EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
 
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The Equal Opportunity Office

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is dedicated to creating a workplace free from harassment and retaliation with the Equal Opportunity Office (EO) leading its compliance activities. EO is responsible for managing DIA’s efforts to improve the employee lifecycle and sustain a world-class workforce.

The Equal Opportunity Office serves as a key advisor to the Director of DIA, providing strategic, programmatic, compliance, and policy guidance that affects DIA’s global workforce.

Reasonable Accommodation Program

The Defense Intelligence Agency’s success depends on the skills of its workforce and a shared commitment to executing the defense intelligence mission. The Agency believes that every member of the workforce must have an equal opportunity to excel in their career through improved training, mentoring, and access to challenging work opportunities. DIA recognizes the importance of providing a fair, modern, and secure work environment. Providing the optimal work environment is achieved through a culture that modernizes its facilities and infrastructure, and values constant awareness of security and CI threats.

A reasonable accommodation is a change or adjustment to a job, work environment, or in the way things are customarily done, that permits a qualified applicant or employee with a disability to participate in the job application process, perform essential functions of the job, and enjoy the full benefits and privileges of the workplace afforded to employees.

A Reasonable Accommodation May Include

  • Making existing facilities accessible
  • Job restructuring
  • Part-time or modified work schedules
  • Acquiring or modifying equipment
  • Changing tests, training materials, or policies
  • Providing qualified readers or interpreters
  • Reassignment

Reasonable Accommodation Does Not Include

  • Eliminating an essential function of a position
  • Placing an individual in a position they cannot perform
  • Lowering the performance or production standards of a position
  • Creating a new position
  • Placing the individual in permanent light duty status
  • Personal use items (e.g., wheelchair, eyeglasses, hearing aids)

Reasonable accommodations are provided to qualified individuals with disabilities unless to do so would cause undue hardship and/or a direct threat to the agency, the individual, or other employees.

How Do I Request a Reasonable Accommodation?

Step 1: Initiation

1. An employee or job applicant may initiate a request for reasonable accommodation verbally or in writing. This request may be submitted to the employee’s supervisor or the EO office. An accommodation request from an applicant should be made to the Office of Human Resources Recruiter.

Step 2: Formal Request

2. If submitted verbally, the supervisor, point of contact, and/or the RA Case Manager should ask the employee or applicant to put their request in writing using a Written Request for Reasonable Accommodation (Appendix A). If the employee or applicant is unable to submit a written request, the supervisor, point of contact, and/or the RA Case Manager must complete the request and should have the employee or applicant sign the request.

Associated Forms & Documentation

DIAI 1020.001 Reasonable Accommodation Program (opens PDF in a new tab) A-RA Request Form (opens PDF in a new tab) RA Medical Form Appendix (opens PDF in a new tab)

Who Can Request a Reasonable Accommodation?

In order for a DIA officer to be entitled to a reasonable accommodation, the officer must have a “disability” pursuant to the definition outlined in the Rehabilitation Act, 1973 (Section 504), as amended. Contractors should contact their parent company to submit a request for reasonable accommodation.

What Are the Employee’s Responsibilities?

  • Initiate a request verbally or in writing to the immediate supervisor.
  • In the absence of the immediate supervisor, a request can be made to a higher-level supervisor within the employee’s chain of command or EO.
  • Provide medical documentation if required (submit directly to EO only).

What Are a Supervisor’s Responsibilities?

  • Submit employee's request to EO within 2 days of receiving it.
  • Process the request within 60 days if there are no extenuating circumstances. EO facilitates this process.
  • Document, track and monitor the effectiveness of the reasonable accommodation.
  • Maintain confidentiality.

Additional Questions?

The Equal Opportunity Office (EO) is committed to providing accommodations to qualified individuals with a disability. The Reasonable Accommodations Team provides guidance and assistance to promote healthy workplace practices and consultation on disability management services to DIA managers, supervisors, and employees.

Contact the Equal Opportunity Office from the Contact Us page.

