In July, the Department of Labor put out a notice of proposed rule-making (NPRM) requesting comments on the 7 percent utilization goal under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. The utilization goal, also seen as a benchmark, requires that businesses that receive federal contracts strive to have 7 percent of their employees be people with some kind of disability. Under this NPRM, the Department of Labor is asking to eliminate the 7 percent utilization goal. Amongst other points, the NPRM argues that in order to collect necessary data, the companies must ask prospective employees (or existing employees) if they have a disability, and by doing so the company would be violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
ACB submitted comments in response to the NPRM. ACB highlighted the importance of such benchmark goals. The level of blind and low vision persons with a job is too low; we want to promote opportunities for employment. The comment also argued that the application of Title I of the ADA, which covers asking about disabilities, is misused. The ADA does not allow employers to ask about a person’s disability during an application to prevent discrimination. The survey question in this context is purely for information gathering to assess the benchmark goal.
If you would like to read the comments ACB submitted, you can find them on the advocacy and governmental affairs page at www.acb.org. Comments can be submitted to the Department of Labor until Tuesday, September 2.
Posted on August 29, 2025