manuals.
— Selection, Evaluation, and Recognition,
Employee Resource Management, 4-12-07