Personal Assistance Services (PAS)

On January 3, 2017, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a final ruling amending the regulations implementing Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The amended regulations require Federal agencies, as an affirmative obligation, to provide personal assistance services, absent undue hardship, to employees who need them because of their targeted disability, such as traumatic brain injury and paralysis. PAS provides assistance with performing activities of daily living that employees would typically perform if they did not have a disability, such as eating and using the restroom. Agencies are only required to provide PAS when the employee is working or on work-related travel. Employees requesting PAS shall notify their supervisor and the Equal Opportunity Office’s Reasonable Accommodation team to initiate the process.

Civilian Complaint Guidance

The Equal Opportunity (EO) Office addresses and processes all allegations of discrimination where an employee, applicant, or former employee asserts unfair treatment based on one or more of the protected Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) bases listed below:

Protected EEO Bases

Race Color Religion National Origin Sex (including pregnancy) Age (40 or older) Disability (mental and/or physical) Genetic Information Reprisal / Retaliation

The DIA EEO complaints process is governed by 29 Code of Federal Regulations Part 1614 (opens PDF in a new tab) and is open to all DIA employees, applicants, and former employees. Military members and contractors follow a separate process within their respective services/companies, and in most cases are not eligible to use the civilian EEO complaints process at DIA. They may, however, contact a DIA EEO counselor for general guidance and referral, as appropriate. Our expert and impartial staff of professionals take every concern seriously and engage with employees and managers throughout the EEO complaints process.

Individuals who believe they have been discriminated against and want to initiate the complaints process must contact an EEO Counselor within 45 days from the date of the alleged discriminatory event, the date they became aware of the event, or the effective date of a personnel action.

Contact an EEO Counselor from the Contact Us page.

Military Complaints Guidance

Military members assigned to DIA are protected by laws that prohibit unlawful discrimination and harassment (including sexual harassment, bullying, and hazing) on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, or sexual orientation. Discrimination or harassment on these bases, when not authorized by law or regulation, detracts from military readiness. If you believe you have experienced discrimination or harassment, it is important to report the incident promptly. You can do this through your chain of command or by contacting DIA’s Military Equal Opportunity (MEO) Manager.

Harassment May Include

A Military Equal Opportunity counselor taking notes on a clipboard during a consultation with a service member.
  • Offensive jokes
  • Epithets
  • Ridicule or mockery
  • Insults or put-downs
  • Displays of offensive objects or imagery
  • Stereotyping
  • Intimidating acts
  • Veiled threats of violence
  • Threatening or provoking remarks
  • Racial or other slurs
  • Derogatory remarks about a person’s accent
  • Displays of racially offensive symbols
  • Hazing and bullying

MEO Complaint Process

Informal Process

  • There is no timeline for filing an informal complaint.
  • Resolution within 30 duty days.
  • The complainant may elect to use:
    • His/her chain of command
    • Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) facilitation

Formal Process

  • Must be filed within 90 duty days (excluding sexual harassment) for USAF members and 60 calendar days for all other DoD Services.
  • Must be submitted in writing to the MEO and forwarded to the Commander.
  • Require specific actions, are subject to timelines, and require documentation of the actions taken.

Need Guidance or Have Questions?

Contact the Military Equal Opportunity (MEO) Manager from the Contact Us page.

NO FEAR ACT

On May 15, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the Notification and Federal Employee Anti-discrimination and Retaliation (NO FEAR) Act, which increases Federal agency accountability for acts of discrimination or reprisal against employees.

For more information, please visit the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Personnel & Readiness No FEAR Act page at https://prhome.war.gov/NoFear/ (opens in a new tab).

DIA No FEAR Act Reports

In accordance with statutory requirements, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is required by Congress to publish annual No FEAR Act Reports on its public website. These reports provide transparency and accountability regarding equal employment opportunity (EEO) complaint activity and related actions within the Agency.

Notice of Rights Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. §§ 4151-57)

The Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) requires access to facilities that are designed, built, altered, or leased with Federal funds. The Access Board is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the ABA.

The Access Board's accessibility standards are available on their website at https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/buildings-and-sites/about-the-aba-standards (opens in a new tab).

Information about filing a complaint may be found at https://www.access-board.gov/aba-enforcement/file-a-complaint (opens in a new tab).