How to get a Schedule A letter

Your own provider can write the letter. What the letter is, and what the regulation says about it, is covered in our Schedule A letter guide.

Certicare is another way to get it. Answer the intake questions, and a state-licensed provider writes and signs the letter on letterhead, where the evaluation supports it. There's usually no appointment, and a provider may follow up for more detail before deciding.

The completed letter arrives by email, usually within 24 hours after we have everything needed.

If a federal posting asks for a Schedule A letter, that's a letter a provider can write and sign on letterhead, where the evaluation supports it.

It shows eligibility. In the EEOC's words: "This documentation simply lets the agency know that you are eligible to apply using Schedule A."

It does not get you the job. The EEOC asks that question and answers it: "No. First, you have to be qualified for the job. Second, an agency has to decide if you are the best suited for the job." Nor does an agency have to use the process: "No. An agency can choose whether or not to use the Schedule A process for persons with disabilities."

Using Schedule A is your call. The EEOC says: "If you choose not to do so, you can apply instead as any other candidate would through the ordinary hiring process."

According to the Department of Labor, the letter "states that you are an individual with an intellectual disability, severe physical disability, or psychiatric disability" and that you are "eligible to be hired through Schedule A".

It does not need to list your specific disability, medical history, treatment, or need for accommodation. That list is the Department of Labor's. The EEOC's is shorter: "It does NOT need to detail your specific disability, medical history or need for accommodation."

The EEOC also says "The regulations do not specifically include or exclude particular disabilities".

$49 flat, for one case.

The letter arrives by email, on letterhead, usually within 24 hours after we have everything needed. There's usually no appointment, and a provider may follow up for more detail before deciding.

If we can't complete your request, for any reason, you're refunded in full.

Completing our intake form starts the review; it does not guarantee a signature, and if the review does not support your request you are refunded in full.

It does not expire, and you can reuse it. The Department of Labor says it plainly: "Schedule A letters do not expire."

The EEOC says "The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) imposes no requirements concerning the recentness of the documentation", and no "limitations on the number of times an applicant may submit such documentation."

One caveat from the same EEOC guide: "some agencies may request additional documentation as proof of disability." The full background is in our Schedule A letter guide.

Your answers are kept private and never sent to your employer or school without your say-so.

Rebecca Martel, APRN, FNP-BC, is a family nurse practitioner who has completed hundreds of these forms.