Employment

Resources on all employment related issues, including recruiting employees with disabilities, accommodating employees with disabilities in the workplace, referral to employment services, tax incentives for employers, and the Ticket to Work program.

Resources

• [ ADA Guide for Small Businesses (HTML) ] [ ADA Guide for Small Businesses (PDF 835 KB) ]
  Department of Justice guide for small businesses that gives an overview of requirements for complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
• America's Service Locator (ASL)
  Website that lists and describes employment and training programs available in your local area.
• Americans with Disabilities Act Technical Assistance Program
  Comprehensive web resource for information on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), including links to the 10 regional Disability and Technical Assistance Centers (DBTAC) charged with providing information to employers, people with disabilities and the general public on their rights and responsibilities under the ADA.
• Disability Employment 101
  Guide funded by The US Department of Education, in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to acquaint business leaders with programs and resources available to assist them in hiring people with disabilities.
• Employer Assistance Referral Network (EARN)
  Referral service for employers looking to hire qualified people with disabilities. EARN connects employers with employment service providers who have direct access to job-ready individuals with disabilities, and provides technical assistance.
• Employers Are Aware of, Using, and Satisfied with One-Stop Services, but More Data Could Help Labor Better Address Employers' Needs:(PDF Version)   [Accessible Version]
  GAO report that examines the extent to which employer awareness and usage of one-stop system, employer satisfaction with the system, and what Labor has done to support and measure employer awareness and use of the workforce system.
• Federal Employment of People with Disabilities (Office of Personnel Management)
  Website with information for applicants for federal jobs who have disabilities, and for federal employers seeking to hire or accommodate workers with disabilities. The goal of the site is "to help Americans, with and without disabilities, better understand how to hire and retain persons with disabilities."
• ForEmployers.com
  ForEmployers.com is a project of the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) designed to help businesses tap into a growing workforce that has emerged as a result of rapid and innovative developments in technology, a workforce that includes people with disabilities. The web site includes information on hiring, accommodation, technology, legal resources, demographics, and success stories that may aid a business in hiring and retaining people with disabilities.
• Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the ADA (EEOC)
  EEOC document explaining the requirements for reasonable workplace accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Useful for both employers and workers with disabilities.
• Interagency Telework/Telecommuting Site
  Joint website of the General Services Administration and the Office of Personnel Management providing access to guidance on Telework/Telecommuting issued by both agencies.
• Job Accommodation Network (Office of Disability Policy)
  Information portal for employers looking to hire or accommodate people with disabilities in the workplace.
• Job Accommodation Network’s (JAN) Spanish Language Translation Service
  JAN is now providing consultation and technical assistance in Spanish. This web page provides links to Spanish language JAN materials and is intended for JAN’s English speaking audience who would like to help distribute JAN literature to the Spanish speaking community.
• National AgrAbility Project
  Administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, The Cooperative State Research and Extension Services (CSRES). The Project was created to assist people with disabilities employed in agriculture. The project links the Cooperative Extension Service at a land-grant university with a private nonprofit disability service organization to provide practical education and assistance that promotes independence in agricultural production and rural living.
• Notice on the Work Opportunity Tax Credt (WOTC) and Ticket to Work Program [PDF Version]
  Information for Employment Networks and disability employment service providers on the WOTC program and its relationship to the Ticket to Work Program.
• Notice on the Work Opportunity Tax Credt (WOTC) and Ticket to Work Program [TEXT Version]
  Information for Employment Networks and disability employment service providers on the WOTC program and its relationship to the Ticket to Work Program.
• One-Stop Centers: A Guide for Jobseekers with Disabilities
  Guide to assist people with disabilities in using One-Stop Centers. Includes information on what is available at the centers, how to make the best use of available services, and how to advocate to get the services people with disabilities want and need.
• Personal Assistance in the Workplace: A Customer-Directed Guide
  Guide to using Personal Assistance Services as a workplace support. The guide includes strategies for self-assessment of workplace support needs, finding and training a workplace personal assistant, and funding options for personal assistance services in the workplace.
• Preparing for and Conducting an Effective Job Interview
  Concise tips for interviewing prospective employees who may have disabilities.
• Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative
  The Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative is designed to strengthen urban communities through an employment-centered program that incorporates mentoring, job training, and other comprehensive transitional services. This program seeks to reduce recidivism by helping former inmates find work when they return to their communities. Faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs) play a key role in this initiative by providing soft-skills and other appropriate basic training, serving as mentors, making appropriate referrals to the One-Stop system, connecting with community colleges and other providers of occupational skills training, and providing or referring ex-offenders to needed supportive services.
• Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Workplace Supports and Job Retention Fact Sheet: Providing Effective Workplace Personal Assistance Services
  Virginia Commonwealth University RRTC Fact Sheet on the career attributes of an effective Workplace Personal Assistant, career opportunities in this occupation, and the advantages of Workplace Personal Assistance Services (WPAS) to workers with disabilities, to employers, and to individuals who choose to work as Workplace Personal Assistants.
• Small Business and Self Employment Service (SBSES)
  The SBSES is a service of the Office of Disability Employment Policy of the U.S. Department of Labor which provides information, counseling, and referrals about self-employment and small business ownership opportunities for people with disabilities. SBSES, located at the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), is available through JAN's toll-free number 1-800-526-7234 V/TTY.
• SSA Resources Toolkit
  Social Security Agency website providing information about the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act contracts and grants for each state and information on the Work Incentive Planning and Assistance (WIPA) projects. The Toolkit also provides fact sheets on Protection and Advocacy Programs, information about State Partnership Initiatives in 12 states, key links to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Grants, and resources for employers hiring people with disabilities.
• START-UP/USA: Self-Employment Technical Assistance, Resources, & Training
  START-UP/USA is a partnership between Virginia Commonwealth University and Griffin-Hammis and Associates, LLC, and is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). START-UP/USA provides technical assistance and disseminates resources nationally to individuals with disabilities interested in pursuing self-employment. This includes a live web cast series with successful entrepreneurs who share their secrets for success.
• State and Local Telecommuting Programs
  This website provides a list of State and Local telecommuting programs, as well as information and other resources relating to telework.
• StateData.info
  Website that offers ready access to descriptive information on services and outcomes for state agencies that provide employment supports to individuals with disabilities. The site generates customized and accessible charts of state, national, and individual disability data. The site currently includes data sets from state mental retardation/developmental disabilities agencies, the Rehabilitation Services Administration, the Social Security Administration, and the U.S. Department of Labor.
• Supported Employment: a Guide for Mental Health Planning and Advisory Councils
  This guide is designed to help state mental health planning and advisory council members and other stakeholders assess the supported employment policies, programs, and services in their state plans for persons with severe mental illnesses.
• Tax Incentives Packet on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
  Department of Justice document on the disabled access tax credit available to help offset some of the costs to business of complying with the ADA. Includes the appropriate Internal Revenue Service form, and contacts for additional information.
• Telework.org
  Web site developed by The WorkPlace, Inc., the Regional Development Board serving Southwestern Connecticut, with funding by the US Department of Labor, that provides comprehensive information and resources on teleworking for interested jobseekers, service providers, and employers. Website provides current information on telework trends, benefits and best practices for jobseekers and employers, as well as links to local and national telework resources available to assist people with or without disabilities, veterans, training and employment service providers, and employers.
• U.S. Department of Labor Electronic Tools Guide
  Guide to the US Department of Labor’s web-based tools to assist Americans with their employment-related needs. These electronic tools provide solutions for businesses, job seekers, students, parents, educators, workforce boards, career counselors, workforce development professionals, and economic developers.
• US Department of Labor Guidance on Ticket to Work Eligibility under the Work Opportunity Tax Credit
  US Department of Labor Training and Employment Guidance Letter on the Ticket to Work Program and its relationship to the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program.
• US Department of Labor Training and Employment Notice 36-06: Human Resource Transportation Coordination
  Notice on recent policies from the Interagency Council on Access and Mobility and how the workforce investment system can link to newly devised coordinated human services transportation planning process.
• Work Opportunity Tax Credit
  Tax credit to encourage employers to hire certain low-income workers, including workers with disabilities who have completed rehabilitative services offered by a State or the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
• Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) Information from Social Security Administration
  Information from SSA on the Work Opportunity Tax Credit available to employers if they hire certain low-income individuals, including participants in the Ticket to Work program.
• Workforce Recruitment Program for College Students with Disabilities (WRP)
  Online databank that matches employers with qualified postsecondary students and graduates with disabilities. The candidates are from all academic majors, and range from college freshmen to students in graduate and law school.
• Worksupport.com
  Website with information, resources and research aimed at identifying factors that enhance or inhibit businesses from hiring workers with disabilities.
• Your Ticket-to-Work Website
  Website providing comprehensive information on the Ticket-to-Work program, which aims to assist Social Security beneficiaries with disabilities in finding and keeping employment.

