Susanne Bruyere
Director
Employment and Disability Institute
The Employment and Disability Institute conducts research focused on inclusive workplaces, effective employment and disability policy. We examine employer and human resources policies and practices in minimizing employment discrimination in both private and federal workplaces. We conduct policy research about how the economy, public policies, and other socio-political factors affect the employment and economic self-sufficiency of people with disabilities.
Areas of Expertise:
Projects
National Employer Technical Assistance, Policy, and Research Center (NETAC)
The National Employer Technical Assistance, Policy, and Research Center is a one stop resource for private and federal employers seeking to recruit, hire, and retain qualified employees with disabilities. The Center provides free, confidential consultation, training, and support to assist employers in expanding their inclusion and diversity efforts by integrating employees with disabilities in the workplace. Resources include linkages to national networks of available job seekers, a toll-free number for one-on-one technical assistance, information about best practices, webinars, and a monthly newsletter. The Center also engages in research to keep current on emerging employment trends and policies and disseminates resulting reports, including disability statistics. Employer Assistance and Resource Network (EARN) is an initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP).
Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employer Practices Related to the Employment Outcomes Among Individuals with Disabilities
The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employer Practices Related to the Employment Outcomes Among Individuals with Disabilities is funded to Cornell University by the U.S. Department for Education National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). This Center is under the leadership of the Employment and Disability Institute, and is a collaboration between multiple departments at Cornell University, including the Employment and Disability Institute (EDI), Institute for Compensation Studies, and the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies, along with The Conference Board (TCB), the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC), and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Through research, outreach activities and targeted interventions, the Center expands the availability and accessibility of useful information on how employer practices are related to employer success in hiring, retaining, and advancing people with disabilities.
Disability Rehabilitation Research Program - Research and Technical Assistance Center on VR Program Management
The major goals of this project are to improve upon the management practices of state vocational rehabilitation agencies that serve people with disabilties nationally, by studying the management practices of private sector business organizaitons and applying these best practices to the public sector setting.
Disability Employment Policy Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC)
Cornell University serves as the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employment Policy for Persons with Disabilities (EmploymentRRTC). The RRTC conducts coordinated research, training, and dissemination activities aimed at deepening the understanding of policy makers and other stakeholders about how the economy, public policies, and other socio-political factors affect the employment and economic self-sufficiency of people with disabilities. The EmploymentRRTC takes an economic approach to research that focuses on the impact of policy and socio-cultural factors on the work outcomes of people with disabilities.
Using the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Employment Discrimination Charge Data System for Research and Dissemination Purposes
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) any individual who believes that his or her employment rights have been violated on the basis of disability may file a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This NIDDR-funded project analyzes trends in employment discrimination charges related to the ADA. Using records from the EEOC covering employment discrimination charges under Title I of the ADA and other laws from 1992-2003, we are exploring trends over time and across the states, and investigating whether these trends are related to changes in the composition of the population with disabilities and changes in labor market conditions. We are also examining the changes in the composition of charges over time with respect to the characteristics of charging party, the size and industry of the employer, and the type of alleged discriminatory treatment. In addition, we will investigate the potential impact of Supreme Court decisions on individual discriminaion charge filings.
Employer Disability Non-Discrimination Research
Cornell University has been working since 1998 to survey over 2500 staff in the private sector in both the U.S. and Great Britain, as well as human resources and EEO staff, and supervisors in the U.S. federal government. We asked questions about the employment process, existing barriers for people with disabilities, and ways to overcome these barriers. Our partners in these efforts included the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the National Business Group on Health, the Lewin Group, the Presidential Task Force on the Employment of Adults with Disabilities, the U.K. Employers Forum on Disability and the Institute for Personnel and Development.
Faculty & Staff
Resources
Podcasts: Public Policy Basics
- 10 Steps to Law
- The Code of Public Policy
- Making Your Voice Heard
Websites
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www.hrtips.org
Provides articles, checklists, a glossary, and links to useful disability resources to help Human Resource (HR) professionals accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) -
www.disabilitystatistics.org
Find 1981-2004 Current Population Survey (CPS) and Census 2000 disability statistics; download the 2004 Disability Status Reports -
www.lsvrsp.org
Find all the data and information from the Longitudinal Study of the Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program (LSVRSP)
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Independence
Online primer on public policy relating to employment of people with disabilities - View more EDI web resources