Hiring the Disabled; Laying off Everyone Else - Brief Article

A little more than a decade ago, Congress passed a new law with a noble purpose--"to address the major areas of discrimination faced day-to-day by people with disabilities."

Why was this law, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), necessary? Because, the act states, "census data, national polls and other studies have documented that people with disabilities, as a group, occupy an inferior status in our society, and are severely disadvantaged socially, vocationally, economically and educationally."

That's a pretty powerful statement-one that seems to imply the new law would seek to remedy a broad range of ills. No wonder, then, that attorney Chris Bell-who helped pen the ADA-says "some people in the disability community thought the act was going to be heaven on earth."

But a decade later-after HR professionals have struggled to digest reams of regulations and court decisions so they could better understand and comply with the law-some claim the ADA has provided only a limited benefit to America's disabled.

And they seem to have a point: Various statistics show that disabled Americans continue to lag the rest of the nation in many areas- including "vocationally" and "economically."

This month we ask the question: Is the ADA working? To learn what Bell and other ADA experts have to say, see Susan Wells' cover story on page 38.

Patrick Mirza

With the attention the dot-com madness is getting in the press, hardly a day goes by that we don't hear about massive layoffs. The numbers are staggering: 5,000 here, 10,000 there--in total, nearly 500,000 people last year alone.

At such a stressful, emotional time as layoffs, it's important to have sound policies-- such as severance pay programs-- already in place.

In other words, if you haven't already laid off workers, you should be preparing for it. Doing your planning now, when the company is stable, is smart because it takes time and careful consideration to formulate a good severance pay policy. If you already have a policy, revisit it regularly to make sure it remains consistent with your company's culture and industry standards.

Things to review: Who should get a severance pay package and how much? Should your policy apply the same set of criteria to everyone? Or should you negotiate a severance plan for each employee?

For answers to these questions and more, check out Carolyn Hirschman's article "The Kindest Cut" on page 48.

Adrienne Fox

This month HR Magazine welcomes a new senior writer--Steve Bates. Steve is an experienced journalist who previously edited state news for the AARP's monthly newspaper and was a staff writer and editor for Nation's Business, the defunct magazine formerly