Human Resource Blog

Rehabilitation Act Basics

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We have just received a federal government contract and are getting up to speed on all of the government regulations. Can you please tell us more basic information about the Rehabilitation Act?

Yes. The Rehabilitation Act is a federal Act that applies to companies and organizations in states across the U.S. that are federal government agencies, federal contractors, state and local governments and their agencies that receive federal funds or other public or private companies that receive federal funds. If you are working on a federal contract in your company, then you are covered by the Rehabilitation Act.

In general, the Rehabilitation Act is in place to prohibit organizations from discriminating against qualified individuals with regards to their application procedures, hiring, promotion, benefits, promotion, job training and other work-related aspects. Employers are also required to make all reasonable accommodations for those employees that have known physical or mental limitations if an employee is otherwise qualified to work in the companies but has a disability. However, if such accommodations would pose a hardship to the company, then the Rehabilitation Act does not require that the organization go out of its way to make such accommodations.

The Act does not cover all companies; only those that are working on federal contract or using federal funds. Of those federal contractors, the contractors must be receiving $10,000 or more. The federal department and organizations that have 50 or more employees must have a contract that amounts to $50,000 or more in order to be covered.

Under the terms of the Rehabilitation Act, when the Act states that a person must have a qualified disability, this statement means that the person must have a legitimate skill, experience, or other job requirement that the employer has been looking for, but he or she needs some reasonable accommodation so that the employee can perform the essential functions of the job. A disability could be a mental or physical disability that limits the individual from engaging in major life activities. In order to have a disability qualification, the employee must have a history or record of the impairment. CB