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.
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.
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.
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.
