U.S. Postal Service Heightens Awareness for Employees with Disabilities

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Oct 05, 2012, 10:31 ET

Honors National Disability Employment Awareness Month

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Postal Service, which employs more than 40,000 individuals with reportable disabilities, will join forces with the National Association of People with Disabilities, the U.S. Business Leadership Network and other organizations to celebrate and recognize the many and varied talents of American workers living with disabilities.

"The Postal Service is pleased to join agencies nationwide in recognizing the vital role employees with disabilities play in our workforce," said Deborah Giannoni-Jackson, vice president for employee resource management. "We continue to foster a diverse and inclusive work environment that engages all employees, including those with disabilities."

Postal employees with disabilities have access to a variety of assistive technology tools, including — but not limited to — Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) and Video Relay Service (VRS) for the deaf or hard of hearing and screen reading software and text readers for those with visual impairments. Employees can also use the Postal Reasonable Accommodation Assistance Center (PRAAC) website — a one-stop resource for employees and managers to find reference material, definitions and useful links to help employees better understand reasonable accommodations.

Held each October, National Disability Employment Awareness is a national campaign to raise awareness about people living with disabilities to dispel negative stereotypes about disability and employment. This year's theme "A Strong Workforce is an Inclusive Workforce: What Can YOU Do," promotes the benefits of a diverse workforce — inclusive of those with disabilities.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month dates back to 1945, when Congress enacted a law declaring the first week in October each year "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week." In 1962, the word "physically" was removed to acknowledge the employment needs and contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities. In 1988, Congress expanded the week to a month and changed the name to National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

About the Campaign for Disability Employment

The Campaign for Disability Employment seeks to promote positive employment outcomes for people with disabilities by encouraging employers, and others, to recognize the value and talent that people with disabilities bring to the workplace. The campaign is a collaborative effort involving organizations such as the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD); the National Business and Disability Council (NBDC) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

For more information, visit whatcanyoudocampaign.org.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office™ Boxes. The Postal Service™ receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com®, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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SOURCE U.S. Postal Service