Diversifying Your WorkforceA Four-Step Reference Guide to Recruiting, Hiring, & Retaining Employees with Disabilities
Diversifying Your Workforce
A Four-Step Reference Guide to Recruiting, Hiring, & Retaining Employees with Disabilities
Introduction
Incentives & ROI
Recruiting
Interviewing & Hiring
Achieving Workplace Success
Retention
Links & Resources
PDF Version
Introduction
Competence and Flexibility...
...they are vital skills that employers seek in new hires. Today more than ever, businesses need people with a demonstrated ability to adapt to different situations and circumstances. And perhaps more than any other group, people with disabilities possess precisely these attributes. On a daily basis, people with disabilities must think creatively about how to solve problems and accomplish tasks. In the workplace, this resourcefulness translates into innovative thinking, fresh ideas and varied approaches to confronting business challenges and achieving success.
While research shows that people with disabilities make excellent employees, not all employers know how to effectively recruit, hire and retain such individuals. That’s where this booklet comes in. It’s a quick reference guide outlining the advantages of hiring people with disabilities, along with four simple steps to increasing the inclusiveness of your workforce. With numerous resources and Web links, the following pages are a helpful starting point for organizations looking to benefit from the talents of qualified individuals with disabilities.
This tool was developed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and reviewed by its Alliance partner, SHRM, and members of its Circle of Champions. For the business case on proactively including people with disabilities in your workforce, please visit EarnWorks.com/businesscase For additional information, Please visit the Office of Disability Employment Policy
Incentives & ROI
Why Hire People with Disabilities?
Access the resources below to learn why hiring employees with disabilities makes good business sense.
Return on Investment. Employing people with disabilities boosts your bottom line.
Tax Benefits for Private Employers. Three types of tax incentives are available to help employers cover accommodation costs for employees with disabilities and/or to make their workplaces accessible.
Human Capital Benefits for Federal Employers. The Federal government has specific hiring rules that allow certain flexibilities in hiring people with disabilities and certain veterans with disabilities.
Recruiting
STEP #1: Recruiting People with Disabilities
The first step in tapping this labor pool is effective recruitment. The following are practical resources to help with the process.
Be Proactive. Expand your outreach to target qualified candidates who will expand your talent pool. Visit the USBLN web site for ideas and resources.
Ensure Access. For personalized guidance on making your recruitment activities totally accessible, contact the Job Accommodation Network, a free service for employers and others.
Build Tomorrow’s Talent Pipeline. Mentoring activities and internships targeting youth and college students with disabilities can help you cultivate talent for the future.
Utilize New Resources. Seek new avenues for publicizing job opportunities and identifying qualified candidates with disabilities.
Interviewing & Hiring
STEP #2: Interviewing & Hiring People with Disabilities
The successful employment of people with disabilities requires accessible hiring processes and an understanding of the legal environment in which hiring takes place. The following resources can help.
General Guidance. As always, the goal of the interviewing and hiring process is to identify individuals who have the best mix of skills and attributes for a particular job. For more information on how to ensure that all qualified individuals can participate in this process, review Opening Doors to All Candidates: Tips for Ensuring Access for Applicants with Disabilities.
Job Advertisements & Applications. For wording tips and samples of accessible online applications, check the following resources:
Interviews. To be qualified job candidates, individuals with disabilities—like all other applicants—must have the necessary qualifications for the job (i.e., education, training, experience, skills, and/or licenses) and be able to perform the essential functions or duties of the job. When interviewing candidates, keep in mind this basic rule: Ask applicants about their abilities, not their disabilities.
Achieving Workplace Success
STEP #3: Helping Your Employees Achieve Workplace Success
Once an employee with a disability is a part of the team, there are many resources available to help employers ensure workplace productivity, health, and safety.
Effective Communication. Employers and co-workers may be concerned that they will say the wrong thing, ask an inappropriate question, or unintentionally offend an applicant or colleague with a disability. Here are two resources with some excellent tips:
Accommodations. All employees need the right tools and work environment to effectively perform their jobs. “Reasonable accommodations” are modifications or adjustments to jobs, work environments, or workplace policies that enable qualified employees with disabilities to perform the fundamental duties of their jobs and have equal access to benefits available to employees without disabilities. The following resources can help you understand reasonable accommodations, which are often easier and less expensive to implement than commonly believed:
Job Accommodation Network (JAN) (JAN’s List of Publications)
Office of Disability Employment Policy
Safety & Emergency Preparedness for Employees with Disabilities. A number of helpful resources can help employers ensure workplace safety and implement emergency management procedures that include people with disabilities, such as the following:
Retention
STEP #4: Retaining Valued Employees
Finally, employers must take steps to keep their employees happy, healthy, and professionally fulfilled. The resources below address career development for people with disabilities, disability-related leave, and return-to-work issues.
Career Development. One of the main reasons workers leave their jobs is lack of career advancement opportunities. To learn how to ensure the inclusion of employees with disabilities in training and professional growth opportunities, read Career Development for People with Disabilities. ODEP also funded the inaugural UCLA Leadership Institute for Managers with Disabilities.
Medical- and Disability-Related Leave. The following are useful resources to help employers and human resources professionals sort out which leave laws apply when employees have a disability, injury, and/or chronic illnesses:
Return-to-Work. Consult the following for information on transitioning ill, injured, or disabled employees returning to work:
Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Act (USERRA). Visit this web site for an on-line course and general information on this law that details your rights and responsibilities for reemploying employees who were called for active duty.
Links & Resources
Additional Employer Resources
DOL Resources on Employing People with Disabilities
General Employment Resources
Additional employer resources directly or indirectly related to employees with disabilities:
Related Initiatives & Employer Networks
