Recruitment and Retention

The goal of the hiring process should be to attract and identify the individual who has the best mix of skills and attributes for the job available. Ensuring that all qualified individuals — including individuals with disabilities — can participate in the process is key to achieving this goal. Similarly, employers and employees both benefit from a work environment that facilitates the retention of all skilled, qualified workers through effective job accommodations for employees with disabilities.

The following resources provide more information about recruitment and retention of people with disabilities:

For All Employers

• Building an Inclusive Workforce (PDF) — A Four-Step Reference Guide to Recruiting, Hiring, and Retaining Employees with Disabilities.
• Return-to-Work Toolkit for Employees and Employers — Information to help employers and employees understand the return-to-work process and resources to assist in getting employees back on the job quickly and smoothly.
• Job Accommodation Network (JAN) — ODEP-funded service that provides free, expert, and confidential guidance on workplace accommodations and other disability employment issues.
• Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) — ODEP-funded service that helps employers hire and retain workers with disabilities.
• Opening Doors to All Candidates: Tips for Ensuring Access for Applicants with Disabilities — Information on how to ensure an accessible hiring process.
• Focus on Ability: Interviewing Applicants with Disabilities — Information on interviews when an applicant happens to have a disability.
• Disability;IN Affiliates — Disability:IN is a worldwide nonprofit organization that helps businesses meet and exceed their goals through disability inclusion in the workplace, supply chain, and marketplace. Contact your local affiliate for more information.
• State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Agencies — These agencies provide a wide range of services to help people with disabilities train for, find, and keep jobs that fit their skills and interests. VR agencies can also connect businesses with skilled workers with disabilities in their area.
• Centers for Independent Living (CIL) — CILs promote independent living and equal access for people of all ages with all types of disabilities. They often work with local employers interested in hiring qualified workers with disabilities.
• Inclusion@Work — Identifies promising employment policies and practices for recruiting, hiring, retaining and advancing qualified individuals with disabilities.
• Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) Finding Job Candidates with Disabilities — Information from EARN, an ODEP-funded project, on state and local resources, organizations, and job boards that can help employers find qualified job seekers with disabilities.
• Workers with Disabilities: Where Can Employers Find Qualified Applicants with Disabilities? — Article from the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) that details several ways to recruit workers with disabilities.

For Federal Employers

• Federal Agency Employment Strategies: A Framework for Disability Inclusion (PDF) — A guide that outlines promising and emerging employment strategies and practices for recruiting, hiring, advancing, and retaining qualified individuals with disabilities in federal agencies.
• Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) — A program that connects federal employers nationwide with highly motivated college students and recent graduates with disabilities who are seeking summer internships or permanent employment.
• OPM Federal Employment of People with Disabilities — Information on federal disability hiring programs, reasonable accommodations in Federal workplaces, related laws and executive orders, and other resources.
• The ABCs of Schedule A — This fact sheet from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission provides tips for applicants with disabilities on getting federal jobs.
• Special Hiring Authorities for Veterans — Information about special hiring authorities federal agencies can use to hire veterans, including disabled veterans.
• Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP) — The federal government's centrally funded accommodation program. Provides assistive technology and services free of charge to federal agencies.
• Section 501 Rule (as amended, 2017) Requiring Affirmative Action in Federal Employment (PDF) — The amended rule codifies a variety of obligations currently placed on federal agencies by management directives and Executive Orders. It also adds affirmative action requirements—the most important of which specifies that agencies must take steps to gradually increase the number of employees with disabilities and the number of employees with "targeted disabilities" until they meet specific goals set by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
• Promising and Emerging Practices for Enhancing the Employment of Individuals with Disabilities Included in Plans Submitted by Federal Agencies Under Executive Order 13548 (PDF) — This summary report identifies promising practices for advancing the recruitment, hiring, and retention of individuals with disabilities identified in 10 selected agency plans submitted under Executive Order 13548.
• EEOC Management Directive 715 — This directive requires that all federal agencies design model recruitment and hiring strategies for people with disabilities and implement programs to retain these workers.