AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

ADA in Brief

President's Committee on
Employment of People with Disabilities

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Every man, woman and child with a disability now can pass through once-closed doors into a bright new era of equality, independence and freedom.

- President George Bush
 

THE ACT AND ITS PURPOSE

To this nation's over 43 million citizens with disabilities, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), PL 101-336, is an unprecedented opportunity to eliminate the barriers to independence and productivity. The ADA is modeled after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title V of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The Act is based on a bill originally drafted by the National Council on Disability that was supported by every major disability organizaton and constituency group.

The Act reads as follows:

"No covered entity shall discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability of such individual in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment."

The purpose of the ADA is to extend to people with disabilities civil rights similar to those now available on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, and religion through the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in:

• private sector employment,
• services rendered by state and local governments,
• places of public accommodation,
• transportation, and
• telecommunications services.

 
In detail:

• Employment

  The ADA prohibits discrimination against a qualified individual with a disability in employment and includes specific features related to reasonable accommodation, qualification standards, and other labor-management issues.

• Public Services

  ADA addresses services and activities of state and local governments including actions applicable to public transportation provided by public entities. Transportation provisions of the Act are intended to improve access in equipment (buses, rail coaches), facilities, and demand response systems. Some of these requirements include: the purchase of new accessible public transportation equipment, special transportation services that are comparable to fixed route services, modification of key existing facilities to assure access, and inter-city and commuter rail accessibility improvements.

  No qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination by a department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of a state or local government.

• Public Accommodations

  ADA addresses public accommodations and businesses and services operated by private entities. Privately owned transportation is also included. Specific features of the Act vary from section to section laying out how equal access is to be achieved by particular entities.

  "No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation."

• Telecommunications

  ADA mandates that telecommunications relay services be offered by private companies and includes services operated by states.

  ". . .shall ensure that interstate and intrastate telecommunications relay services are available. . .to hearing-impaired and speech-impaired individuals in the United States."

 

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Various explanations, exemptions, directives, and mandated studies are also detailed in the Act.

ADA'S IMPACT ON EMPLOYMENT

• ADA prohibits discrimination against workers with disabilities. As of July 1992, it applied to all employers with 25 or more employees, and as of July 1994, it applied to all employers with 15 or more.

• ADA employment provisions apply to private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies, labor organizations, and joint labor-management committees.

• ADA requires equal opportunity in selection, testing, and hiring of qualified applicants with disabilities.

• ADA requires equal treatment in promotion and benefits.

• ADA requires reasonable accommodation for workers with disabilities when such accommodations would not impose an "undue hardship." Reasonable accommodation is a concept already familiar to and widely used in today's workplace.

 
CONTACT INFORMATION

For more specific information about ADA requirements, link to the Disability Resources page.

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The President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities (PCEPD) has other ADA brochures and publications. Alternative formats are available.

President's Committee on
Employment of People with Disabilities
Washington, DC 20004-1107

Revised February 1992