Friday, December 9, 2011

Unemployed Americans with Disabilities May Get a Boost

Americans with disabilities, facing even higher hurdles than others finding jobs, would get a boost under an Obama administration plan to set new hiring procedures for government contractors.

The U.S. Department of Labor proposed a rule Thursday that would require most companies with federal contracts to set goals of having disabled workers make up 7 percent of their workforce.

Labor officials hailed the plan as an economic game-changer at a time when a staggering eight of 10 working-age Americans with disabilities are out of the workforce entirely.

The government long has used the leverage of federal spending to promote affirmative action in the hiring of women and minorities. The new rule would, for the first time, give similar treatment to people with disabilities.

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