Honors National Disability Employment Awareness Month
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service, which employs more than 40,000 individuals with reportable disabilities, will join forces with the National Association of People with Disabilities, the U.S. Business Leadership Network and other organizations to celebrate and recognize the many and varied talents of American workers living with disabilities.
“The Postal Service is pleased to join agencies nationwide in recognizing the vital role employees with disabilities play in our workforce,” said Deborah Giannoni-Jackson, vice president for employee resource management. “We continue to foster a diverse and inclusive work environment that engages all employees, including those with disabilities.”
Postal employees with disabilities have access to a variety of assistive technology tools, including — but not limited to — Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) and Video Relay Service (VRS) for the deaf or hard of hearing and screen reading software and text readers for those with visual impairments. Employees can also use the Postal Reasonable Accommodation Assistance Center (PRAAC) website — a one-stop resource for employees and managers to find reference material, definitions and useful links to help employees better understand reasonable accommodations.
Held each October, National Disability Employment Awareness is a national campaign to raise awareness about people living with disabilities to dispel negative stereotypes about disability and employment. This year’s theme “A Strong Workforce is an Inclusive Workforce: What Can YOU Do,” promotes the benefits of a diverse workforce — inclusive of those with disabilities.
National Disability Employment Awareness Month dates back to 1945, when Congress enacted a law declaring the first week in October each year “National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week.” In 1962, the word “physically” was removed to acknowledge the employment needs and contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities. In 1988, Congress expanded the week to a month and changed the name to National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
About the Campaign for Disability Employment
The Campaign for Disability Employment seeks to promote positive employment outcomes for people with disabilities by encouraging employers, and others, to recognize the value and talent that people with disabilities bring to the workplace. The campaign is a collaborative effort involving organizations such as the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD); the National Business and Disability Council (NBDC) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
For more information, visit whatcanyoudocampaign.org.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
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What the above contributor stated is all too true! The U.S.P.S. had tried to eliminate employees who suffered on the job injuries through the N.R.P. program. Although these employees had assurances by management that they would be treated with consideration (ELM 546) and dignity they were not. Many were not given the opportunity to contact their doctors so as to revise their limitations before their badges were confiscated and they were escorted off postal premises by security. This mistreatment has given rise to several M.S.P.B. and E.E.O. cases that seek redress.The E.E.O.cases are still pending but many cases involving The M.S.P.B. have been decided in favor of the injured postal workers. If the U.S.P.S. were really serious about helping people with disabilities it would have followed their own rules and regulations which they did not!
It’s almost sickening to read this phoney hypocritical statement put out by the USPS pretending to care about disabled employees. What about employees injured on the job? Why are they treated like scum, criminals, and low life? Why are they criticized, ridaculed, and discriminated on a daily basis? Why does the USPS have the NRP Program for the past five years to purge all injured off the rolls and out of a job. Why does the USPS try to deny medical treatment to injured employees when OWCP has approved medical treatment? Why does the USPS EEO Office refuse to represent disabled employees injured on the job. How can the USPS justify not allowing injured employees doctor ordered limited duty, or medical treatment; but has no problem paying invesigators to follow an injured employee for a 3 month period trying to find an excuse to fire an otherwise good employee with over 20 years service? If you want to treat injured employees like trash just because you can get away with, that’s your dirty deed. But, please!