What if the accommodation request on your desk is one of the best performance tools you have? Too many organizations still treat disability accommodations as a compliance task: a box to check, a cost to contain, a risk to manage. That mindset may be costing them productivity, retention, and talent. Most accommodations cost nothing to implement, and more than a quarter of Americans have a disability, most of them invisible. Your workforce likely already includes people who could do their best work with the right support.
In this episode of the DE Talk Podcast, host Michelle Krefft of DirectEmployers Association sits down with Charlie Kramer, founder of Disability Reimagined, for a candid conversation about why accommodations belong in your performance strategy, not your risk file. Drawing on life with 96% vision loss and years of coaching both employers and the disability community, Charlie shares accommodations that may surprise you, the one golden rule every manager should follow when an employee asks for support, and a quick, practical step HR and talent acquisition teams can take this month. If you’ve ever wondered how to make accommodations simpler, more effective, and better for your entire team, this episode is for you.
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Key Takeaways On October 16, 2026, the EEOC sent the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) a final rule (RIN 3046-AB43) that would rescind the interpretive portions of its version of the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP), 29 CFR...
Key Takeaways Start with the “why.” PJ Rossi says that about 75% of the time, organizations can’t clearly say what problem their AI tool is meant to solve. An AI readiness framework has nine checks in three phases: Prepare (strategy, AI visibility,...
For over two decades, the playbook for job hunting was simple: open a search bar, type a rigid job title or career focus and a zip code, and wade through pages of mismatched links. That playbook is officially expiring. In a recent episode of the DE Talk Podcast, host...
Key Takeaways AI is already in your hiring process. 58% of attendees are piloting AI or using approved tools in their workflows. 40% said their biggest AI hiring compliance worry is simply figuring out which rules apply. Federal law is still the bedrock. Title VII,...
Key Takeaways Many everyday tools—closed captioning, typewriters, curb cuts, ergonomic handles, and texting—were originally designed to solve a specific disability-related need, then went mainstream because they made life easier for everyone. This pattern is known as...
Key Takeaways Protected veteran hiring is below the benchmark. RAND found that protected veterans were 2.4 percent of new hires at S&P 500 federal contractor establishments in the 2025 VETS-4212 filing cycle. The national VEVRAA hiring benchmark was 5.1 percent....
“Jobs near me” has been the most common job search for 20 years, and with the introduction of AI, it’s on the verge of disappearing. Candidates have stopped typing keywords. They’re asking ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude for jobs that fit their experience, their schedules and their lives. If your jobs aren’t in the handful of answers those tools give, candidates never see you. And because the AI platforms share no search data, most employers have no idea what candidates are asking. In this episode of the DE Talk Podcast, host AJ Selvey of DirectEmployers Association sits down with Ben Russell, co-founder of SonicJobs, to talk about what’s changed, the misconceptions costing employers good candidates, and how CareerGPT brings a ChatGPT-style conversation to your existing career site without replacing your website or ATS. Ben also shares early CareerGPT data showing that more than half of candidate conversations lead to an application start.
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Key Takeaways GAO report GAO-26-107937, dated September 29, 2026, found that DOL has reduced its Section 503 oversight of federal contractors since January 2025. From fiscal years 2017 through 2025, 532 OFCCP audits found Section 503 violations. OFCCP’s...
Major regulatory shifts can create uncertainty, but they also offer a rare opportunity to re-evaluate what truly drives workplace culture. On the latest episode of the DE Talk Podcast, guest host and Chief Advisor at Forte Advisory Group PJ Rossi sits down with...
