When organizations prepare for inclusion in advance, they strengthen their efforts to hire, support, and retain workers with disabilities. The strategies in this section will help employers plan ahead for the inclusion of disabled workers so that their efforts will be rooted in a strong foundation.
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In addition to applicable state law requirements, federal laws provide rights and protections to people with disabilities in the workplace. These laws matter at all stages of employment. Employers should familiarize themselves with the requirements of the laws discussed in this section and be aware of state and local disability employment laws.
Some general resources for employers include:
- DOL’s eLaws Advisor, a tool that provides interactive resources about employers’ and workers’ legal rights and responsibilities, including those regarding disability.
- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which provides resources for employers on adhering to laws relevant to disability.
- The Work Opportunity Tax Credit page, from DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA), which offers guidance on federal tax credits for employers that hire workers with disabilities.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Title I of the ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in matters related to employment. Covered employers must provide equal opportunity to job candidates and employees with disabilities through reasonable accommodations, unless doing so would cause an “undue hardship.” Under the ADA, employers can also prioritize disabled workers for hiring and professional development.
The ADA applies to private employers with 15 or more workers, state and local governments, employment agencies, labor organizations, and joint labor-management committees.
The ADA does not require employers to change the key parts of a job, or to hire candidates who are unqualified for a role. Employers and workers can visit the website ADA.gov, managed by the U.S. Department of Justice, to learn more. The site includes resources for employers on hiring, accommodations, and more.
Later in this toolkit, the chapter “Recruiting and Hiring Disabled Workers” offers information on disability-focused initiatives. The chapter “Retaining and Supporting Disabled Workers” has guidance on reasonable accommodations.
Other resources on the ADA include:
- Local ADA centers, which serve different regions across the country, and can offer helpful guidance. The staff at these federally funded centers are knowledgeable about a range of topics related to the ADA.
- The ODEP-funded Job Accommodation Network (JAN), which has an ADA Library with information about Title I of the ADA.
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehab Act)
Several sections of the Rehab Act are applicable to the employment of disabled workers. The most relevant sections for organizations seeking federal funds include:
- Section 503, which prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating against disabled people in matters related to employment. Section 503 also requires these employers to make efforts to ensure disabled people are represented in their workforce. Many contractors must work toward an aspirational utilization goal for disabled workers (see the section “Tracking your progress early and often” later in this chapter). They must also invite applicants and employees to self-identify as people with disabilities for data collection purposes (see the chapter “Advancing Disabled Workers”).
- Section 504, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities by any program or activity that receives federal financial assistance. This prohibition covers employment. Section 504 also prohibits discrimination against disabled people in any program or activity conducted by federal agencies.
Many requirements of the Rehab Act are identical to those of the ADA. For example, the Rehab Act does not require employers to change the key parts of a job, or to hire candidates who are unqualified for a role.
For further resources and guidance on the Rehab Act:
- EARN’s Federal Contractor and Subcontractor Compliance Info Center provides resources and best practices for meeting Section 503 requirements. EARN administers this resource with the National Industries Liaison Group, a nonprofit that represents federal contractors, subcontractors, and regulatory agencies.
- DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) enforces Section 503 and provides information on best practices and guidelines for meeting its requirements. OFCCP’s Construction Contractors Technical Assistance Guide [PDF} provides targeted compliance information for contractors and subcontractors in the building trades.
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
The USERRA is administered by DOL’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS). The law provides protections against discrimination for returning uniformed service members, including those with disabilities incurred in or aggravated during service, who are seeking reemployment and who satisfy the law’s notice and service requirements.
State and local laws
In addition to federal laws, there may be state and local employment laws applicable to disabled workers and job seekers. Employers may use DOL’s listing of labor agencies by state to locate their state labor agency for current guidelines. Many states have also implemented business tax credits and other incentives to promote the hiring and retention of disabled workers.
As of 2022, 22 states and the District of Columbia [PDF] have adopted State as Model Employer [PDF] policies that represent best practices for disability employment. Many of these policies are codified in state laws. State and local governments employ more than 19 million people (as of 2022) and play a crucial role in fostering inclusive workplaces nationwide. Many state and local governments also work directly or contract in the construction, manufacturing, and clean energy industries.
Unions and other labor groups help build and sustain relationships with workers and are key partners in helping employers support and retain employees with disabilities. Employers can work with unions and other groups in labor-management partnerships to support disability inclusion.
