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Oregon Workers With Disabilities

May 4th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

A new partnership promises more resources, and thus more work, for Oregon workers with disabilities thanks to the alliance, which Assistant Secretary of Labor Roy Grizzard said “formalizes the relationship” his department has had with the human resources managers’ group – known as SHRM, or the Society of Human Resource Managers.

Thanks to the alliance, the two groups there will be a direct link between federal agencies and industry. But it also means research, better resource access, and guidance and information.

Grizzard said the alliance works to the benefit of both agencies. On the one hand, the federal agency, ODEP – the US Office of Disability Employment Policy – gets access to “contact with resource professionals.” On the other hand, SHRM gets the resources of the US government.

With the alliance, the SHRM, formed in 1948 and with 205,000 members in 100 countries, now puts its 550 chapters to work for disabled employees. It is the first such collaboration of its type. ODEP, created in 2001 as an organization separate from the US Labor Dept., is designed specifically to create policy and find and offer resources for employees with disabilities. Grizzard, Assistant secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy.

More specifically, the partnership means a focus on technical help, training, outreach, education and communication with the target working group. It should result in a nationwide discussion on hiring disabled workers, which ODEP officials described as an underutilized part of the workforce.

In addition, the link will bring with it the recruitment and hiring of employees with disabilities with the aid of research, access, and education.

The Oregon Department of Labor will continue providing Oregon’s disabled workers with al its services. But the new alliance actually brings professionals throughout the state and the country to play in bringing more opportunities for workers with disabilities.