DOL Employment Goals

Labor Department Sets Employment Goals for Businesses to Hire Job Seekers With Disabilities

The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a new rule that would require companies that are federal contractors or subcontractors to hire up to 7 percent of their workforce from a pool made up of people with disabilities.

The rule, which was drafted by the department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), would under gird the affirmative action requirements established in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. That law obligates federal contractors and subcontractors to ensure equal employment opportunities for qualified workers with disabilities.

The proposed changes lay out specific actions contractors must take in areas of recruitment, training, record keeping and policy dissemination, which are similar to those that have long been required to promote workplace equality for women and minorities. In addition, the rule would clarify OFCCP’s expectations for contractors by providing specific guidance on how companies would comply with the law.

“This proposed rule represents one of the most significant advances in protecting the civil rights of workers with disabilities since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.

“President Obama has demonstrated a commitment to people with disabilities,” she went on. “This proposed rule would help federal contractors better fulfill their legal responsibility to hire qualified workers with disabilities.”

The current unemployment rate for people with disabilities is 13 percent, 1 1/2 times the rate of those without disabilities. Some officials have suggested this plan is one of the most significant efforts to protect the rights of workers with disabilities since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

“A meaningful federal contractor commitment to recruiting and retaining qualified workers with disabilities,” said Sen. Tom Harkin, “will improve employment outcomes for would-be workers with disabilities, add to the diversity of the federal contractor workforce, and improve retention of baby boomers who acquire disabilities as they age.”