Unions can help an organization in several ways [PDF], including:
- Providing feedback and input on policy and practices.
- Advertising resources to workers.
- Communicating workers’ disability-related concerns.
- Supporting workers who are injured or on medical leave.
Union or labor support can be formal or informal. Formal support is based on a written contract. For example, in a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), a union can agree to provide specific support to workers and the employer, including disability-related provisions. For example, unions may work with employers to provide reasonable accommodations [PDF], nondiscrimination clauses, or medical leave.
Another type of formal support is a labor-management partnership (LMP). These partnerships are ongoing mutual commitments between labor and employers to collaborate on complex workplace topics. Many partnerships focus on topics that are not easily addressed in collective bargaining, which may include disability. LMPs allow for an enhanced, more supportive, and productive workplace for all workers. They can, for example, promote the use of an Employee Assistance Program [PDF] to support workers’ mental health.
Labor support may also be informal. For example, some unions help workers individually figure out solutions, such as how to navigate the accommodations process. When workers start a new job or have a new accessibility need, they often approach their unions first for support with requesting accommodations or evaluating accessibility at work.
You can find resources and illustrative examples of labor-management partnerships below:
- DOL’s Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS) offers resources on LMPs and collective bargaining to guide labor and employers through the process of starting an LMP or crafting a CBA.
- DOL’s Worker Organizing and Resource Knowledge (WORK) Center can help you learn more about LMPs, CBAs, and unions.
- OLMS’ library of CBAs contains agreements submitted voluntarily by unions and employers across the United States.
- In California, the University of California and the United Auto Workers (UAW) recently negotiated a new CBA for student workers and researchers. As part of this CBA, the UAW and University established a joint committee to assess and improve funding for workers’ accommodations.
- The United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) represents workers across the country, particularly in electrical manufacturing, metal working, and transportation. Various UE local chapters have provided formal and informal support to members with disabilities, working with employers. UE also provides sample contract language on accommodations for CBAs.
Project labor agreements (PLAs) are pre-hire CBAs between employers and unions that set terms and conditions for employment on construction projects. Construction projects involving multiple contractors, subcontractors, and building trade unions often use PLAs to help ensure smooth operations and avoid labor disputes. Under Executive Order (EO) 14063, PLAs are required for construction contracts entered into by federal agencies that use more than $35 million in government funds.
PLAs offer benefits for project owners, contractors, and workers [PDF]. They typically specify employee wages and benefits; standards for productivity, work quality, and health and safety; labor dispute procedures, typically including no-strike and no-lockout agreements; as well as hiring guidelines, including access to registered apprenticeships. Community workforce agreements (CWAs) are a type of PLA that include additional provisions to support desired community goals such as promoting small businesses, reducing local unemployment, or advancing employment equity.
PLAs and CWAs are effective tools for advancing equal employment opportunity. You can use PLAs and CWAs to boost the hiring of disabled workers and build an inclusive workforce. Agreements may even identify workers to hire from historically underrepresented populations, including workers with disabilities.
Some useful resources and real-world examples of these agreements in action:
- The County of Los Angeles implemented a CWA program in 2020 that covers county-sponsored construction and development projects valued at more than $5 million. This CWA mandates outreach, recruitment, hiring, and training of targeted workers who face employment barriers [PDF], including workers with disabilities. The CWA [PDF] also incentivizes inclusion of businesses certified by California’s Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program. In the first year of implementation, 13% of CWA project labor hours were completed by targeted workers [PDF], exceeding the CWA’s requirement of 10%.
- DOL’s Project Labor, Community Workforce, and Community Benefits Agreements Resource Guide [PDF] and PLA 101 Webinar provide information about PLAs.
This link to Acquisition.gov can help familiarize employers with requirements under EO 14063 and the Federal Acquisition Regulations.
To create an inclusive workplace, employers should consider inclusion at all phases of employment—recruitment, hiring, retention, and advancement—and at all levels of the organization’s leadership.
Leaders at the highest levels, including executives and boards of directors, should model disability-inclusive behavior for the rest of the organization, for example in how they lead events [PDF], mandate inclusive hiring practices, or voluntarily disclose their own disability or chronic health condition. Such actions set the organizational tone on disability inclusion. Leaders have the unique privilege and responsibility to model commitment at all levels of an organization to help create and maintain a diverse work environment that is inclusive of all, including those with disabilities.
