Tracking Disability Data: Section 503, Self‑ID, and Retention Strategies

Disability@Work
Episode 3

Ashley Sims
Hi and welcome back to Disability@Work, the podcast where we explore the intersection of disability inclusion and the modern workplace. I'm your host, Ashley Sims, and today we're diving into a topic that seems simple on the surface, but is absolutely foundational to long term disability inclusion in the workplace: tracking disability data, including Section 503, self-identification data and employee retention. To help us unpack all of this, I'm thrilled to welcome, our one of Disability Solutions’ favorites, Erin McCann, a PR compliance manager at Roche Diagnostics and an experienced leader in workplace compliance and disability inclusion. Erin, welcome to the show.

Erin McCann
Thank you. It is wonderful to be here today and I'm happy to discuss this important topic with you.

Ashley Sims
Yeah, we're so excited to learn from you today. Roche has been a leader in disability inclusion for a long time. So your perspective is incredibly valuable. Let's start with the basics. We hear a lot of companies say we launched a self-ID campaign a few years ago. Why do we need to keep revisiting it? Why is tracking disability self-identification an ongoing process not a one and done?

Erin McCann
Yeah, I've also heard this. And to me, a reoccurring campaign is truly a foundational process for employers. And there's a few reasons behind that. Just as every individual grows and changes in their entire life, and employer’s workforce is an ever-evolving entity as well. So reoccurring self-identification campaigns can help your employees understand who is an individual with a disability under the ADA. Continue to work on destigmatizing the dimension of being an individual with a disability, as well as a thought out campaign can connect to an employer's mission. So really, the bottom line is people change. Their status can change. So a reminder that an employee can choose to self ID at any time and change that status is key to being human.

Ashley Sims
Absolutely. And that ongoing visibility helps companies actually measure whether their inclusion efforts are working as they go.

Erin McCann
Yeah, exactly. A strong process helps employers know if they have any barriers to their employment practices. And if they're a federal contractor, it helps employers begin to understand if what they are doing is working. And as a piece of their annual self-assessment that they have to undertake every year.

Ashley Sims
Great. Let's talk about Section 503. For listeners new to the space, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act sets a 7% utilization goal for hiring and retaining qualified individuals with disabilities for federal contractors. What do organizations tend to misunderstand about that requirement?

Erin McCann
I believe a lot of employers, but not all of them, know that it's just one tool within your toolbox. It's not a rigid quota, but a starting place to review your practices, ensuring that your decisions are merit based and not just the tracking of numbers. It's seeing your whole employee lifecycle from applicant flow, utilization within your workforce, movements and terminations. The true underlying key is that are we as a company, finding great talent and keeping it as well? Which is going to give the company a competitive advantage overall.

Ashley Sims
Absolutely. It's not about hitting the 7% necessarily. It's about, understanding your workforce, spotting gaps and building those meaningful strategies.

Erin McCann
Precisely. It's like knowing a starting place for a journey. How do you know to get to a destination if you don't know where you're starting point? That starting point is truly a critical piece to any journey such as can I walk to where I'm trying to go to? Is where I’m trying to go to in another place? If you don't know where you’re starting from, it’s very, very hard to build a strategy for that.

Ashley Sims
Absolutely. Ok, I want to shift a little bit. You and I have talked about this offline a little bit. The impact of hiring people with disabilities on retention. So there's this persistent myth that accommodations are costly or burdensome to the employer. But study after study is showing employees with disabilities, when properly accommodated, actually tend to stay with those employers longer. What has your experience at Roche shown?

Erin McCann
Yeah. So at Roche, our retention rates are strong across the board, which as an employee is always very nice to see for any company that you work with. But we do tend to see what statistics have shown. And there's really this fascinating uptick when we look at both our employees with disabilities, but also those as protected veterans. So kind of those two cross categories. I mean, again, statistics show 1 in 4 people or 1 in 4 individuals in America is an individual with a disability. So, you know, the accommodation process, I think, is that myth that it's so costly. But yet, you probably have a lot of individuals in your workforce that don't need accommodations, but they are an individual with a disability. 

Ashley Sims
Right, right. I think on average, most accommodations are $500 or less to the employer. And like you said, a lot of people with disabilities don't use any accommodations at all. So, retention is incredibly expensive for companies. So disability inclusion is pretty strategic to business operations. How do you see organizations leveraging disability inclusion as a core part of a retention strategy?

Erin McCann
Yeah, great question. And really, there's such a powerful connectivity there. Most employees, including individuals with disabilities and especially individuals with disabilities, often seek a workplace where their unique perspective is valued and really viewed as an asset, not a hurdle. So they aren't just showing up. They're deeply invested in the mission which produces or provides, sorry, which provides a higher level of resilience to the company.

Ashley Sims
Yes, absolutely. Erin, this has been fantastic. Before we wrap up, what's one piece of advice you'd give organizations that want to improve how they track disability inclusion progress?

Erin McCann
Yeah, that is a great question. And to me, it's organization should be focusing on shifting to a culture of self-identification, starting with that psychological safety piece. If you clearly communicate how that data is used, why you're collecting it, especially if you're a federal contractor, you're creating an environment and really inviting employees in to feel secure in that self-identification piece. The privacy also goes along with that self-identification. Now I'm talking self-identification, not self-disclosure, unless the employees themselves want to self disclose within the workplace. Two very unique journeys, but a little different. That self-identification piece can ultimately lead to more accurate and meaningful data, which can drive supportive resources, not the tracking of limitations.

Ashley Sims
I love that. Absolutely. Thank you so much for joining us today and sharing all of your insights. To all of our listeners, thank you for tuning into Disability@Work. If you found this episode helpful, please like, share, subscribe and we'll see you next time.