The Americans with Disabilities Act

Abstract

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is important legislation designed to prohibit discrimination against disabled persons, but most state and local governments covered by the Act were already prohibited from discrimination against the disabled by provisions of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This article reports the results of a national survey designed to measure the perceptions of personnel managers from state government departments and agencies regarding the impact of the ADA on public personnel management practices given concurrent coverage of the Rehabilitation Act. A majority of the managers from organizations subject to the Rehabilitation Act reported that the ADA had no significant effects on their organizations. Substantial proportions of respondents agreed, however, that the ADA did have certain more narrowly defined effects on public personnel practices. Possible explanations for the perceived effects of the ADA despite coverage by the Rehabilitation Act are considered.