Posted by JAN Tech on June 3, 2010 under Accommodations, Consultants' Corner, JAN News | 
Original link
From the desk of Linda Carter Batiste, J.D.
Volunteering is an excellent way for people with disabilities to gain work experience, explore career choices, and establish relationships with employers. In some situations, a person with a disability may need an accommodation to serve as a volunteer. One of the questions JAN often gets related to volunteering is whether volunteers are covered under the ADA and therefore entitled to reasonable accommodations. The following addresses this question under various titles of the ADA.
Title I (Employment)
Under Title I, only individuals with disabilities who meet the definition of “employee” are entitled to reasonable accommodations. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a volunteer is typically not a protected employee under Title I of the ADA because an employer-employee relationship usually is not formed. However, if a volunteer receives “significant remuneration” (e.g., pay and benefits) as a result of volunteer service or the volunteer service usually leads to employment with the employer, then the volunteer may be considered an employee.
For more information about Title I and volunteers, see section 2-III-A-1-c of the EEOC Guidance: Threshold Issues.
Title II (State and Local Government)
Title II requires that all state and local government services, programs, or activities, when viewed in their entirety, be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), there could be an argument that a volunteer for a state or local government might be protected by Title II of the ADA as a participant of a program. If a volunteer is a program participant, it would follow that the program must be made accessible to volunteers with disabilities, which sometimes means providing reasonable accommodations.
For further discussion about Title II and volunteers, please contact the ADA Division of the DOJ at (800) 514-0301 (V), (800) 514-0383 (TTY).
Title III (Public Accommodations)
Title III requires public accommodations, such as hotels, restaurants, and medical services, to provide accommodations so customers and patients can access the goods and services offered. The question is whether a volunteer program could be considered goods and services. The answer is uncertain – the DOJ has not specifically addressed the application of Title III of the ADA to volunteers.
For further discussion about Title III and volunteers, please contact the ADA Division of the DOJ at (800) 514-0301 (V), (800) 514-0383 (TTY).
Regardless of whether the ADA applies to volunteers, providing reasonable accommodations to volunteers with disabilities can be a winning proposition for businesses – they get all the great benefits of hiring people with disabilities for the low, low cost of providing an accommodation!
For more information, see Workplace Accommodations: Low Cost, High Impact.
Posted by JAN Tech on November 30, 2009 under Accommodations, JAN News |
JAN releases an updated version of its publication, Accommodation and Compliance Series: Employees with Mental Health Impairments. View updated statistics, accommodation ideas, situations and solutions, and resources.
Read more at http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/Psychiatric.html
Posted by JAN Tech on November 18, 2009 under JAN News |
JAN releases an updated version of its publication, Accommodation and Compliance Series: Medical Inquiry in Response to an Accommodation Request, in light of recent changes to the definition of disability in the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008. The publication will be updated again when the EEOC releases its final ADAAA regulation.
Read more at http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/Medical.htm
Posted by JAN Tech on November 12, 2009 under JAN News, Products / Technology |
This publication gives a brief overview of ten vital tips to consider when designing a Website, including quick, testing, and design tips for certain aspects of a Website to ensure that applications are accessible.
Read more at http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/webpages.html
Posted by JAN Tech on November 4, 2009 under Events, Veterans Issues, Webcasts |
The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) offers free Webcast on November 10, 2009, on Veterans Issues.
Speakers: Vicky Crawford, Senior EEO Specialist/Wounded Warrior Program, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Paul Cataldi, USCIS Immigration Services Assistant, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, with Anne Hirsh, M.S., JAN Co-Director.
This Webcast training session will inform Federal managers and HR personnel on how to effectively hire returning injured and wounded service members using Federal Veterans Hiring Authority programs. A representative from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will talk about using the Veterans Hiring Authority to hire returning service members and veterans with disabilities. Participants will hear firsthand from a veteran with a disability who has recently transitioned from the military to a career in the federal government. Participants will also learn how to access programs like the America’s Heroes at Work and other federal programs that support the successful employment of returning service members with disabilities. Register here: http://www.jan.wvu.edu/webcast/
Posted by JAN Tech on October 15, 2009 under Accommodations |
From JAN E-news Volume 7, Issue 4, Third Quarter 2009
Recently, JAN’s Workplace Accommodations: Low Cost, High Impact Fact Sheet, which provides new research findings addressing the costs and benefits of job accommodations for people with disabilities, was updated. These data indicated that the “typical” one-time cost of accommodation reported by employers was $600 (JAN, 2009). Because too few employers provided cost data on accommodations that are recurring, the results focused on those with one-time costs. What does this mean?
