October is National Disability Awareness Month which celebrates the contributions employees with disabilities have in the workplace and how organizations support them as part of their diversity and inclusion strategy. To help with job employment – the U.S. Department of Labor requires organizations to create affirmative action plans for the employment of people with disabilities. Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a law that prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating in employment against individuals with disabilities. Note: Section 503 rules are enforced by the U.S. Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).
As part of Section 503, employers are required to let employees voluntarily self-identify if they have a disability. To help organizations with compliance, employees can use PeopleSoft Employee Self-Service to self-identity if they have a disability.
Employees should be invited to self-identify at least once every five years (per OFCCP recommendation). Most organization have a yearly campaign to request employees to update their disability status.
Important Note: The voluntary self-identification form is an OMB‐approved form, organizations should not alter or change the wording in the form.
Navigation: Workforce Administration>Personal Information>Disability
A HR Administrator can also enter an employee’s disability information or view the details entered by the employee in self-service in the Disability page. Per OFFCP guidelines, all self-identification information must be kept confidential and separate from other personnel records – which is why disability information is separate from Personal Data.
The View History page shows the history of disability disclosure status. Organizations have a record keeping obligation to retain this information for a period of three years or longer if there is a pending investigation by the Department of Labor.
Check out October’s Blog series National Disability Awareness Month to learn more about the features in PeopleSoft HCM that can help organizations with being more diverse with the hiring of disabled persons like the tracking of disabled applicants, managing employee accommodation requests and accessibility like using a screen reader.