Employers should also embed disability inclusion at every phase of the employment cycle (e.g., prominently display information about the company’s reasonable accommodation process on their job portal and employee intranet) and in every work environment to show commitment and foster a more disability-inclusive organization. For example, forming a disability-focused employee resource group (ERG)—for workers with disabilities and their colleagues who support them—can broadcast commitment to disability inclusion and advance inclusion in the workplace.
In addition, community partners can help build a disability-inclusive workforce and culture. Learn more about successful community partnerships in the chapters “Recruiting and Hiring Disabled Workers” and “Retaining and Supporting Disabled Workers.”
You can also learn more about best practices for embedding disability from the following EARN resources:
- Inclusion@Work Framework, a framework that provides strategies and seven core components for building a disability-inclusive organization.
- Short, self-paced trainings on workplace disability inclusion.
Employers can measure the success of their disability inclusion efforts by collecting metrics and data regularly—and starting to do so as early as possible. Good numbers and data can also help employers set appropriate and achievable goals, procedures, and timelines (e.g., x% of workers with disabilities in y years). Employers should also have a regular rhythm for collecting and reporting on this data that fits their workforce/project, for example monthly or, at a minimum, quarterly. They should then review the data often, and act based on what they find. (Learn more about monitoring progress and using data in the chapter “Advancing Disabled Workers”).
In some cases, state and federal laws will determine goals and/or timelines:
- Section 503 of the Rehab Act prohibits employers with federal contracts or subcontracts from discriminating against applicants and employees with disabilities, and requires them to take affirmative steps to hire, retain, and promote people with disabilities.
- In 2014, updates to the Section 503 implementing regulations strengthened its affirmative action requirements and introduced a 7% utilization goal.
- The updates also require employers covered by Section 503’s affirmative action program provisions to invite applicants to self-identify as people with disabilities at both the pre- and post-offer stage, and employees to self-identify every five years.
- The Vietnam Era Veteran’s Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA) has an indirect disability component, requiring federal contractors and subcontractors with contracts in excess of $150,000 to take affirmative action to employ and advance specified categories of veterans, including disabled veterans, and prohibits discrimination against such veterans.
- In 2014, updates to the VEVRAA implementing regulations strengthened its affirmative action obligations and required employers to establish annual hiring benchmarks for protected veterans. These updates went into effect at the same time as the updates to Section 503.
- VEVRAA rules also require covered employers to invite applicants and employees to self-identify.
- Some states mandate their own goals and processes for measuring progress and analyzing data. Minnesota is one such state. Under Minnesota’s Executive Order 19-15, state employers must work toward a goal of 10% of their workforce comprising disabled workers. State agencies must follow specific practices each year to measure progress toward this goal.
How and what type of data to collect
Under the ADA and Rehab Act, employers must follow certain rules and practices when collecting information about employees or asking employees to self-identify as a person with a disability to ensure confidentiality of personal data and to make sure that the information collected is used only to support disability inclusion. (Learn more about self-identification in the chapter “Advancing Disabled Workers.”)
OFCCP requires federal contractors and subcontractors to use the Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability (CC-305) [PDF].
In addition to employees’ disability information, employers should collect data about the accessibility of services, facilities, and tools that employees use. Changes to physical facilities can sometimes make them inaccessible (e.g., placement of equipment blocking a step-free path of travel). Employers should conduct regular accessibility compliance checks to ensure physical buildings and tools are accessible for all workers. Similarly, when procuring new ICT, or information and communication technology, ensure the technology is accessible.
To improve inclusion efforts, employers can visit the website of the ADA National Network, a federally funded technical assistance center that offers tools and resources to help with the collection, tracking, and use of information, including for facilities and tools.
Access and Opportunity Committee (AOC). An AOC can help employers meet goals and review data. AOCs, sometimes known as Equal Employment Opportunity Tables (EEO Tables), are groups with representatives from employers, workers, and the community who meet regularly to support efforts for equal opportunity on a project or in a workplace. These groups review data, monitor progress, and find solutions to any issues that may arise. AOCs can be established through PLAs or other arrangements. Learn more about AOCs from this DOL resource [PDF], which provides guidance and examples of successful AOCs.
Mega Construction Project Program. Organizations in the construction industry can access industry-specific resources for compliance and data tracking from the OFCCP’s Megaprojects Program website. These tools are designed for contractors and subcontractors working on large, federally funded construction projects.