The Obama Administration has proposed new guidelines for
hiring workers with disabilities that would require all federal contractors to
set goals of having 7% of their workforce composed of persons with
disabilities.
Certainly, this will add some muscle to the Americans
with Disabilities Act, since it requires action which is stronger than the
passive of not discriminating. Of
course, there will be the ever-present paperwork needed to document this effort
and businesses will object to that, as they have objected to paperwork
requirements of Affirmative Action and the ADA.
Some other concerns include how to document this 7% since
the ADA does not allow you to ask about disability. That’s not quite true, though, is it? AFTER a person is hired, it is allowed to ask
disability related questions and, if the response is voluntary, this
documentation can be accomplished.
What I find exciting about these new guidelines is that
federal contractors will have to document their efforts to recruit individuals
with disabilities. This outreach is
crucial to all successful employment programs and needing to document it will
ultimately lead to workforces that are more inclusive of persons with
disabilities.
This will not resolve all the employment issues of
persons with disabilities, but it is a giant step in the right direction.
You can read the notice of proposed rule-making or submit
a comment at http://www.regulations.gov. Comments will
be accepted until February 7, 2012.
Annette Bourbonniere
401-846-1960
Fax: 401-846-1944
Twitter:
@AccessInclude
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