Organizations

• Abilities, Inc.
  Non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the employment of people with disabilities. Provides training and placement services to people with disabilities, and partners with major corporations to encourage them to hire workers with disabilities.
• Business Leadership Network
  Employer-led group sponsored by the Department of Labor that promotes the hiring of qualified workers with disabilities. Participating employers hire and promote workers with disabilities, attend business forums on critical disability employment issues, conduct skills sessions for job seekers with disabilities, act as mentors for postsecondary students with disabilities, and provide internship and other employment opportunities.
• Creating Opportunities by Recognizing Abilities (CORA)
  CORA identifies telework outsourcing opportunities for corporations, and then trains and supervises workers with disabilities and other workers who require the flexibility and benefits of telework to provide back office business process solutions. Opportunities include business to business collections, government contract collection, order and/or claim management, billing, invoicing, reconciliation, and backlog resolution.
• Goodwill Industries International, Inc.
  "...[N]etwork of 208 community-based, autonomous member organizations that serves people with workplace disadvantages and disabilities by providing job training and employment services, as well as job placement opportunities and post-employment support."
• Inter-National Association of Business, Industry and Rehabilitation (I-NABIR)
  Association of businesses, rehabilitation service providers, schools and universities, trade unions, and other groups that helps place people with disabilities in jobs by partnering with community businesses.
• Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services (OATELS)
  Federal office that provides resources and information on apprenticeship programs nationwide.
• Office of Employment Support Programs (Social Security Administration)
  Federal office dedicated to promoting the employment of Social Security beneficiaries with disabilities. The website describes the Office's initiatives, and presents information for youth with disabilities, employers, beneficiaries, service-providers and advocates. Includes contacts for work and benefits planning and assistance in every state, and information on the Ticket-to-Work program.
• Program on Employment and Disability (Cornell University)
  Cornell University program dedicated to research, education and technical assistance on many aspects of disability in the workplace. The website features publications, descriptions of current research projects, a list of services that includes an electronic newsletter and listserv, and information on training courses.
• Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)
  Federal office that oversees grant programs that provide counseling, medical and psychological services, job training and other support services to help people with disabilities obtain employment and live independently. RSA's primary grant program provides funds to state vocational rehabilitation agencies.
• Secondary Education and Transitional Services for Youth with Disabilities
  Federal program that awards grants to institutions of higher education, state educational agencies, local educational agencies and public and private nonprofit institutions working to ensure that youth with disabilities make a smooth transition from education to employment.
• State Governors' Committees on Employment of People With Disabilities
  State liaisons to the federal Office of Disability Employment Policy that provide employment information and referrals.
• State Partnership Systems Change Initiative (SPI)
  Office that supports projects in the States aimed at increasing the employment of people with disabilities through employer partnerships, customer-driven service, benefits assistance, employment supports and other innovative strategies.
• Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services (Department of Veterans' Affairs)
  Division of the VA that helps veterans with service-connected disabilities find employment and live as independently as possible. Services include job search, skill evaluation, vocational counseling and planning, training, education and additional support as needed.