New Regulations Look to Increase Employment

Looking for a job?  Try a federal contractor.  The federal government recently issued new regulations that apply to all contractors and subcontractors who have federal contracts of $10,000 or more.

These regulations, issued under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, are an attempt to improve the employment situation for people with disabilities.  Statistics from 2011 show the employment rate of adults with disabilities was 33.4%,  compared to 75.6% for others.

Effective March of this year, federal contractors and subcontractors are required to set a goal to include people with disabilities as 7% of their workforce.  If the business has more than 100 employees, the 7% will pertain to each job category, whereas for smaller businesses with fewer than 100 employees, the 7% will pertain to their workforce as a whole.

Increased tracking and reporting of how many people with disabilities applied for jobs at the company compared to how many were hired is another requirement.

More details can be found in this article from the ADA National Network.