Workforce & Economic Development Archives - Page 9 of 32

The Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy guide, “Retaining and Supporting Disabled Workers,” outlines practical steps for employers to build an inclusive workplace where workers with disabilities have the support and working conditions they need to thrive. Key strategies include creating an inclusive workplace culture that promotes flexibility in time and place (like flexible lunch breaks for medication or swapping tasks) and actively works to overcome bias and stigma, especially around mental health conditions. Employers must fulfill their obligation to provide reasonable accommodations, which often carry low or no cost, and offer sufficient leave, to ensure workers don’t have to choose between their job and medical needs. The guide also emphasizes that a good job must be a safe and healthy job, requiring employers to involve disabled employees in creating accessible emergency plans, ensure workplace technology conforms to accessibility standards, and provide targeted safety training.

This is part of a collection of resources created by the Department of Labor and other federal agencies, relating to job quality and implementing good jobs priorities through federal investments and beyond. Many of these resources are no longer publicly available on government websites, though they were all at one point public and shared with the intent of preserving these resources for public use.

Please note that we cannot guarantee that information contained in these resources related to specific programs, policies, and processes remains accurate, though many best practices and examples remain useful. In addition, many of these resources link out to government websites that do not exist anymore. You may be able to find these linked resources in the archive itself by searching the Overview document. For more resources, please visit the Data Rescue Project website, at https://www.datarescueproject.org/

The Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy guide, “Advancing Disabled Workers,” provides strategies for employers to support the professional growth, development, and career advancement of employees with disabilities. Key recommendations include equitably offering learning opportunities and professional development to all employees, as well as ensuring that training is accessible and supplemented with mentorship. In order to be able to measure inclusion goals, employers must create an environment where workers feel comfortable with disclosing their disabilities. This also allows for the creation of clear and appropriate performance expectations and enable managers to provide usable, relevant feedback during performance reviews. Finally, employers should continuously track and report progress toward disability inclusion goals, hold specific individuals or teams accountable, and ensure that the voices of disabled workers are included in these efforts.

In this event, panelists discuss the state of workplace benefits, innovative approaches to improve access and effectiveness, and ideas for how to build on these in the future. Presenters also share findings from research conducted by the Aspen Institute’s Future of Work Initiative, which highlights the benefits-related challenges that many workers face today.

In this event, leaders from both business and organized labor discuss how they can innovate and work together to achieve shared prosperity. The conversation offers a glimpse of how business leaders have begun to reimagine their relationship with organized labor, including a fireside chat with AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler.

In this event, panelists discuss the latest research on the experiences of workers grappling with schedule instability, how new technology is helping businesses adopt worker-friendly scheduling practices, what we are learning from states and cities with fair workweek laws, and other opportunities and strategies for change.

In this event, panelists discuss the state of research into employee ownership trusts (EOTs), the benefits that EOTs provide, how EOTs compare to other forms of employee ownership, the experiences of business owners and workers in trusts, and what the future holds for this model in the US.

This resource was created as part of the CHIPS for America program and is intended to help employers with the implementation of child care for workers. The first half of the presentation gives an overview of the CHIPS program and the current US childcare crisis. The second half of the presentation outlines the importance of and best practices for developing child care plans to support workers and, as an extension, improve employers’ ability to hire and retain qualified staff. The resource covers evaluating worker needs, working with community partners, and designing and implementing child care offerings for employees.

In this event, Marjorie Kelly, author of “Wealth Supremacy: How the Extractive Economy and the Biased Rules of Capitalism Drive Today’s Crises,” outlines the myths that perpetuate wealth inequality and discusses how the democratization of ownership — including public ownership of vital services, worker-owned businesses, and more — can help us build a non-extractive capitalism and economy based on the public interest.

In this event, panelists discuss alternative models of platform-based work — including cooperatives and public options — policies being introduced to improve gig workers’ lives, and research pointing to what’s next in the gig economy.

This piece provides a summary and highlights from “Good Work in the Gig Economy: Building a Sustainable App-based Economy,” an Opportunity in America event EOP hosted in 2023.