National Disability Policy: A Progress Report

[Pages:138]National Disability Policy: A Progress Report

Has the Promise Been Kept? Federal Enforcement of Disability Rights Laws

National Council on Disability October 31, 2018

National Council on Disability (NCD) 1331 F Street NW, Suite 850 Washington, DC 20004 National Disability Policy: A Progress Report Has the Promise Been Kept? Federal Enforcement of Disability Rights Laws

National Council on Disability, October 31, 2018

This report is also available in alternative formats. Please visit the National Council on Disability (NCD) website () or contact NCD to request an alternative format using the following information:

ncd@ Email 202-272-2004 Voice 202-272-2022 Fax The views contained in this report do not necessarily represent those of the Administration, as this and all NCD documents are not subject to the A-19 Executive Branch review process.

National Council on Disability

An independent federal agency making recommendations to the President and Congress to enhance the quality of life for all Americans with disabilities and their families.

October 31, 2018

Letter of Transmittal

President Donald J. Trump The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

The National Council on Disability (NCD) is pleased to present the 2018 National Disability Policy: A Progress Report, this year titled Has the Promise Been Kept? Federal Enforcement of Disability Rights Laws. Each year, NCD submits a statutorily mandated report to the White House and Congress to offer recommendations on continuing, new, and emerging issues that affect the lives of people with disabilities.

In this report, the Council revisits the NCD report Promises to Keep: A Decade of Federal Enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act, released in 2000, to assess the progress made by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Access Board to address NCD's recommendations in the 2000 report. NCD uses the framework developed in Promises to Keep to consider the efforts of the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration, Office of Disability Employment Policy, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Office of the Solicitor, and the Wage and Hour Division to protect and advance the employment of people with disabilities. NCD received the Department of Labor's Civil Rights Center's response to NCD's research questions after completion of NCD's examination of DOL, and thus it has not been analyzed. Therefore, we have appended their unedited response to ensure its inclusion in this report.

The federal agencies considered in this report play a key role to ensure that people with disabilities have the equal opportunity to work and access the community as all Americans. This report assesses how these agencies implement and enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal disability rights laws and programs.

NCD submits this report at a time of economic expansion, job growth, and technological advancements, which are expanding opportunities for people with disabilities. Enforcement and effective implementation of federal disability civil rights laws and employment programs are vital for people with disabilities to share fully in the American economy, to participate in the local and national community, and to interact with the Federal Government. Although some progress in reaching the goal of full equality and justice for Americans with disabilities has been made since the release of Promises to Keep, improvements are needed. NCD offers recommendations to enhance the investigative and compliance efforts of the EEOC, DOL, and the Access Board

1331 F Street, NW Suite 850 Washington, DC 20004 202-272-2004 Voice 202-272-2074 TTY 202-272-2022 Fax

Has the Promise Been Kept? Federal Enforcement of Disability Rights Laws 1

in order to respond to ongoing and emerging barriers faced by people with disabilities. NCD encourages these agencies to improve communications with people with all types of disabilities, and to better utilize existing resources in investigations and compliance efforts. NCD looks forward to working with the Administration to ensure the ongoing protection of people with disabilities from discrimination in all aspects of their lives through oversight and enforcement of our nation's disability rights laws. Respectfully, Neil Romano Chairman

2 National Council on Disability

National Council on Disability Members and Staff Members

Neil Romano Chairman Benro Ogunyipe, Vice Chairperson

Billy Altom Rabia Belt James Brett Daniel Gade Andr?s Gallegos Wendy Harbour Clyde Terry

Staff

Phoebe Ball, Legislative Affairs Specialist Stacey S. Brown, Staff Assistant

Joan M. Durocher, General Counsel & Director of Policy Lisa Grubb, Executive Director

Netterie Lewis, Administrative Support Specialist Amy Nicholas, Attorney Advisor

Nicholas Sabula, Public Affairs Specialist Amged Soliman, Attorney Advisor

Anne Sommers, Director of Legislative Affairs & Outreach Ana Torres-Davis, Attorney Advisor

Keith Woods, Financial Management Analyst

Has the Promise Been Kept? Federal Enforcement of Disability Rights Laws 3

4 National Council on Disability

Contents

Contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Acronym Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Chapter 1: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Overview of the EEOC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Regulatory, Sub-Regulatory, and Policy Guidance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Proactive and Reactive Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Competent and Credible Investigative Process

and Enforcement Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Timely Resolution of Complaints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Communication with Complainants and the Community . . . . . . . . . . 38 Strategic Litigation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Interagency Collaboration and Coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Training andTechnical Assistance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Adequacy of Agency Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Chapter 2: U.S. Department of Labor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Employment andTraining Administration (ETA). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Overview of the ETA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Regulatory, Sub-Regulatory, and Policy Guidance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Proactive and Reactive Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Training andTechnical Assistance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Interagency Collaboration and Coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Overview of ODEP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Regulatory, Sub-Regulatory, and Policy Guidance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Has the Promise Been Kept? Federal Enforcement of Disability Rights Laws 5

Proactive and Reactive Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Interagency Collaboration and Coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Communication with Complainants and the Community . . . . . . . . . . 54 Training andTechnical Assistance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Adequacy of Agency Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Overview of OFCCP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Regulatory, Sub-Regulatory, and Policy Guidance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Competent and Credible Investigative Process

and Enforcement Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Interagency Collaboration and Coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Training andTechnical Assistance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Adequacy of Agency Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Office of the Solicitor (SOL). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Wage and Hour Division (WHD). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Overview of Section 14(c). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Regulatory, Sub-Regulatory, and Policy Guidance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Proactive and Reactive Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Competent and Credible Investigative Process

and Enforcement Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Communication with Complainants and the Community . . . . . . . . . . 73 Interagency Collaboration and Coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Technical Assistance andTraining. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Adequacy of Agency Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Overview of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Regulatory, Sub-Regulatory, and Policy Guidance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Competent and Credible Investigative Process

and Enforcement Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Technical Assistance andTraining. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

6 National Council on Disability

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