Providing a ‘truly inclusive organization’ for workers with disabilities

October is Disability Employment Awareness Month (DEAM).

“DEAM started in Canada in 2010, but it has been celebrated around the world since the beginning of 1940s,” says Cintia Lutz, founder of Able and Available, in talking with Human Resources Director Canada. “It was established to promote inclusive employment practice and raise awareness about various people with disabilities facing the workforce.”

While hiring workers with disabilities has become a lot easier, there continue to be challenges on the way to employment for these workers.

The biggest barrier is finding “a truly inclusive organization,” says Lutz.

“Sometimes, there are both physical and digital barriers. So many workplaces and online job applications are not fully accessible, which creates an exclusionary environment.”

She also notes that there is still a stigma about the abilities of people with disabilities, “which leads to biased assumptions about what they are capable or not capable of doing”. 

Workers with disabilities are struggling to rise in Canadian organizations, according to a report from George Brown College. Overall, 51% of workers with disabilities belong to the “Bottom Rungers” segment of workers – those who are in the early stages of their professional occupations, according to the previous report. 

Accommodations can cost less than $500

Also, employers believe that making accommodations for these workers can cost a lot of money, Lutz says. This is a misnomer. 

“With proper planning and knowledge, most job accommodations are simple and inexpensive: 80% of accommodations cost less than $500. There are government programs which can defer some or all of the cost of the accommodation,” says Lutz.

“Accommodations can vary widely and should be tailored to individual needs,” she says, and “the most common request is a flexible schedule and quiet environment.”

Workers with disabilities are not only facing more challenges in the workplace, they’re also generally paid less, according to a previous report from Statistics Canada (StatCan).

How to support someone with a disability

Canadians with a disability represent a growing share of the population. According to the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability, 27% of Canadians – or 8.0 million people – had one or more disabilities, a five-percentage-point increase compared with 2017, according to StatCan.

Tapping into this workforce can bring a lot of positives to employers, says Lutz.

“One of them is that they need to be creative every day to overcome [challenges], so because of that, they bring a diverse perspective that fosters creativity and problem-solving skills.

“Also, studies have shown that companies that are more inclusive of people with disabilities see higher employee retention, enhanced productivity and improved workplace morale. And beyond that, being inclusive positions the organizations as socially responsible, which can attract more customers and also a more diverse talent workforce.”

To support jobseekers and workers with disabilities, Lutz suggests that employers:

• Be open to learn. 
• Offer training to eliminate myths and unconscious biases about disabilities to your employees.
• Talk a lot when having meetings. Don't assume what a person can or can't do.
• Be very specific on your job post. If you need a qualification or if you need the person to perform a certain activity, put that in the job post and let the job seeker decide if they can or cannot perform. Don't make the decision for them. 
• Ensure accessibility, both in physical spaces and digital platforms. These include things like offering accommodations during the recruitment process, so you start being inclusive right from the beginning. 

Over the past year, Able & Available has partnered with 31 organizations across Canada and welcomed 97 inclusive employers to its platform. The job board has posted over 1,500 job opportunities, and nearly 9,000 job seekers with disabilities have used the platform to apply for meaningful employment.

Previously, the Canadian Down Syndrome Society (CDSS) and marketing communications company FCB launched Inployable, in collaboration with LinkedIn – allowing people with Down syndrome to show employers that they have what it takes to fill current job openings.