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In the decade and a half since the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, life has improved for many of this country’s 54 million disabled citizens.
But the landmark legislation can be seen as “both a tool and a sword.” That’s the view of Janet Fiore, CEO of Sierra Group www.thesierragroup.com, a consulting firm specializing in workers with disabilities.
Employers as well as job seekers continue to be confused about who is covered, how they are protected and what businesses can and cannot do for workers with disabilities, Fiore says. “The reality is, more and more people with disabilities are entering the job market. But a staggering number are still not hired.”
The Numbers
The numbers are disheartening. According to the National Organization on Disability, only 35 percent of Americans with disabilities of working age are employed full- or part-time. That is less than half of the 78 percent employment rate of working-age Americans without disabilities. Yet two out of three of those with disabilities would prefer to be working.
Once more, workers with disabilities are three times as likely to live in poverty than those without. Twenty-seven percent of workers with disabilities have annual household incomes below the poverty level.
The Law
Why the poor numbers? Part of the problem, Fiore says, is that in the absence of new legislation, recent court rulings concerning the ADA have been contradictory. Other judicial decisions have not addressed 21st-century issues, such as the impact of technology on the workplace. Despite the lack of recent legislative action to modify or modernize the ADA, Fiore predicts the coming year may see advances for people with disabilities because of the courts.
For example, she points to a pending class-action lawsuit filed against Target. An advocacy organization for the blind contends that the retail giant’s Web site is inaccessible to users with visual impairments. If the plaintiffs prevail, businesses across the country will be forced to reevaluate the accessibility of all their information technology, including Web sites, email and intranets, at every stage from inquiring about a job to being considered for the executive fast track. “Right now, no section of the ADA speaks specifically to this kind of technology,” Fiore says. “But it’s as important to people with disabilities as curb cuts.”
“Court decisions concerning the definition of ‘disabled’ have been very technical and confusing,” notes Linda Batiste, a disability law specialist who focuses on ADA issues for the Job Accommodation Network. “A lot of people are no longer covered. There’s movement now to clear up the definition.”
She points to a US Supreme Court ruling that “mitigating measures” could be considered in determining disabilities. In other words, Batiste says, when people have surgery or take medication to controls limitations like diabetes or high blood pressure, they are no longer covered by the ADA. Employers are then under no obligation to accommodate them, though workplace accommodations may still be necessary to check blood levels or lessen stress. In September 2006, Representatives F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wisconsin) and Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) introduced legislation to restore protections for disabled workers such as these. That bill will work its way through Congress this year.
“Many employers are confused,” Batiste says. “They don’t know who is covered and under what circumstances. And because of the confusion, some workers don’t even try to use the law in their favor.”
Elevating the Issue
Two United States senators are working on issues of importance to disabled job seekers, Fiore says. Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) and Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) have introduced legislation mandating all federal agencies that outsource business to give preference or incentives to people with disabilities.
A special group of workers with disabilities is likely to gain the attention of legislators this year: Injured soldiers returning from Iraq. There are about 22,000 so far, Fiore says, and they’re looking for work at the same time the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1973, which addresses employment opportunities for people with disabilities, is up for reauthorization. Fiore says these “young heroes” need legislation that specifically addresses their needs as disabled job seekers.
