CONTACT: Barbara Judy, Director ADA Office 304-293-9232
MORGANTOWN, W.Va.--As nationwide efforts to reduce disability rolls increase the number of people re-entering the workplace with physical and mental challenges, today's businesses will need, more than ever, information on how to make the federally mandated accommodations.
Most likely, they will turn to West Virginia University's Job Accommodation Network (JAN) in Morgantown, W. Va., a network established by the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities in 1984.
Today, it remains a nationwide clearinghouse for providing businesses up-to-date technical information on ways to best structure work spaces and job responsibilities for employees with limitations ranging from mental impairments to physical mobility issues.
Nine consultants who work full-time answering up to 100,000 toll-free calls annually give information on employment guidelines stipulated under the federal government's Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and help employers and others to share information about job accommodations, said Director Barbara Judy.
Consultants, who have at least master's degree in fields such as safety engineering and rehabilitation counseling, undergo three months of extensive training before independently answering their first call, Judy said.
Each develops informational specialities in areas such as AIDS, physical disorders or mental impairments, but all are prepared to answer just about any question.
Most calls, all of which are documented and confidential, are from employers wanting specific information on ADA guidelines or advice on making workplace changes. And, in most cases, Judy said the solutions are expedient, easily made and inexpensive.
In a recent survey, Judy said generally employers report that for every $1 spent on making accommodations, there is a $34 benefit. And most accommodations cost less than $1,000. "That's a pretty good return on the dollar," she said.
As example of the type of calls JAN receives, Judy said one employer called about making accommodations for a computer programmer who suffered a severe brain injury.
"The injury," Judy said, "made it impossible for the programmer to read past the vertical midline of his computer screen, starting on the left side."
Working with JAN consultants, the employer bought a $600 software package that split the screen and displayed the text only on the left side, she said. "It was an easy, and relatively inexpensive, way to solve the problem. At another time, this employee's disability may have cost him his job."
In January, 60 Minutes, television's longest running investigative newsmagazine, was on the WVU campus gathering information on JAN for a special segment scheduled to air later this spring.
For more information on JAN, call Barbara Judy at 304-293-9232. To talk with a JAN consultant, call 1-800-526-7234 or 1-800-ADA WORK Mondays through Thursdays, and Fridays 8 a.m.-7 p.m., or e-mail [email protected].
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