Full Breakdown
HHS Tackles Backlog of Reasonable Accommodation Requests
4/22/2026, 4:52:44 AM
Overview of the Situation
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is addressing a significant backlog of over 9,000 reasonable accommodation requests from employees with disabilities. This backlog has arisen following a policy change last year that repealed existing telework accommodations to comply with the Trump administration’s return-to-office mandate. HHS is now seeking to temporarily reassign mid-career and senior staff to expedite the processing of these requests.
Policy Changes and Their Impact
In an effort to streamline the handling of reasonable accommodation requests, HHS centralized this process, requiring approvals from officials at the assistant secretary level or above. This shift has contributed to the backlog, as the typical review process was disrupted. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which accounts for approximately one-third of the backlog, recently eased some restrictions on medical telework, allowing supervisors to grant telework as an interim accommodation while requests are under review.
Employee Reassignments to Address Backlog
HHS has initiated a call for nominations of GS-12 and GS-13 employees for temporary assignments lasting 90 to 120 days to help manage the backlog. The agency has set a deadline for nominations and emphasized the need for selected employees to receive training to effectively handle the accommodation requests. The CDC anticipates that it could take six to nine months to clear its backlog of 3,000 requests, but the timeline for the entire HHS backlog remains uncertain.
Perspectives on the Situation
Linnet Griffiths, a former senior advisor at the CDC, noted that the agency previously had a robust system for processing reasonable accommodations, but staffing reductions have strained resources. She expressed skepticism about HHS's ability to manage the current backlog efficiently, suggesting it could take a year or more to process the requests accurately.
Conversely, Jodi Hershey, a former FEMA reasonable accommodation specialist, described the CDC's restoration of telework as a positive step. She emphasized the importance of individualized assessments in accommodation decisions, arguing that rushing these processes can lead to negative outcomes for both employees and agencies.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
While HHS has centralized the accommodation request process, the effectiveness of this approach is debated. Griffiths and Hershey provide differing views on the agency's capacity to manage the backlog, highlighting a lack of clarity regarding the timeline and methods for addressing the requests.
Verbatim Quotes
- “That is a tremendous amount of work for a staff that was already stretched and very limited and already had a backlog,” — Linnet Griffiths, Former Senior Advisor, CDC
- “ “What I see every day is that when agencies rush accommodation decisions or rely on assumptions instead of individualized assessments, everyone loses.” — Jodi Hershey, Founder, EASE, LLC
As HHS works to resolve this backlog, the agency's strategies and the effectiveness of its new policies will be closely monitored by stakeholders and employees alike.
