Fielding a Full Team for the Paralympics
Labor Secretary Tom Perez celebrated the recent kick off of the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games with a blog post and video message that not only wishes the best of luck to Team USA, but also highlights the valuable role sports can play in helping young people, including those with disabilities, develop skills necessary for workplace success. In his post, Secretary Perez also looks toward National Disability Employment Awareness Month, emphasizing that America works best when fielding a full team, and that people with disabilities are valuable players.
Job Restructuring as a Reasonable Accommodation
A recent two-part article series on FedSmith.com explored the emerging topic of job restructuring as a reasonable accommodation in the Federal Government workplace. In the series, attorney Jeffrey J. Lorek, Deputy Chief, Labor Relations Branch, at the U.S. Air Force Legal Operations Agency, discusses the need for federal agencies to understand that not all accommodations are tangible, providing context from recent U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidance and enforcement actions.
Workplace Accommodations: “Low Cost, High Impact”
The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) recently released the annual data for its ongoing study on the cost of workplace accommodations, revealing that the majority (59 percent) of workplace accommodations cost nothing, while for those that do, the typical small expenditure pays for itself multiple-fold in the form of reduced insurance and training costs and increased productivity and morale. JAN, which like EARN is a service of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, has reported the Workplace Accommodations: Low Cost, High Impact study each year since 2004.
Recovery Month
September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, which educates that substance use disorders are treatable, and people in recovery across the nation live healthy, productive lives. In fact, for many people in recovery, employment plays an important role in continued sobriety. A number of workplace accommodations can help support employees in treatment for or recovery from addiction, and the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) offers a range of resources to help employers and employees understand them.
PEAT Talks: The Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII)
September 15, 2016, 2:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET
WEBINAR
Join the Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology for a webinar with Gregg Vanderheiden, director of the Trace Research and Development Center, who will discuss the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII), a software and service enhancement designed to make workplace technology more inclusive and accessible.
Speaking the Same Language: Making Closed Captioning Work
September 15, 2016, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. ET
WEBINAR
Today, more and more tools are available that allows businesses to create their own videos in-house, whether for purposes of training employees or promoting their products or services. But, it’s important for such videos to include captions for accessibility. In this webinar, Beth Lund, a Technology Accessibility Specialist with Ashford University, will discuss free and low-cost tools available to help and standard best practices for creating captioned videos.
Disability Diversity in the Higher Education Workforce
October 13, 2016, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET
WEBINAR
Hosted by EARN in collaboration with the Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC), this webinar will address how to incorporate disability into college and university workforce diversity plans as a way to foster a more inclusive academic environment and campus community. Eight important dimensions to disability inclusion in the higher education environment will be discussed, as well as best practices being utilized by HERC member institutions.
Earlier this summer, the National Organization on Disability (NOD) announced its 2016 Leading Disability Employer Seal winners. Awarded annually, this designation recognizes leaders in disability-inclusive hiring practices and encourages all companies to tap into the talents of employees with disabilities. It is granted based on data furnished by companies in response to NOD’s Disability Employment Tracker™, a free, confidential online assessment and benchmarking tool. Governor Tom Ridge, chairman of NOD, announced the winners in a video.
EARN’s most recent webinar is now archived online for anyone who was unable to participate live. Hosted earlier this summer, Talent Matters: Leveraging Disability-Inclusive Outreach & Recruitment Strategies explored how employers and disability service providers can work together to mutually increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities and meet individual businesses’ unique workforce needs. In addition to the slides and audio recording, questions and answers from the webinar are now available.
The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) is a resource for employers seeking to recruit, hire, retain and advance qualified employees with disabilities. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy under a cooperative agreement with The Viscardi Center. For more information, visit AskEARN.org
Preparation of this material was funded by the Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor, Grant No. [OD-26451-14-75-4-36]. This document does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
