Page 14 - ABILITY Magazine - Best Practices Employment

about this regulation, including what’s worked in the past, what hasn’t worked and best practices.
Based on the feedback, we’ve come out with a Notice of Proposed Rule, and then we gave people a comment period, and now we’re looking at all of the comments, taking them all into consideration, before we put out a Final Rule, which then becomes the law.
Hoskins: When the rule is updated, do you expect to see an increase in the number of people with disabilities finding employment?
Shiu: From your lips to God’s ears. (laughter) Yes, I do. That’s the whole point of this.
Johnson: And how will you verify that companies are complying with the new rule?
Shiu: We have a three-part process: We schedule approx- imately 4,000 audits. It’s a neutral selection system. We go in and we tell people that we’re going to audit them. They have certain duties as a federal contractor. When they sign on the dotted line to make that widget or make that ship or provide pharmaceuticals, they agree to not discriminate and to engage in affirmative action, which means that they have to have an affirmative action plan.
You’re supposed to keep data, update it, and actually look at it. It should affect how people get hired and employed and paid. Very often the affirmative action plans are not used to the best extent that they could be. But it’s that sort of information that we unearth and ana- lyze. We do onsite audits as well. We talk with witness- es, we talk with corporate people, workers, manage- ment, etc., to really try and unearth, as I said, the story at that particular workplace.
Johnson: Anecdotally speaking, as you went around the country looking at these various businesses, what challenges did they face in complying with the rule?
Shiu: One thing I can say is that there are a number of very large contractors that stood out in terms of taking this to the next level. Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago has a lot to be proud of. They had people there who took the time to share with other federal contractors what they do in their hospital so that peo- ple are included. And they had exuberance, great ideas, and commitment. They are now in the lead in terms of inculcating the notion that all people, includ- ing people with disabilities, can be productive workers in that particular environment.
I also see a whole range of people who have never worked with someone with a disability, who have no understanding of what that might mean, and who exhibit a certain amount of fear and ignorance. On one of my webinars, I got a call from a person who said that she runs a small construction company, and she asked,
“How can somebody with a disability operate heavy machinery?” I said, “Well, actually, I worked on a case involving deaf individuals who worked with forklifts in big box stores.”
So it’s shattering some of those myths, those stereo- types, I think. That’s just a matter of education and exposure. If you’ve ever known or worked with a per- son with a disability, you will see that they’re just like anybody else.
Hoskins: Are you frustrated by the pace of change in regards to inclusion of people with disabilities?
Shiu: I am hopeful. It’s been a real pleasure and a privi- lege for me to work for this administration. I come to the office every day knowing that we’re going to make good on this. This is a game changer. Secretary Solis has said that she thinks this is the biggest change since the enactment of the ADA, and all I know is that I just want to play a small part in making sure that this becomes a reality.
Johnson: Senator Harkin has a goal to have six million people with disabilities employed by 2015. Does your office ever work with his office on these initiatives?
Shiu: We work with Senator Harkin’s office whenever we can. He’s a great advocate on all issues for work- ers, and he’s committed to getting as many people with disabilities as possible into the workforce.
Johnson: How do you broaden out what’s happening at the federal level in terms of contractors and subcontracts to other companies through America?
Shiu: The history of OFCCP started with President Roo- sevelt who issued an order that prohibited discrimina- tion by federal defense contractors against African- American people. Think about all the various Republi- can and Democratic administrations that have built upon that principle.
The federal government is always the model employer, and it always should be the model employer, which is why the President has also challenged federal agencies to hire more people with disabilities.
When you talk about federal contractors, you’re talk- ing about Boeing, about pharmaceutical companies, about poultry companies, meat companies, meat pack- ers, furniture companies. It’s everybody. All you have to have is a contract for $50,000 and 50 employees and you’re subject to affirmative action. If you have a contract of $10,000 and 50 employees, then you’re subject to the executive order. So there are some dif- ferences in terms of some of the other regulatory juris- dictional limits, but essentially the idea is, if we can do this for one in four American workers, it’s going to have a ripple effect.
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