The Office of Personnel Management has created a series of quick training videos on a range of subjects to help you achieve your mission and important recruitment, hiring and diversity goals.
Click here to view the presentation titled, "Hiring People With Disabilities Made Simple"
Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP)
History
The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) was authorized by Congress in the Department of Labor's FY 2001 appropriation. Recognizing the need for a national policy to ensure that people with disabilities are fully integrated into the 21st Century workforce, the Secretary of Labor delegated authority and assigned responsibility to the Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy. ODEP is a sub-cabinet level policy agency in the Department of Labor.
Mission
The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) provides national leadership by developing and influencing disability employment-related policies and practices affecting an increase in the employment of people with disabilities.
Vision
A world in which people with disabilities have unlimited employment opportunities.
Next White House Disability Group Monthly Conference Call - May 26
Join the White House Disability Group Monthly Call on May 26th
In order to help keep you more informed, the White House is hosting monthly calls to provide updates on various disability issues, as well as to introduce you to the individuals who work on disability issues in the federal government. This month’s call will feature:
- Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood
- Department of Education Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Russlynn Ali
- Department of Labor Director of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Patricia Shiu
The call will also include updates on civil rights, health care and fiscal/budget issues.
The next call will take place on Thursday, May 26 at 3:00 PM Eastern Time.
Dial in for listeners: United States: (800) 230-1085
Title: White House Disability Call (use instead of code)
Please call in at least five minutes prior to the start of the call. For live captioning during the call, visit http://www.fedrcc.us//Enter.aspx?EventID=1745291&CustomerID=321.
Federal Disability Job Fair - June 9
Lifted by the Cloud: Visions of Cloud-Enhanced Accessibility
Visions created in response to this challenge will help to provide direction and motivation to policy makers, software developers, and members of the public who wish to empower people with disabilities toward greater independence in life, and greater integration in society.
Members of the public are encouraged to visit this challenge and vote. The winner of this voting will be recognized as "the popular choice."
Learn more here.
Removing Barriers for Disabled Workers
New Research Group on Removing Barriers for Disabled Workers
11 May, 2011
The Conference Board today announced the formation of a new Research Working Group, Improving Employment Outcomes for Employees with Disabilities.
Partially funded by the Cornell IRL School and the U.S. Department of Education, the group will bring together HR executives, line executives, and outside experts to study the significant disparities that still exist between individuals with disabilities and the rest of the American workforce, and establish best practices for counteracting them.
These research questions are especially pressing with the passage of the 2010 financial reform—Section 342 of the Dodd–Frank Act establishes diversity offices charged to monitor the inclusion practices of all private firms that contract with regulatory agencies like the SEC and FDIC. Employees with disabilities are a designated minority group under these rules, and companies found to be excluding these groups from recruitment or advancement stand to lose their contracts.
“Companies are interested in this project for a variety of reasons,” said Daria Lamb, Senior Manager, Research Working Groups at The Conference Board. “Many are looking to hear about others’ successes and to have fresh eyes review their existing programs, with the goal of ensuring the best talent comes to the fore. Additionally, some companies are looking at this group as an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to expanding their workforce to regulatory agencies, and even as an opportunity to create visibility for this issue within their C-Suite.”
11 May, 2011
The Conference Board today announced the formation of a new Research Working Group, Improving Employment Outcomes for Employees with Disabilities.
Partially funded by the Cornell IRL School and the U.S. Department of Education, the group will bring together HR executives, line executives, and outside experts to study the significant disparities that still exist between individuals with disabilities and the rest of the American workforce, and establish best practices for counteracting them.
These research questions are especially pressing with the passage of the 2010 financial reform—Section 342 of the Dodd–Frank Act establishes diversity offices charged to monitor the inclusion practices of all private firms that contract with regulatory agencies like the SEC and FDIC. Employees with disabilities are a designated minority group under these rules, and companies found to be excluding these groups from recruitment or advancement stand to lose their contracts.
“Companies are interested in this project for a variety of reasons,” said Daria Lamb, Senior Manager, Research Working Groups at The Conference Board. “Many are looking to hear about others’ successes and to have fresh eyes review their existing programs, with the goal of ensuring the best talent comes to the fore. Additionally, some companies are looking at this group as an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to expanding their workforce to regulatory agencies, and even as an opportunity to create visibility for this issue within their C-Suite.”
Health Partners, Inc. Sued By EEOC For Disability Discrimination
Company Refused to Let Employee With Non-Contagious Tuberculosis Work, Federal Agency Charged
DETROIT -- Health Partners, Inc., a Michigan rehabilitation and nursing company, violated federal law by refusing to allow an employee to begin working there after a skin test for tuberculosis, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.
According to the EEOC’s suit (EEOC v. Health Partners, Inc., Case No. 2-11-cv-12024), filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Health Partners refused to permit a new employee to begin working for it as a home health aide after she had a preliminary positive test for tuberculosis. The employee subsequently had a negative chest x-ray and provided Health Partners with medical documentation showing that she did not have active, contagious tuberculosis. However, Health Partners refused to reconsider its decision, the EEOC said.
Employment discrimination based on a disability or perceived disability violates the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The agency seeks to recover monetary compensation for the employee, including back pay and compensatory damages for emotional distress, as well as punitive damages.
DETROIT -- Health Partners, Inc., a Michigan rehabilitation and nursing company, violated federal law by refusing to allow an employee to begin working there after a skin test for tuberculosis, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.
According to the EEOC’s suit (EEOC v. Health Partners, Inc., Case No. 2-11-cv-12024), filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Health Partners refused to permit a new employee to begin working for it as a home health aide after she had a preliminary positive test for tuberculosis. The employee subsequently had a negative chest x-ray and provided Health Partners with medical documentation showing that she did not have active, contagious tuberculosis. However, Health Partners refused to reconsider its decision, the EEOC said.
