[§78-66]  Employment first; persons with disabilities.  (a)  Employment first shall be a policy of the State and the counties.  Employment services are the first choice of services that are offered for persons with disabilities receiving assistance from publicly funded systems.  State and county agencies shall ensure that employment first is effectively implemented in hiring practices and all programs and services administered or funded by the State and counties, including programs and services that help persons with disabilities obtain employment.  All state and county agencies shall coordinate efforts and collaborate to ensure that programs, policies, procedures, and funding support competitive employment in an integrated setting for persons with disabilities.  All state and county agencies, when feasible, may share data and information to track progress toward full implementation of this section.

     (b)  Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any employer to give preference to hiring a person with a disability.

     (c)  Nothing in this section shall be construed as eliminating any other appropriate supported employment service.

     (d)  As used in this section:

     "Competitive employment" means work in the competitive labor market that is performed on a full-time or part-time basis in an integrated setting, and for which a person with a disability is compensated at or above the minimum wage, but not less than the customary wage and level of benefits paid by the employer for the same or similar work performed by a person without a disability.

     "Employment first" means the competitive employment and full inclusion of persons with a disability in an integrated setting as a first and preferred option for employment services.

     "Integrated setting" means an employment setting in which  persons with disabilities interact with persons without disabilities, other than persons without disabilities who are providing services to those persons with disabilities, to the same extent that persons without disabilities interact with other persons in comparable positions.

     "Person with a disability" means a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. [L 2022, c 308, §1]