NEBA Business Education Series: Employer Reasonable Accommodation Fund

TOPIC: Accessing accommodation funds for employees with disabilities in Minnesota

SPEAKER: Roy McCoy, ERAF Program Coordinator

WHEN: Wednesday, March 11th at 5-6:30pm

         5-5:30pm – Community networking and light refreshments

         5:30-6:30pm – ERAF Presentation

WHERE: Nokomis Liquor and Wine, Lower level

WHAT: The Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Employer Reasonable Accommodation Fund (ERAF) creates a central fund where small to mid-sized Minnesota employers can request reimbursement for expenses related to providing reasonable accommodations for job applicants and employees with disabilities. The ERAF's purpose is to encourage employment of people with disabilities by reducing any perceived or real financial barriers.

Businesses fill out a simple form, attach proof of payment and hit submit. ERAF staff review each application, ensure that the fund criteria has been met, and issue the reimbursement.

“Every day, people with disabilities have to engineer their life," Owner of Oleb Media and ERAF recipient Belo Miguel Cipriani said. "They're adapting, they're improvising and they're problem solving. Having a disability can give you a tenacity to attack problems with creativity and ingenuity.”

Since its inception in 2023, the ERAF program has approved 148 applications, reimbursing employers just under $900,000 and removing financial barriers to support these hiring and retention practices. Employers have expressed that the ERAF has helped retain valued employees and fostered workplace cultures where individuals feel supported.

Examples of common reasonable accommodations, but not limited to:

• Assistive technology
• Captioning services
• Ergonomic workstations or seating
• Job coaching
• Lifting aids
• Lighting and alarms
• Low vision aids and devices
• Noise-cancelling devices
• Readers
• Sign language interpreters
• Signage
• Specialized software
• Subscriptions for assistive technology
• Transcription of materials into Braille or audio formats
• Wheelchair ramp

“We're not here with another complicated program with rules that are hard to understand and hoops to jump through,” said Ray McCoy, the fund coordinator. "We want to remove the barriers that can come with the cost of accommodations so that employees with disabilities can do their work with the tools they need, and businesses can keep great employees on their team."

“I accepted the William J. Harris Equal Opportunity Award on behalf of ERAF. ERAF was one of only 4 programs selected out of 40 nominees nationwide to receive the award, which was an incredible honor,” says McCoy. This award honors a state or partnership for providing an innovative workforce-related program, project, or initiative which results in significant contributions towards the achievement of equal opportunity and nondiscrimination.

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Host or Publisher Nokomis East Business Association