Standard
Hiring Practices Model:
The purpose of this legislation is to assist
people with disabilities acquire employment. A disabled person, and person with a
mobility impairment is defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990. It is envisioned both
people with disabilities, and, more importantly persons with mobility
disabilities, like persons using wheelchairs, will be employed according to the
targeted figures below. For
the purposes of this legislation, a disabled person is defined using that
definition as of the date of the enactment of this legislation, found in the
ADA of 1990. For the purposes of
this legislation, Title 38, or any otherwise applicable US Code, of the Code of
Federal Regulations defines a veteran as “a person who served in the active
military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released under
conditions other than dishonorable.” The term of this legislation is six
years from the date of enactment. These are minimum standards and
targeted employment goals during the hiring process. Our honorable disabled
veterans are included in these targeted goals. A disabled veteran often meets the
definition of both a disabled person, with or without a mobility impairment,
and concurrently a veteran.
While legislation has been passed to ensure
people with disabilities are not discriminated against, the unfortunate reality
is they are not making it into the workforce, despite inherent
protections. Hence, we
believe affirmative acts towards the employment of the disabled need to be
taken on a short-term basis. It
is hoped identified employee candidates that have disabilities will be able to
enter the workforce through this legislation.
A State and Federal governmental unit is
defined but not limited to a department, agency, program(s), initiative(s),
etc, wherein members of the general public are employed. For example, Wake County Government
has several programs and departments, and one may include the Department of
Health and Human Services. Another
example is similarly, North Carolina Administrative Offices of the Courts is a
state agency within the scope of this targeted program.
This is a public sector initiative. Hence, governmental bodies are
targeted with compliance with these affirmative steps towards hiring the
disabled; and, contractors with the public sector, entities that contract with
the government on the state level, are to adopt this standard in their
employment practices, while their contract is active. To that end, the adopted targeted
goals of employment according to the size of any given governmental unit are
herein specified.
No of Employees Per Government Unit
|
Employee with Disability; and Disabled Employee with a
Mobility Impairment
|
1 to 25
|
1 Disabled Employee
|
25 to 50
|
1 Disabled Employee plus One Mobility Impaired Disabled
Employee
|
51 to 75
|
2 Disabled Employees plus at least one of which has a Mobility
Impairment
|
76 to 100
|
3 Disabled Employees plus at least one of which has a Mobility
Impairment
|
100 to 150
|
4 Disabled Employees plus at least one of which has a Mobility
Impairment
|
151 to 200
|
5 Disabled Employees plus at least one of which has a Mobility
Impairment
|
201 to 300
|
6 Disabled Employees plus at least one of which has a Mobility
Impairment
|
301 to 400
|
7 Disabled Employees plus at least one of which has a Mobility
Impairment
|
401 to 500
|
7 Disabled Employees plus at least two of which has a Mobility
Impairment; of the minimum 9 disabled employees, at least one shall be a
disabled veteran.
|
501 to 1000
|
At Least 2% of total employees must be Disabled Employees and
at least three of which must have a Mobility Impairment; and at least two
must be a disabled veteran, one with a mobility impairment and one may be
without.
|
1001 and over
|
20 + (At Least 1 per 100 over 1000) Disabled Employees and at
least four of which has a Mobility Impairment; and at least three must be
disabled veterans with or without a mobility impairment.
|
Non-Competitive
Option
Some employers may claim that not
enough prospective disabled/disabled-veterans apply for positions, especially
positions requiring a high degree of specialization and/or technical knowledge
and/or skills. The inherent belief is
that our armed forces are producing cross trained professionals to fill all
positions, and, our colleges and business sectors qualified employees. However, to address employer concerns, a
non-competitive option is available.
The Model is the same that as
used in the Federal System. The
prospective employee must get necessary documentation from a licensed
practicing physician or appropriate governmental agency certifying that person
is disabled and/or a disabled veteran (a letter with all identifying
information will suffice). For example,
a person collecting social security disability may provide proof of his or her
disability in the form of an award letter.
The same is true for a person collecting veteran administration disability
benefits.
The employer must choose to
participate in the non-competitive option or standard hiring practices
model. If they choose the
non-competitive option, any open employment position(s) with the employer must
be designated as a non-competitive option position(s), and, the duration of all
prospective employment position(s) must be five years [meaning this is only a five year option], since the election of
this option, as evidenced in initial and continuous employment postings and
hiring; and, should a prospective disabled/disabled-veteran apply, the position(s)
must be filled by that prospective employee(s) (considering knowledge, skill,
experience, and reasonable accommodations),