Employment discrimination based on a disability or perceived disability violates the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The agency seeks to recover monetary compensation for the employee, including back pay and compensatory damages for emotional distress, as well as punitive damages.
US Department of Labor’s ‘Add Us In’ initiative to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities
WASHINGTON — As part of its "Add Us In" initiative, the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy awarded four two-year cooperative agreements totaling more than $2.4 million to consortia led by the University of Missouri-Kansas City in Kansas City, Mo.; Community Partners-Integrated Recovery Network in Los Angeles, Calif.; The Workplace Inc. in Bridgeport, Conn.; and the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla.The consortia will create replicable models and strategies that can be used nationwide by businesses and employers to reach out to people with disabilities in their communities, build a national and local network of experts skilled in serving a diversity of individuals with disabilities, and improve employment opportunities and outcomes for diverse people with disabilities. According to recent data from the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of August 2010, the percentage of individuals with disabilities participating in the labor force was 22.0 percent compared with 70.2 percent for individuals with no disability. About one in five people with disabilities is in the labor force, and the unemployment rate for those with disabilities remains much higher than the national average.
Ticket to Work (TTW) and Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA)
You can take your Ticket to any Employment Network (EN) or State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agency to request assistance in job training, preparing materials to use to finding a job, locating employers, information about work incentives and other assistance in you may need in order to go to work.
The goal of the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) Program is to assist SSA`s beneficiaries with disabilities to make informed choices about work. The WIPA program replaced the Benefits Planning, Assistance and Outreach program effective October 1, 2006.
Learn more here.
Support Development and Use of Accessible Technology
President Obama is committed to winning the future through innovation and access to technology for Americans with disabilities.
- President Obama signed into law the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, which sets new standards so that Americans with disabilities can take advantage of the technology our economy depends on. As part of this legislation, the FCC established the Emergency Access Advisory Committee to develop recommendations for making next generation emergency services accessible to people with disabilities and the Video Programming Accessibility Advisory Committee to gather recommendations on ways for making television and Internet programming accessible to people with hearing or vision disabilities through closed captioning and video description.
- As part of the President’s initiative to make government information available to all Americans through accessible electronic and information technology under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Chief Acquisition Officer and the Chief Information Officer issued a memo to make agencies aware of existing resources and direct agencies to take stronger steps toward improving the acquisition and implementation of accessible technology.
- The Chief Information Officer Council created its first ever Accessibility Committee in 2010.
- The White House hosted a Technology Showcase, in partnership with the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Commerce, where nearly 40 companies, organizations and agencies demonstrated the power of technology to level the playing field for Americans with disabilities.
April 2011 Disability Employment Statistics Released
Read more here on the BLS website.
Support International Disability Rights
The President believes that disability rights aren't just civil rights to be enforced here at home, but they are universal rights to be recognized and promoted around the world. Today, 650 million people—10 percent of the world's population—live with a disability.
Under President Obama’s leadership, the U.S. signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adding America to the then list of 141 countries signing the first new human rights treaty of the 21st Century.
Under President Obama’s leadership, the U.S. signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adding America to the then list of 141 countries signing the first new human rights treaty of the 21st Century.
White House Disabilities Web Page
The President and his administration have created three new senior level disability positions and offices:
- The Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the State Department
- The Office of Disability Integration and Coordination at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
- The Senior Advisor for Accessible Transportation at the Department of Transportation
Read more here.
The Society of Professionals with Disabilities
Today, we are renaming the organization as the "Society of Professionals with Disabilities." Our focus will continue to remain on medical professionals including physicians, physician assistants, nurses, advanced practice nurses, pharmacists, other clinicians, dentists, therapists, students, and others working in the health care field.
Our hope is to eventually expand the organization to extend our reach beyond those professionals working in the health care field. Until that day comes, we will remain focused on the medical community.
Please bookmark our new website: http://www.DisabilitySociety.org
Our hope is to eventually expand the organization to extend our reach beyond those professionals working in the health care field. Until that day comes, we will remain focused on the medical community.
Please bookmark our new website: http://www.DisabilitySociety.org
New website: www.DisabilitySociety.org
You can now find the Society of Healthcare Professionals with Disabilities on our new URL:
http://www.DisabilitySociety.orgPlease make sure to change your bookmarks.
Theme for 2011 National Disability Employment Awareness Month Announced
US Labor Department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy announces 2011 theme for National Disability Employment Awareness Month
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy today announced the official theme for October’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month: “Profit by Investing in Workers with Disabilities.” The theme honors the contributions of workers with disabilities and serves to inform the public that they represent a highly skilled talent pool that can help employers compete in today’s global economy.
“Return on investment means hiring the right talent,” said Kathy Martinez, assistant secretary of labor for disability employment policy. “Workers with disabilities represent all skill sets and are ready to get the job done. This year’s theme focuses on improving employment opportunities that lead to good jobs and a secure economic future for people with disabilities and the nation as a whole.”
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy today announced the official theme for October’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month: “Profit by Investing in Workers with Disabilities.” The theme honors the contributions of workers with disabilities and serves to inform the public that they represent a highly skilled talent pool that can help employers compete in today’s global economy.
“Return on investment means hiring the right talent,” said Kathy Martinez, assistant secretary of labor for disability employment policy. “Workers with disabilities represent all skill sets and are ready to get the job done. This year’s theme focuses on improving employment opportunities that lead to good jobs and a secure economic future for people with disabilities and the nation as a whole.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
