Newswise — SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) extensively cited the research of University Professor Peter Blanck, chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University, in its final rules and regulations for the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Published Friday, March 25, the new regulations are available in the Federal Register at http://federalregister.gov/a/2011-6056 and take effect in 60 days. The goal of the new regulations is to support Americans with disabilities, including veterans, to be equally included in the workplace, and to consider the interests of employees with disabilities and businesses. The EEOC is responsible for enforcement of Title I of the ADA, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of disability.
Blanck’s work influenced the EEOC’s adoption of a number of its rules. The EEOC noted Blanck as a co-author of the influential 2006 study, “Workplace Accommodations: Evidence-Based Outcomes,” and his comments regarding the EEOC’s estimates for the costs to employers of workplace accommodations. Blanck notes that “studies also show measurable benefits to businesses that provide accommodation to people with disabilities, and net costs of accommodations often are minimal.”
For almost twenty years, Blanck and his colleagues have examined the employment of persons with disabilities and corporate cultures, producing a body of empirical studies. In another study by Blanck and colleagues that the EEOC relied on, “Workforce participation by persons with disabilities,” the National Health Interview Survey Disability Supplement data were used to identify national trends in employment and accommodations among Americans with disabilities.
Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse UniversityBBI reaches around the globe in its efforts to advance the civic, economic, and social participation of people with disabilities. Officially launched in 2005, BBI builds on the legacy of Burton Blatt, former dean of SU’s School of Education and a pioneering disability rights scholar, to better the lives of people with disabilities. BBI engages in projects around the globe on civil and human rights, entrepreneurship and employment, inclusive communities and technologies, and economic empowerment. With a staff of more than 60, BBI has offices in Syracuse, N.Y., Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Ga., New York, N.Y., and Tel Aviv, Israel. For more information, visit bbi.syr.edu.
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