W. Roy Grizzard, Jr.
Assistant Secretary, U. S. Department of Labor
Office of Disability Employment Policy
Disability Employment Awareness Month Event
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC)
Glynco, Georgia
October 24, 2006
Good morning. I’m pleased to be here this morning, and I want you to know I’m feeling very safe right now. What better place to be than among law enforcement officers who train other law enforcement officers?
Thank you for inviting me to talk about my favorite subject – the importance of recruiting, hiring, promoting and retaining people with disabilities.
As you know, October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Each year the Secretary of Labor selects a national theme to highlight the capabilities of workers with disabilities. This year’s theme is “Americans with Disabilities: Ready for the Global Workforce.”
At the Office of Disability Employment Policy, or ODEP, as we call it, we have a number of initiatives focused on connecting people, employers – in both the private and public sectors -- and resources in order to open doors to the global workforce for persons with disabilities.
ABOUT ODEP
ODEP is an agency of the U. S. Department of Labor. Our vision is “a world in which people with disabilities have unlimited employment opportunities.”
ODEP develops policy, programs and demonstration projects to connect employers – both public and private sector -- with the talent they need to succeed.
BUSINESS CASE
According to the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, between 2004 and 2014, almost 36 million people will have left their occupations and will need to be replaced. In addition, between 2010 and 2030 the workforce is expected to shrink by 10 percent.
We know that there are significant challenges ahead. Businesses – and government -- must find ways to meet the challenges of an aging, shrinking labor force.
Today, people with disabilities are more educated and better prepared than ever before. People with disabilities, including those with the most severe disabilities, have the talents, experiences and creative problem-solving skills for which businesses are recruiting. Workers with disabilities have performance and retention ratings comparable to those without disabilities. Workplace accommodations are easy to make and cost effective.
EMPLOYEE RETENTION
Workplace accommodations are important not only in hiring new employees, but also in retaining valuable employees who may have been injured on the job.
I know your training goals include safety and security measures in the performance of law enforcement. Unfortunately, this is a profession in which on the job injuries can and do occur. Some are physical, and some may be psychological in nature.
Some injuries may be severe, but they should not cause you to lose a valuable employee.
First, and foremost, I encourage all agencies to be proactive. I encourage you to develop a disability management model that focuses as much on prevention as on management.
While I feel confident that there are many such models throughout organizations in the United States, I have recently learned of a particularly effective one developed by the Queensland Police Service in Australia. This model integrates health, safety and risk management, and gives particular attention to both injury and stress management.
I’ve seen data from businesses with estimates that the direct cost of replacing an employee ranges anywhere from $10,000 to nearly $60,000. [TalentKeeprs Retention Case Studies] When you factor in indirect costs, it is even more.
Contrast these numbers with the typical cost of making a workplace accommodation, which is $600. This data comes directly from employers who contacted ODEP’s Job Accommodation Network between January 2004 and June 2005. In fact, nearly half of the employers said there was no direct cost for the accommodations they made.
If you are not familiar with JAN, I encourage you to check their web site: www.jan.wvu.edu. JAN provides toll-free and electronic information on making job accommodations, as well as a variety of resources.
Many of the employers who contacted JAN – over 80 percent – did so in order to retain or promote a current employee. These employers realized that injury did not take away the employee’s skills, but might require a redirection of those skills or a different way of accomplishing their duties.
In law enforcement, for example, the agent who may no longer be able to provide protective service because of a serious injury may still be able to use equipment to monitor the environment, or analyze security risks.
Technology allows all of us to do things we may never have thought possible – and to do them from a variety of locations. Reporters don’t need to be in the newsroom to report their stories. ODEP’s research on telecommuting has shown that individuals with significant disabilities can effectively serve as call center responders from their homes, rather than having to go into an office location.
JOB CANDIDATES
According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the federal workforce is in transformation called the “retirement wave.” The next expected peak wave of federal retirements will occur between 2008 and 2010. That’s just around the corner.
To help counteract this loss of human capital, OPM has ongoing efforts to attract young people to government service. Right now the federal government has the opportunity to tap into a young and growing talent pool of people with disabilities.
Do you know that nearly 10 percent of all undergraduates, or approximately 1.53 million students, report having one or more disabilities?
These young people represent our future, and the more we do to prepare them effectively for the workforce, the more successful we will be in the global economy.
Mentoring: One way to help prepare your future workforce is by mentoring young people with disabilities. Just last week (October 18), we celebrated National Disability Mentoring Day. At the Department of Labor, we had a number of students with disabilities shadowing DOL staff to learn more about their areas of career interest. If FLETC wasn’t involved this year, I encourage you to be involved in this activity next year.
Internships: There’s no substitute for on-the-job experience. Students with disabilities should have internship opportunities to test their career interests, learn what goes on day-to-day at the workplace, and try out their skills.
Among ODEP’s initiatives in this area is the Workforce Recruitment Program.
The WRP provides pre-screened, qualified college students with disabilities the opportunity to obtain internships in both federal agencies and in businesses nationwide. In recent years, this program has provided summer work experience for more than 350 students each year.
Every supervisor or manager in this room can take advantage of the WRP talent pool. You will be able to access the information through a password protected web-based environment. The 2007 job candidates will be available in March, and I can assure you there will be candidates from Georgia. You can get complete details by contacting us at WRP@dol.gov.
ODEP EMPLOYER RESOURCES
You also have available to you many community resources – local service providers and workforce development system resources – that can help you to recruit and hire qualified individuals with disabilities.
In addition to JAN, which I mentioned earlier, ODEP also funds the Employer Assistance & Recruiting Network, also known as EARN (www.earnworks.com). This is another free service that can assist you in locating qualified job candidates with disabilities, as well as answer questions related to disability and the workforce.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS MODEL EMPLOYER
In February 2001, shortly after assuming office in his first term, President George W. Bush proposed the New Freedom Initiative (NFI), a comprehensive set of proposals designed to ensure that Americans with disabilities have the opportunity to participate fully in their communities, including the workforce.
On the 26th of this month, Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, will present the New Freedom Initiative Award to four businesses, four non-profit organizations and an individual whose practices and strategies embody the employment principles of the President’s New Freedom Initiative. This will bring to 39 the number of awards she has given in the past five year.
Although government agencies are not eligible for the award, they can learn from the best practices of these award winners. Information about the award winners are on the ODEP web site (www.dol.gov/odep).
ODEP’s research has found that investing in workers with disabilities is a sound investment for business – and there is no doubt it is a sound investment for government agencies. The employer gains a skilled worker who will give you a full day’s work for a full day’s pay. It’s a win-win situation.
I encourage you to help make the federal government a model employer for people with disabilities. I invite you to help ODEP achieve its vision of “a world in which people with disabilities have unlimited employment opportunities.”
Thank you.