Let’s start by deciphering the term “typical” cost. All data sets have constructs that best represent the distribution of the data. When we have several elements of a data set, we want to find one measure of central tendency, if possible, that best represents these data. This gives us a clearer picture of what is happening and allows us to make inferences about the data. For some data sets either the mode, mean, or median may be the best choice. For others, all two or three may be reported to provide readers with additional information.
The mode, the most frequently occurring number in a data set, is often used with non-numerical data. Because of this, JAN rarely reports the mode as a measure of the one-time cost of accommodation reported by employers. If using the mode as the typical cost indicator in the most recent update, the typical one-time cost of accommodation, when including those that cost nothing, was $0. When using the mode as the typical cost indicator and excluding those that cost nothing, the typical cost of accommodation was $100. Using the mode as a representative measure of central tendency for these data is probably not a good representation of what employers report as the cost of accommodation.
The mean usually refers to the arithmetic mean, which is the average of a data set. Because the mean is primarily used for symmetrical distributions with no outliers, JAN rarely reports the mean cost of accommodation reported by employers. For example, say one employer reported to JAN that it modified a building to add an elevator and reported this cost of accommodation as $100,000. Reporting an average as the cost of accommodation, when most accommodations cost far less, would not represent the typical cost of accommodation. Because most accommodations are low cost, any high dollar outliers would pull the average cost of accommodation away from the typical cost of accommodation. If using the mean as the typical cost indicator in the most recent update, the typical one-time cost of accommodation, when including those that cost nothing, was $1,183. When using the mean as the typical cost indicator and excluding those that cost nothing, the typical cost of accommodation was $2,900. Although useful in some situations, using the mean as a representative measure of central tendency for these data is probably not the best representation of what employers report as the cost of accommodation.
The median, the middle number in a data set, is used when outliers exist in a data set. Because of outliers reported by a few employers, JAN reports the median one-time cost of accommodation as the typical cost of accommodation. If using the median as the typical cost indicator in the most recent update, the typical one-time cost of accommodation, when including those that cost nothing, was $0. JAN, however, excluded the 56% that cost nothing and reported the median of those accommodations that had a reported cost. This cost of accommodation was $600. Because of a few reported outliers, the median is a good representation of what employers report as the cost of accommodation.
Given that these three measures of central tendency have different meanings, researchers may certainly have reasons to choose one over the other when reporting JAN’s data on the cost of accommodation. Want to debate the best way to report the cost of accommodation? Post to JAN’s Blog and enjoy a community space to discuss the issue. Start blogging!
Job Accommodation Network. (2009). Workplace Accommodations: Low Cost, High Impact. Retrieved October 1, 2009, from http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/LowCostHighImpact.doc
- Beth Loy, Ph.D., Principal Consultant
Posted by JAN Tech on under JAN News |
- Train Your Supervisors and Managers on What Constitutes a Request for a Reasonable Accommodation under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Campaign for Disability Employment Launches What Can YOU Do? Web Site and Outreach Videos
- October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
- Mobility Enhancing Devices, Part 1 of a 3 Part Series
- Small Business and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)
- Common Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, Mode and JAN’s Cost of Accommodation
- JAN Releases New Resources
- E-vents
- JAN Exhibit and Training Schedule
Read more at http://www.jan.wvu.edu/ENews/2009/Enews-V7-I4.htm
Subscription information is available at the bottom of the newsletter.
Posted by JAN Tech on October 8, 2009 under Accommodations, Products / Technology, Webcasts |
Below are a list of the resources mentioned by JAN in webcasts on October 7 and 8.
Organizing and Decorating Bedrooms
Organization/Time Management
Money Management
Therapy Animals/Pet Partners
Stress Management for Teens
Posted by JAN Blog Administrator on October 4, 2009 under ADAAA |
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has voted to approve a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to conform its ADA regulations to the Amendments Act of 2008. The NPRM was just published in the Federal Register on September 23, 2009. Relevant documents are available on the JAN Website at: www.jan.wvu.edu/links/adalinks.htm and the EEOC Website at: www.eeoc.gov/ada/amendments_notice.html.
Posted by JAN Tech on September 21, 2009 under Campaign for Disability Employment |
During the U.S. Business Leadership Network’s (USBLN) Annual Conference and National Career Fair, several leading disability organizations launched the Campaign for Disability Employment, a new collaborative effort to promote positive employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Announcement of the nationwide campaign – built around the theme “What Can YOU Do?” – came during the conference’s keynote speech by Robert David Hall, actor and disability rights advocate.
To learn more about the campaign and to view the campaign’s “I Can” video public service announcement, please visit www.whatcanyoudocampaign.org.
