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Arkansas Workers with Disabilities

May 15th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

An alliance between the Office of Disability Employment Policy and the Society of Human Resource Managers will provide more jobs Arkansas workers with disabilities.

The alliance is a first between a major human resource professional’s organization and the Office of Disability Employment Policy or ODEP, which was formed in 2001 to help to ensure that people with disabilities were fully integrated into the 21^st century workforce. The ODEP is a policy agency in the US Department of Labor.

The recent alliance of the major human resource professionals and the US Dept of Labor will aim to provide more jobs for Arkansas workers with disabilities.

Speaking about the alliance, the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy, Roy Gizzard said, “This alliance formalizes the relationship we have had with the SHRM, benefiting SHRM as it serves its membership with the resources ODEP brings to the table and offering ODEP the opportunity for broader contact with human resource professionals.”

The Society of Human Resource Managers was formed in 1948 and since then has become the largest worldwide association that deals with human resource professionals. It has over 205,000 individual members and more that 550 affiliated chapters throughout over 100 countries worldwide. Its aim is to provide for the needs of human resource professionals by providing up to date, essential and comprehensive resources and information.

The alliance between the SHRM and the ODEP will aim to provide resources to people with disabilities. It will do this by concentrating on communication, outreach, training and education. It will supply IT assistance for workers with disabilities. The ODEP reported that even though opportunities for disabled workers have risen in recent year, people with disabilities are still underutilized in today’s labor force.

The partnership that has been formed between the two organizations will, through education, research and access, facilitate the hiring and recruiting of disabled workers.