Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act Impacts How Employers Deal with Applicants

ABSTRACT When Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) went into effect on July 26, 1992, it impacted the way in which employers with 25 or more employees deal with applicants. The ADA specifies certain actions the employer is to take or not to take to avoid discriminating against qualified applicants on the basis of a disability. This paper focuses on the ADA's impact on the employment processes of job analysis, recruitment, and selection. INTRODUCTION The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law on July 26, 1990. Title IEmployment requires that employers do not discriminate against qualified applicants/employees on the basis of a disability. The general rule of Title I states that: No entity shall discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability of such individual in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions and privileges of employment. (Americans With Disabilities Act 1990) Title I became effective July 26,1992, for employers engaged in an industry affecting commerce who have 25 or more employees. Two years later, on July 26, 1994, the number of employees required for coverage will drop to 15 (the same as required under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 1964). These levels mean that a lot of small businesses must comply with the ADA. The ADA will affect some employers more than others. For example, Title I's impact will be less severe on employers who, as government contractors, are by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. These employers are already required by law to follow employment practices that do not discriminate against handicapped individuals who are otherwise qualified. In many ways, the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA are the same because Congress relied on the 1973 Act to provide much of the substance and definitions for the ADA. There is one important difference between the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA, however; the difference lies in how each law defines covered employer. The more recent ADA has broader coverage than the older Rehabilitation Act. The ADA includes more employers by basing coverage on the employer's number of employees instead of the employer's role as a government contractor. With an increase in the number of employers, there should also be an increase in the number of applicants/employees with handicaps or disabilities entitled to protection. Compliance with the ADA may mean that some employers must make significant changes in some, or all, of their employment practices. Other employers may need to make few, if any, changes. The employment practices selected for discussion in this paper are those pertaining to the processes of job analysis, recruitment, and selection. Relevant to these three processes, the employer needs to know what is required under the ADA and what is not required; what the employer is to do and what the employer is not to do. Then the employer can make any necessary changes to assure that current practices are in compliance with the ADA. This paper contains a discussion of some specific ways in which the ADA will impact employers as they (1) write job descriptions/job specifications following job analyses, (2) develop an applicant pool through recruitment, and (3) select employees with the help of application forms, interviews, employment tests, offers to hire, and medical examinations. This paper does not contain a full discussion of each of the above activities-only selected aspects that are directly impacted. Neither does this paper contain a discussion of ADA requirements after an applicant is hired. Job Analysis The ADA protects a qualified individual with a disability. As specified in the regulations to implement Title I of the ADA, a qualified individual with a disability is an individual who . …