Federal officials are looking to walk back a decade-old rule designed to compel businesses to employ people with disabilities in greater numbers.
The U.S. Department of Labor is seeking to do away with a 2013 regulation that requires most federal contractors to work toward a goal of ensuring that at least 7% of workers within each job group in their workforce are people with disabilities.
Under the Obama-era rule, many contractors must take specific steps with regard to recruitment, training, record keeping and policy dissemination in order to bolster disability employment. If they do not meet the 7% goal and are unable to provide documentation showing that they are working toward that end, they can lose their government contracts.
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“While the Section 503 regulations state that the use of quotas is prohibited, contractors may, in practice, be induced to using quotas to meet the utilization goal,” the Labor Department says in its recent proposal.
The agency also wants to eliminate a requirement that contractors invite applicants to self-identify their disability status.
“DOL has concerns that the self-identification and utilization goal regulations are inconsistent with the (Americans with Disabilities Act),” the proposed rule states. “Inherent in any utilization goal … is the need for applicants with disabilities to identify their conditions to the employer. But the ADA is clear; an employer may not, prior to an offer of employment, make any disability-related inquiries, even if that inquiry is related to the job.”
In addition to the ADA concerns, the Labor Department noted that the self-identification and utilization analysis requirements are “burdensome” and not explicitly mandated under the law.
The move to drop the 7% goal for federal contractors and a proposal to end a similar expectation for apprenticeship programs will only make it harder for people with disabilities — a traditionally underemployed population — to find work, said Maria Town, president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities.
Together, federal contractors employ almost 4 million people, accounting for one of the largest workforces in the country, AAPD said.
“It is especially insulting that the Trump administration has justified removing the 7% disability hiring aspirational goal for apprenticeships and federal contractors by claiming such requirements may violate the Americans with Disabilities Act,” Town said. “These requirements were created to strengthen ADA enforcement.”
The proposed rule is up for public comment through Sept. 2.
