• A successful affirmative action plan for persons with disabilities contains many elements.

The components of a successful affirmative action plan to recruit, employ, and advance people with disabilities include the following:

• Assign a company official to be responsible for the implementation of affirmative action activities.
• Prepare and post an equal opportunity policy statement.
• Review personnel processes to ensure job applicants and employees with disabilities are considered for all job vacancies and training opportunities, and are not stereotyped in a manner which limits access to all jobs for which the individual is qualified.
• Make reasonable accommodations to the known functional limitations of otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities. Review all job qualification standards to ensure the standards are job-related for the position and consistent with business necessity.
• Develop and implement procedures to ensure that employees with disabilities are not harassed because of disability.
• Undertake appropriate outreach and positive recruitment activities such as:
  • Establishing formal arrangements for applicant referrals with recruitment sources such as state employment security agencies, state vocational rehabilitation agencies, college placement offices, labor organizations, and organizations of or for individuals with disabilities;
  • Participating in work-study programs with schools which specialize in training or educating individuals with disabilities;
  • Including current employees with disabilities in promotional literature and career programs;
  • Sending written notification of the company affirmative action policy to subcontractors, vendors, and suppliers; and
  • Considering applicants with known disabilities for all available positions for which the person may be qualified, not just the one for which the person applied.
• Train all personnel involved in recruitment, screening, selection, promotion, disciplinary action, and related processes to ensure that affirmative action steps are taken.
• Develop procedures to disseminate information about affirmative action policies within a company in order to ensure greater employee cooperation and participation.
• Design and implement an audit and reporting system to measure the effectiveness of an affirmative action plan. Where an affirmative action plan is found to be deficient, actions must be taken to remedy the situation.