hearing loss and employment
The Disabled Access Credit is an income tax credit that small
businesses can claim for expenses related to accommodating disabled
employees. A small business is one with maximum revenues of one million
dollars or one with 30 or fewer full-time employees.
The credit is claimed on IRS Form 8826. The amount is 50 percent of
accessibility expenditures over $250 up to a total of $10,250. So the
maximum annual credit is $5000 if your company spends $10,250 or more on
accessibility. Note that the amount not covered by this credit is
eligible for standard business deductions, so that actual out-of-pocket
costs for accessibility expenditures can be as little as 25% to 30% of
the actual expenditure.
The credit is available for virtually anything that improves accessibility
for disabled people, whether employees or customers. Examples of
qualified expenditures include equipment, architectural modifications,
and communications services (CART providers or interpreters).
So, when you go it to request an accommodation from your small
business employer, be sure to inform her of the Disabled Access Credit
~~~~~~~~~~~~
January 2001
The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) has produced a
wonderful guide on people with hearing loss in the workplace. The
intended audience is not the person with hearing loss, but employers and
co-workers with normal hearing. Entitled "How to Work with a Deaf
or Hard of Hearing Person", the guide consists of the following
chapters:
One-to-one communications
Group situations and meetings
Integrating deaf employees in the workplace
Accommodations
The law
The guide is in the public domain, so it may be freely reproduced and
distributed. You may download it from http://www.ntid.rit.edu/nce/emp_work.asp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 2001
A US Department of Justice lawyer named Joshua Mendelsohn recently
set up a website for deaf lawyers and law students. He saw the need for
such a site because of the growing number of deaf lawyers in the US.
The website's mission is to provide "a 'safe zone' where deaf
and hard of hearing attorneys and law students can gather, find
resources, hold discussions with each other, and share tips on the
practice or study of law. This site is organized and maintained by a
group of deaf and hard of hearing attorneys and law students from all
over the world. It is their hope that this site will grow gradually,
reflecting the ever-growing family of deaf and hard of hearing attorneys
and law students as well as the increasing amount of resources available
to them."
The website is quickly becoming a focus for deaf and hard of hearing
lawyers throughout the world. Check it out at www.deaflawyers.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 2001
We reported awhile ago that Japan was considering lifting some of the
restrictions on occupational choices for people with disabilities,
including people with hearing loss. I'm happy to report that it looks
like that effort is underway. The Japanese House of Representatives
recently voted to amend 27 laws that forbid deaf or blind people from
working as doctors, dentists, nurses, or pharmacists. The House of
Counselors has already passed the bill, which does allow the government
to deny licensure if a person would have difficulty carrying out the
functions of a profession because of a physical or mental disorder.
The Health Ministry is charged with defining the specific
disabilities to be considered, and the restrictions they would cause. It
appears that deafness will be cause for restrictions on applicants to
become doctors, dentists, or nurses, and that blindness will cause
additional restrictions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 2002
One of the workshops I attended at the SHHH Convention was on hearing
loss issues in the workplace. This topic has been presented at every
hearing loss conference I've attended, and it's always well-attended.
One of the comments that one of the presenters made is that there's
really nowhere to go to discuss workplace issues. There are lots of
online groups for many hearing loss topics, but none for work issues.
So I set up an email list on yahoogroups (the same organization that
hosts this newsletter), and I encourage anyone who wants to discuss
workplace issues to join. To do so, send a blank email to HLWork-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Hopefully, we'll get a good information exchange working there.
