Enhance Your Workforce And Save Money - by Hiring Veterans and People with Disabilities

Are you looking to hire high-quality employees?

Are you looking for hiring incentives?

Would you be interested in finding a largely untapped resource bank of potential hires?

If so, you may be interested in recruiting and hiring veteran and disabled employees.

Employing Individuals with Disabilities

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities, unless it would cause undue hardship. A reasonable accommodation is any change in the work environment or in the way a job is performed that enables a person with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunities.

There is a large group of disabled people in the United States that are not currently employed, but have the skills and experience necessary to succeed. According to this article from America.gov, Hiring People With Disabilities: Good for Business:

• Disability.gov Connects the disabled community to workplace information and provides employers with resources for recruiting, interviewing, hiring, ect.
• Office of Disability Employment Policy Department of Labor office that acts as an advocate and facilitator of disabled individuals in the workforce.
• Employer Assistance Resources Network (EARN) Office of Disability Employment Policy program that establishes connections between employers and qualified candidates with disabilities.
• Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) Office of Disability Employment Policy program that helps employers connect with qualified college students and recent graduates with disabilities who are looking for summer and full-time job opportunities.
• State Programs - Many state governments provide resources or programs for people with disabilities and employers. Massachusett-s Employing People with Disabilities portal is an example of a special state program. Check your state's labor agency to see what's offered in your area.

Employing Veterans

Similar to hiring individuals with disabilities, recruiting and hiring veterans enables your business to draw from a diverse and capable resource pool. The government also provides resources and programs to assist employers that hire veterans. For example, the Department of Defense created Operation Transition to help businesses find potential employees who were departing from the service. This program enables employers to access databases from both The Defense Outplacement Referral System (DORS) and the Transition Bulletin Board (TBB)' two sources of military candidate pools. Additional veteran related resources include:

• Vetera's Resource Guide Business.go's guide for veterans and their employers including information on the HireVetsFirst program, labor laws, and compliance assistance.
• Hiring Veterans Department of Labor resource guide on hiring veterans including veteran' opportunities, compliance assistance, and government veteran programs.
• VETS Programs Information from the Department of Labor on programs for veterans including the Veteran' Preference program which gives certain disabled veterans preference over other candidates for most federal government jobs.
• HireVetsFirst Resource dedicated to helping employers and qualified veterans make valuable connections. The program enables businesses to become designated HireVets employers.

Tax Incentives

Federal and state governments have implemented tax incentive programs for employers of veterans and people with disabilities:

• Work Opportunity Tax Credit Federal tax incentive for businesses who hire employees from twelve target groups including veterans and certain people with disabilities.
• State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR & E) Program provides vocational rehabilitation services to veterans with service-related disabilities and connects graduates of the program with employers across the nation.
• Employing People With Disabilities Business.go's resource guide provides information on federal tax incentives related to hiring people with disabilities.

We hope these resources have expanded your resource bank when it comes to hiring disabled and veteran employees. If you have a specific question, please post any issues in the Community!