Reasonable Accommodations at HHS: Why NAGE Is Watching

A recent development involving reasonable accommodations at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is raising questions for federal employees across the Department of Health and Human Services.

According to Government Executive, CDC employees with pending reasonable accommodation requests were recently instructed to resubmit supporting medical documentation within 20 calendar days, including some employees who had previously provided documentation. Employees were warned that failure to provide the requested information could result in their cases being administratively closed and interim accommodations ending.

The directive comes as HHS faces a backlog of approximately 9,000 reasonable accommodation requests across the department, including roughly 3,000 pending requests at CDC.

It is important to note that the reported directive applies specifically to CDC employees. There is currently no indication that NIH employees have been issued the same blanket requirement to resubmit accommodation documentation.

What HHS Policy Says

Under the HHS Reasonable Accommodation Policy, employees generally have 20 calendar days to provide medical documentation when it is requested, although reasonable extensions may be granted.

The policy also addresses when additional medical information is necessary. When sufficient documentation has already established an employee's disability, functional limitations and need for an accommodation, the process should move forward rather than requiring unnecessary additional documentation.

This distinction is particularly important in light of reports that some CDC employees who had previously submitted documentation were asked to resend or update their records.

Why NAGE Is Watching

NAGE represents employees at the National Institutes of Health, an agency within HHS. While the CDC directive has not been shown to apply to NIH employees, developments involving reasonable accommodations elsewhere within HHS are important for our members to be aware of.

NIH's reasonable accommodation procedures state that medical documentation should not be requested when an employee's disability and need for accommodation are obvious or have already been documented.

NAGE-represented NIH employees with pending accommodation requests should continue following existing NIH procedures, respond promptly to legitimate requests for documentation and maintain copies of accommodation-related records and communications.

NAGE will continue monitoring developments across HHS and will keep members informed of changes that could directly affect their workplace rights or the reasonable accommodation process.