DOL finalizes rules on disabled workers, veteran hiring
By: Judy Greenwald (Business Insurance) August 2013
The U.S. Department of Labor has finalized a proposed rule under which federal contractors and subcontractors would be required to set a hiring goal of having 7% of their workforce in each job group be people with disabilities.
The DOL also finalized a rule Tuesday intended to improve the hiring and employment of veterans.
The disability rule details specific actions contractors must take in areas of recruitment, training, record-keeping and policy dissemination that are similar to those that have long been required to promote workplace equality for women and minorities, the DOL said.
The rule, which originally was proposed in 2011, updates Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
The veterans rule updates requirements under the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974. The DOL said the veterans rule provides contractors with a quantifiable metric to measure their success in recruiting and employing veterans by requiring contractors to annually adopt a benchmark that is either based on the national percentage of veterans in the workforce, which is now 8%, or their own benchmark based on the best available data.
“The rule strengthens accountability and record-keeping requirements, enabling contractors to assess the effectiveness of their recruitment efforts,” the DOL said in its statement. “It also clarifies job listing and subcontract requirements to facilitate compliance,” according to the DOL.
The rules will be published soon in the Federal Register and take effect 180 days later, according to the DOL. They are available at the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs website and here.
