Workplace Choice and Flexibility for Individuals with Disabilities Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8341 To amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to clarify the definition of competitive integrated employment. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 Mr. GROTHMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to clarify the definition of competitive integrated employment. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Workplace Choice and 4 Flexibility for Individuals with Disabilities Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF COMPETITIVE 6 INTEGRATED EMPLOYMENT. 7 Section 7(5) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 8 U.S.C. 705) is amended— 9 (1) in subparagraph (B)— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8341.IH H8341 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8341 IH (A) by striking ‘‘not including’’ and insert- 1 ing ‘‘including social and interpersonal inter- 2 actions with colleagues, vendors, customers, su- 3 periors, or other such persons who the employee 4 may come into contact with during the work 5 day and across workplace settings, other than’’; 6 (B) by inserting before the semicolon at 7 the end the following: ‘‘, except that such inter- 8 actions shall not be considered solely at the 9 work unit level’’; and 10 (C) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 11 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub- 12 paragraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(D) for which an individual may have 15 been paid— 16 ‘‘(i) by a contractor— 17 ‘‘(I) of the Federal Government 18 under a contract with the Federal 19 Government for which priority was 20 given to the contractor on the basis of 21 the bid of the contractor involving 22 supporting employment for individuals 23 with disabilities; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8341.IH H8341 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8341 IH ‘‘(II) of a State government 1 under a contract with the State gov- 2 ernment for which priority was given 3 to the contractor on the basis of the 4 bid of the contractor involving sup- 5 porting employment for individuals 6 with disabilities; 7 ‘‘(ii) by a subcontractor at any tier of 8 a contractor— 9 ‘‘(I) of the Federal Government 10 under a subcontract for which priority 11 was given to the subcontractor on the 12 basis of the bid of the subcontractor 13 involving supporting employment for 14 individuals with disabilities; or 15 ‘‘(II) of a State government 16 under a subcontract for which priority 17 was given to the subcontractor on the 18 basis of the bid of the subcontractor 19 involving supporting employment for 20 individuals with disabilities; or 21 ‘‘(iii) under a contract mandating di- 22 rect labor-hour ratio of individuals with 23 disabilities.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8341.IH H8341 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8341 IH SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 1 Nothing in the amendments made by this Act shall 2 be construed to reduce the number of jobs available for 3 referral by a State agency or other entity. 4 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 5 It is the sense of Congress that jobs meeting the defi- 6 nition in section 7(5)(B) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 7 (29 U.S.C. 705), and which derive from Federal or State 8 contracts managed by community rehabilitation programs 9 for the purposes of supporting employment for people with 10 disabilities, shall be eligible to be considered— 11 (1) part of the competitive labor market; and 12 (2) an employment outcome for State vocational 13 rehabilitation purposes. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8341.IH H8341 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS