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The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) offers information and resources to help employers recruit, hire, retain and advance people with disabilities; build inclusive workplace cultures; and meet diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) goals. 

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Engaging Employees to Measure Success: Innovative Approaches to Encouraging Self-Identification of Disability

What gets measured, gets done.

Getting Started / Learning Center / Inclusion@Work Framework / Inclusion@Work Resources

Today, more and more employers across the U.S. are recognizing the value of a workforce inclusive of people with disabilities and using a variety of innovative strategies to bring them on board. Reflecting the adage “what gets measured gets done,” some are voluntarily taking proactive steps to recruit and retain qualified people with disabilities and track progress toward specified goals.

Moreover, some companies are required to do so. Specifically, under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, federal contractors must have affirmative action programs for people with disabilities that include hiring goals, workforce analyses, barrier analyses, proactive steps and progress reports. In either case, whether a program is voluntary or required, the primary method for measuring success and identifying opportunities for improvement is to invite applicants and employees to self-identify as having a disability. Read Engaging Employees to Measure Success: Innovative Approaches to Encouraging Self-Identification of Disability (PDF).

Phases of Employment

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Engaging Employees to Measure Success: Innovative Approaches to Encouraging Self-Identification of Disability (PDF)

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self-identification