ODEP News Brief - December 14, 2012

United States Department of Labor sent this bulletin at 12/14/2012 11:11 AM EST

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ODEP News Brief

December 14, 2012

Assistant Secretary Martinez Speaks at Rehabilitation Services Administration Conference

Assistant Secretary Martinez addressed an audience of about 350 vocational rehabilitation stakeholders at the 2012 National Employment Conference of the U.S. Department of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration, held last week in Washington, DC. She emphasized the importance of the work that VR professionals do at the state and community level to help people with disabilities achieve employment, economic self-sufficiency and independence.

The Employer Assistance and Resource Network Unveils Its Updated Website

The EARN website has had a facelift! Redesigned and streamlined after acquiring feedback from employers and other users, the new EARN website continues to provide a variety of resources for employers seeking to recruit, hire and retain qualified employees with disabilities.

ODEP Alliance Partner, the Partnership for Public Service (PPS), Adds Disability Component to Its "Best Places to Work in the Federal Government" Rankings

The 2012 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings offer the most comprehensive assessment of how federal employees view their jobs and workplaces, providing insights into issues ranging from leadership and pay to teamwork and work/life balance. Agencies are ranked by 10 workplace categories, including effective leadership, pay, teamwork, training and development, and work/life balance. This year for the first time in the history of the rankings, the demographic categories included employees with disabilities. Among all of the federal employees surveyed, those with a disability registered a job satisfaction score of 58.0, while those who do not have a disability had a score of 65.2.

ODEP's "Skills to Pay the Bills" Videos Featured on Social Jobs Partnership Facebook Page

The "Skills to Pay the Bills" videos are designed to help students and job-seekers master soft skills for workplace success. The Social Jobs Partnership is a collaboration between Facebook, the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), DirectEmployers Association (DE), and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA).

FCC Chairman to Host Second Chairman's Awards for Advancement in Accessibility — December 19th

Eight innovative communications technologies benefitting people with disabilities will receive the FCC's Chairman's Awards for Advancement in Accessibility, presented by Chairman Julius Genachowski during a ceremony at 2 pm on Dec. 19 at FCC headquarters. The awards, a project of the FCC's Accessibility and Innovation Initiative, encourage technological innovation in communication-related areas and recognize engineers, researchers, and other technologists whose energies and perseverance contribute to technologies that help people with disabilities to obtain and succeed at jobs and participate more actively in the community.

The awards ceremony is free and open to the public. Individuals interested in attending are asked to send an RSVP to ChairmansAAA@fcc.gov. Please include your name, title, organization affiliation (if any), and contact information in the e-mail. The ceremony will be broadcast live with open captioning over the Internet from the FCC's web page at fcc.gov/live. The FCC's webcast is free to the public and does not require pre-registration.

Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request. Include a description of the accommodation you will need and tell us how to contact you if we need more information. Make your request as early as possible. Last minute requests will be accepted, but may be impossible to fill. Send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY).