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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) took effect in July
1992.. Essentially, it is civil rights legislation intended to protect
people with disabilities from discrimination.
Title 1 of the
ADA protects
qualified individuals with disabilities from employment discrimination.
The ADA does
not interfere with an employer's right to hire the best qualified
applicant. Nor does the
ADA impose any affirmative action obligations. The
ADA simply
prohibits employers from discriminating against a qualified applicant or
employee because of her disability. Every company in
America that has 15 or more employees is subject to Title 1 of the ADA.
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THE OREGON EXPERIENCE
OBLN REAL DEAL Series -
Accommodation and Supervision of Workers with Hidden
Disabilities and Mental Health Issues.
RESOURCES
DBTAC Northwest
ADA Information Center -
DBTAC
Northwest customizes ADA compliance information for each business
throughout the Pacific Northwest to take the fear out of litigation,
provides access surveys to improve access to goods and services, and
information on how to take advantage of tax incentives for business to
improve the bottom line.
What Were They
Thinking? - Overview and perspective on the Title 1 of the ADA by
Don Brandon and Jo Fleming,
Region X
Disability and Technical Assistance Center
ADA Build
it Right - A Portland-based firm that, through inspections,
consulting, and training assists Oregon companies in designing or
adapting facilities to be compliant with the requirements of the ADA.
Job Accommodation Network (JAN) Portal for Employers
- General information
and guidance.
Employers
Practical Guide to Reasonable Accommodation - A really helpful
summary produced by the Job Accommodation Network.
Your
Responsibilities as an Employer - A summary of employer-related
issues in the Americans with Disabilities Act from the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission.
Small Employers and Reasonable Accommodation - An outline of
"reasonable" accommodation considerations for small employers.
ADA Website
- The federal government's official website on the Americans with
Disabilities Act. Among the useful resources on this site are: |
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What Were They Thinking?
By
Don Brandon and Jo Fleming
Region X Disability and Technical Assistance Center
I
heard one employer exclaim, “What was Congress thinking when they passed
the ADA?” Have you ever felt that way? The ADA does require that
employers provide reasonable accommodation to qualified people with
disabilities. Leading up to the passage of the ADA in 1990, Congress’s
thinking was supported by research from the Job Accommodation Network
(JAN) which has kept records on the costs of accommodation for 25 years.
At that time, JAN studies revealed that 15% of all accommodations cost
nothing, 50% cost less than $500, 88% cost less than $1000, and only
2-3% of accommodations cost more than $2000!
This expense was balanced against the manageable investment the federal
government had made on accommodation in the 16 years since the passage
of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504 requirements. The
Rehabilitation Act was the first federal law that designated disability
as a protected class. The case law under the Rehabilitation Act
demonstrated that accommodating qualified individuals with disabilities
was not onerous.
Another governmental expense considered was the 200 billion dollars
spent to keep 67% of 43 million people with disabilities in dependent
situations and the 100 billion dollars in lost federal revenue because
this group of people paid no taxes. These losses were weighed against
programs designed to rehabilitate people with disabilities that could
demonstrate that for every dollar spent to rehabilitate a person with a
disability, they contributed between 7 to 11 dollars back in taxes
during the life of their employment.
Congress also considered the high unemployment rate of people with
disabilities (67% in 1989) and the employment shortage that was
projected for the year 2000 that would need to be filled by women,
minorities and people with disabilities.
A
little scratching below the surface revealed that the biggest barrier to
people with disabilities was attitudinal, and many employers were
anxious about how to manage and work with people with disabilities. This
led to a wholesale denial of opportunity and equality in employment.
All these factors were involved in the decision of Congress to pass the
Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.
One of the key elements initiated to bridge the gap between knowing
and doing was to require that otherwise qualified people with
disabilities be entitled to consideration of reasonable accommodation to
perform the essential functions of the job they held or desired.
In
business, successful employers learns to balance two key factors in
order to be profitable and remain open. These key factors or
cornerstones in the “process” of building a profit-making business are:
1) efficiency, and 2) making money. Good business decisions are made
with these two key elements in mind.
Now let’s look at the ADA requirement to provide reasonable
accommodation today. In 2006, the Job Accommodation Network (JAN)
conducted a research study in which the University of Iowa’s Law, Health
and Disability Center interviewed 1,182 employers concerning workplace
accommodations. JAN reported that 46% of all accommodations cost
nothing, 45% resulted in a one-time only cost, and only 7% of
accommodations were ongoing. Of accommodations with a cost reported,
the typical cost was approximately $500. As an example, the most
requested accommodation request is a flexible work schedule.
Here’s the bottom line for the knowledgeable employer. There are some
significant tax benefits and credits for businesses who wish to
accommodate people with disabilities.
Work Opportunity Credit.
An employer can qualify for a tax credit for hiring persons from certain
groups, including a person with a disability participating in a
vocational rehabilitation program. The tax credit can save an employer
25% of the first $6,000 in wages (up to $1,500) for each employee who
worked 120-399 hours in the first year or 40% of the first $6,000 for
each employee who worked 400+ hours (up to $2,400).
http://www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/
Disabled Access Credit.
A small business may be eligible for a tax credit for expenditures that
provide access to persons with disabilities, including removal of
barriers, interpreter services, audio training materials, modification
of equipment or devices, etc. This credit is equal to 50% of the
eligible expenditures ranging from $250 to $10,250.
http://www.ada.gov/taxincent.htm
Architectural Barrier
Removal Tax Deduction.
Businesses of any size
may claim a deduction of up to $15,000 a year for qualified expenses
related to the removal of physical, structural and transportation
barriers for people with disabilities.
http://www.ada.gov/taxincent.htm
With tax credits and deductions available to employers, the
cost of accommodation becomes nearly nothing. Cost-effective, right? A
Harris Poll reports that over 75% of employers say they are very
satisfied with the performance of their employees with disabilities.
A survey of business who had made accommodations showed that
the accommodation allowed the company to:
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Retain an employee
87.1% of the time,
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Hire (16.7%) an
otherwise qualified candidate, or
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Promote (11.5%) a
qualified or valued employee.
Other factors of employer accommodation included:
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73.8% that reported
the accommodation increased the employee’s productivity,
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55.4% that reported
the accommodation eliminated the cost of training a new employee,
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50.4% that reported
it increased the accommodated employee’s attendance.
(Schartz, Hendricks & Blanck, 2008)
Here is the kicker, after having considered all the above information,
if an employer can demonstrate that employing or accommodating an
otherwise qualified person with a disability is an undue hardship, they
don’t have to hire or accommodate an otherwise qualified applicant or
employee.
So…what are you thinking?
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