The United States Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed some new hiring rules that would require federal contractors and subcontractors to have seven percent of their workforces be people with disabilities. Current regulations require nondiscrimination and recruiting efforts directed at people with disabilities, but this rule would add an official hiring goal.

DOL is collecting comments on the proposed seven percent hiring goal, and is also interested in comments on a possible "sub-goal" of hiring two percent of people with certain "particularly severe disabilities". Currently, this list includes:

• total deafness
• blindness
• missing extremities (hand, foot, arm, or leg)
• partial and complete paralysis
• epilepsy
• severe intellectual disability
• psychiatric disability
• dwarfism.

DOL is interested in comments on the concept of the sub-goal, which disabilities should be included in the sub-goal, and any data or research pointing at the need for a sub-goal for specific disabilities.

Comments are due February 7.

If this issue is of interest to you, click here to visit their website and read the proposed regulations. You can also mail your comments to:

Debra A. Carr, Director, Division of Policy, Planning, and Program Development
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Room C-3325
200 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20210

Be sure to mention "RIN number 1250-AA02" so that they know to which regulations you are referring.