The Foreign Service Journal, March 2023

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2023 49 AFSA NEWS Changes to the Worldwide Availability Requirement: AFSA Statement The State Department has briefed the AFSA Governing Board on the recent settle- ment of the Equal Employ- ment Opportunity Commis- sion class action complaint that challenged the depart- ment’s Worldwide Availabil- ity requirement for career Foreign Service applicants. AFSA is strongly in favor of the department being more inclusive, more representa- tive, and providing greater opportunities for applicants with disabilities to enter the Foreign Service. We understand this settle- ment comes after many years of litigation and represents a serious effort to bring equity to those individuals with dis- abilities who were denied the opportunity for a career in the Foreign Service under the State Department’s current application process, which requires that applicants be “worldwide available.” AFSA wants to ensure that this new policy does not unfairly affect current members of the Foreign Service by putting greater pressure on them to serve more frequently at hardship and hard-to-fill posts. While all applicants currently must possess a Class I worldwide availability clearance, the new policy creates a minimum thresh- old that requires applicants to be medically cleared to serve only at the designated Regional Medical Evacuation Centers, which are currently Bangkok, London, Pretoria, and Singapore. AFSA has been assured by the department that this new medical threshold is just a minimum, and that it expects that persons with disabilities will be able to serve success- fully at a wide variety of over- seas posts, including hardship and hard-to-fill posts. Given the magnitude of this change, AFSA urges the department to conduct an annual review of this new policy during the five-year trial period to determine if there have been any nega- tive consequences or if the change affects the depart- ment’s ability to meet our nation’s national security needs by staffing hardship and hard-to-fill posts. AFSA also calls on the department to further define the medical clearance process and the role of the Bureau of Medical Services regarding these individuals once they are on board. We have been advised that this new policy will only affect applicants, not those who have already entered the For- eign Service. But it is unclear how the medical clearance process will function once an applicant has entered on duty. Finally, AFSA encourages the department to brief and coordinate as appropriate with other foreign affairs agencies that may be affected by this change. Working with the depart- ment, AFSA looks forward to making certain this new policy is implemented in a way that provides greater transparency and opportunity for applicants with disabilities while also ensuring that the State Department contin- ues to meet the needs and requirements of the Foreign Service. n In response to complaints from many mem- bers concerning access to Employee Express at overseas posts, AFSA sent a letter to Kiran Ahuja, director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), on Dec. 28, 2022. Signed by AFSA President Eric Rubin, the letter requests that the system be made “readily accessible to government employees,” particularly the nearly 9,000 Foreign Service members serving at embassies and consulates overseas. It also asks OPM to designate “a responsive point of contact” that FS members can turn to for help when encoun- tering access problems. AFSA will keep members posted on progress. n AFSA Urges Fixes to Employee Express NEWS BRIEF Meet the Team Working for You! The American Foreign Service Association has 28 staff mem- bers based at headquarters and an additional 11 attorneys and counselors working out of the AFSA Labor Management Office inside the State Department. These 39 employees bring a wealth of expertise and experience to bear in support of AFSA members every day. To ensure that members can easily determine where to turn for specific assistance from the association, AFSA recently published an updated and expanded page on its website featuring a comprehensive staff list, including pho- tos, job descriptions, and brief biographies. Learn more about AFSA’s professional staff and how to them reach by visiting www.afsa.org/staff. n