As reported earlier, the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA) was signed into federal law in 2014, and portions of the law take effect at different times. A key change that will go into effect July 1, 2016, affects transition programs for young adults with disabilities graduating high school. The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) will be a core component of this change.

Historically, young adults with significant disabilities who were transitioning out of school were often placed either in an Adult Day Training (ADT) program or employment programs that involved use of additional employment supports which could include payment of commensurate wages. As a result of WIOA, as of July 1, individuals under 24 years old who are transitioning into an employment program that would have paid commensurate (or subminimum) wages must be routed through the VR program. Within the VR program they will receive an initial assessment, ongoing assessments, and up to four years of supported employment services.

The goal of this portion of WIOA is to offer young adults with disabilities enhanced opportunities for competitive and integrated employment. VR's assessments will help determine if the individuals have the work capacity to receive minimum wage pay or higher, are interacting with other people who do not have disabilities, and are being presented with opportunities for advancement. This does not mean that employment programs will have to stop using subminimum wages, but it does mean that young adults with disabilities must first be given the opportunity for competitive and integrated employment as the first option. "We applaud this Employment First initiative and look forward to working with VR and others to ensure that individuals with significant disabilities have realistic employment options based on their individual needs and circumstances," said Florida ARF President and CEO Suzanne Sewell.

On March 21, 2016, Sewell provided an overview of the impact of the WIOA changes on the RESPECT of Florida program.

 

BAC Receives Prestigious Award

Brevard Achievement Center (BAC) recently received the prestigious Hennessy Trophy for its support of Patrick Air Force Base. The award is annually presented to Air Force installations with the best Food Service Program. BAC employs 27 individuals with disabilities through this program. The individuals perform a variety of jobs including cooks, food service workers, cashiers, and bussers.
      

RESPECT Recognizes Arc of Walton County Employees

RESPECT of Florida recently awarded two employees from the Arc of Walton County for their superior performance in a district-wide, quarterly incentive contest. Six separate agencies perform the custodial services at the Florida Department of Transportation maintenance yards throughout the panhandle, but Christopher Johnson and Chris Byrd went above and beyond to win. More notably, Johnson was recently promoted to supervisor of this contract. They each received a certificate of appreciation and a $25 gift card acknowledging their achievement.

Left to right standing: Harry Friends, Christopher Johnson. Seated: Christopher Byrd

 

The role of the EEOC is investigating individual complaints of some form of discrimination. If its investigation confirms the complaint is valid, it will require the employer to mediate. In the event that no settlement is reached, the EEOC has the authority to file charges in federal court.

The protected class list seems to grow annually, and now the EEOC wants to target disparity in pay between men and women. It has announced its intentions to collect the W-2s of employees annually along with the EEO-1 reports. Again, only companies with 100 or more employees submit EEO-1 reports, so this will not affect smaller businesses, but there are other problems by taking W-2s and making decisions on pay disparities.

Take a look at your W-2. It does not have your position title on it. It does not indicate if you got a promotion during the year, which could make you appear to have earned less than a co-worker in the new position who had been in the position for the full year. It does not reflect that a female co-worker made more contributions to a 401(k) than her male counterpart. So why is the EEOC collecting W-2s?

The Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) has sent a letter to the EEOC asking it to withdraw the proposal for the above reasons, and more. In the letter, SHRM suggested that if they do not withdraw the proposal they should use annualized base salary or wage rate rather than W-2s. This would make the numbers more valid by excluding overtime pay, shift differential worked or not worked, and it would include dollars from base salaries that were contributed to 401(k) plans.

With the requirement to use the EEOC's classifications versus actual job titles and descriptions, it does not seem to be a viable means of determining if there really is pay disparity. Why not form audit teams to go to companies who have had complaints filed against them for pay disparity between men and women? Or perform random audits like the Department of Labor does for 401(k)s?

There must be a better way; one that is less imposing for employers and one that does not have a high likelihood of misinterpreted data.