US magazine selects Postal Service Public-Sector 'Employer of the Year'

The nation’s first and only career-guidance and recruitment magazine for people with disabilities who are at undergraduate, graduate or professional levels has named the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Public-Sector Employer of the Year.

In its current issue (Spring 2007), Careers & the disABLED magazine says the Postal Service received the award “for its progressive efforts to recruit, hire, and promote people with disabilities” and was selected as one of the top five employers for whom readers would most like to work or believe is progressive in the hiring of people with disabilities.

“The Postal Service is committed to fostering a business culture that provides an inclusive work environment for all employees,” says Susan M. LaChance, USPS vice president, employee development and diversity. “The diversity of employees – their backgrounds, education, perspectives, talents, and skills – plays an integral role in achieving this goal.”

The Postal Service has many programs designed to ensure that all employees have an equal opportunity to compete in every aspect of employment. Careers & the disABLED magazine highlighted one in particular, Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) and Video Relay Service (VRS). These video interpreting services enable employees who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to communicate with supervisors, co-workers and others in real time as an alternative to on-site interpreters or text-based telephone systems. The VRI and VRS systems are now available to more than 1,100 deaf and hard-of-hearing postal employees.