Section 503 Compliance:
Disabilities Non-Discrimination Plans

Berkshire can Help with Individuals with Disabilities Non-Discrimination

While some compliance requirements for federal contractors have changed, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 remains in place and creates compliance obligations for federal contractors related to individuals with disabilities (IWD). This includes a requirement to complete a non-discrimination plan for IWD for each establishment and other actions such as documentation and evaluation of outreach efforts, training, and review of physical and mental qualifications and personnel processes.

Who Does This Apply to?

• Government contractors with a federal contract of $20,000 or more are required to take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with disabilities. 

• Government contractors who have 50 or more employees and a federal contract of $50,000 or more are required to comply with the non-discrimination plan obligations found in the regulations implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

How Can Berkshire Help?

• Develop a customized written Individuals with Disabilities Non-Discrimination Plan aligned with your organization’s compliance initiatives and programs and reflecting your good faith efforts, training programs, and reviews of physical and mental qualifications and selection processes.

• Review required compliance elements and plan structure.
• Evaluate outreach and recruitment efforts using documented activities from the plan period to assess effectiveness and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Use Berkshire’s Good Faith Efforts Tracker to easily track, evaluate, and document outreach activities throughout the plan year.
• Provide consulting and compliance support from your dedicated consultant.
• Access plan documents, securely exchange files, use the Good Faith Efforts Tracker, and download Section 503 resources through the Berkshire Client Portal. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Section 503 Compliance: Individuals with Disability Non-Discrimination Plans

With Executive Order 11246 revoked, does Section 503 still apply to federal contractors? 

Yes. The revocation of Executive Order 11246 eliminated federal contractor and subcontractor non-discrimination obligations related to race and sex, but Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 remains fully in force. Section 503 is based on separate statutory authority, not an executive order, and can be changed only by Congress. Therefore, Section 503 compliance obligations for individuals with disabilities continue without interruption. These obligations include but are not limited to maintaining a written Section 503 Non-Discrimination Plan for each establishment, engaging in good faith outreach, and evaluating the effectiveness of outreach and recruitment efforts, as well as reviews of physical and mental qualifications and personnel selection processes.

What must a Section 503 Non-Discrimination Plan actually include to satisfy requirements? 

A complete Section 503 Non-Discrimination Plan is a written narrative with required policy sections detailing elements of your broader program for individuals with disabilities, such as implementation and dissemination of your plan, outreach activities, and process for reviewing physical and mental qualifications and personnel selection processes.

However, documentation and assessment of good faith efforts is what OFCCP reviews most closely. A plan that exists only on paper, without supporting activity records, will not hold up in an audit. 

Who is covered by Section 503, and how does it differ from ADA obligations? 

Section 503 applies to employers, including construction contractors, with federal contracts or subcontracts of $20,000 or more. It requires them to prohibit disability discrimination and take affirmative action to hire, retain, and promote individuals with disabilities. Under the regulations implementing Section 503, covered contractors with a contract of $50,000 or more must prepare a written annual non-discrimination plan for individuals with disabilities. By contrast, the ADA applies broadly to employers with 15 or more employees, regardless of federal contract status, and focuses on non-discrimination and reasonable accommodation. Section 503 imposes additional affirmative obligations beyond ADA requirements, including good faith outreach and documented evaluation of those efforts. 

How long does it take to complete a Section 503 non-discrimination plan, and what does the engagement look like?

A typical Section 503 compliance engagement lasts 4 to 6 weeks, depending on requests for optional data analytics, organizational complexity, the number of establishments, and completeness of good faith efforts documentation. Berkshire's consultants begin with a kickoff call to review required compliance elements and discuss your outreach and recruitment efforts for the prior plan year. We then customize template narratives to reflect your organization's outreach and recruitment activity, training activities, and methodology to review personnel processes and physical and mental qualifications. Ideally, this is a collaborative process by which your Berkshire consultant will ask you some questions along the way to ensure agreement. A review meeting walks your team through the completed non-discrimination plan, outreach evaluation, and recommended action items. All deliverables are available through the Berkshire Client Portal where you also have access to a variety of resources to ensure compliance with Section 503 requirements.

What should federal contractors do now to stay ahead of Section 503 compliance and OFCCP scrutiny? 

Federal contractors and subcontractors should not interpret the revocation of EO 11246 as a broader reduction in compliance exposure. Proactive next steps include: 

• Confirming that you have a comprehensive and current Section 503 Non-Discrimination Plan in place.
• Reviewing job descriptions to accurately identify essential functions, and ensure job-relatedness and business necessity.
• Reviewing physical and mental job qualifications to ensure they do not improperly screen out qualified individuals with disabilities and are job-related, consistent with business necessity, and defensible when applied.
• Reviewing personnel selection processes to ensure qualified individuals with disabilities receive fair, accessible, and non-discriminatory consideration for employment and training opportunities, including reasonable accommodations where needed.
• Documenting and assessing outreach efforts to evaluate whether efforts effectively identified and recruited qualified individuals with disabilities.
• Reviewing procedures for receiving, processing, documenting, and deciding reasonable accommodation requests.

To discuss how Berkshire can support your Section 503 compliance program, complete the contact form on this page or call 800-882-8904.