President Obama Urges Employers to See the Value in a Disability Inclusive Workforce

Author: Melissa Burdorf, XpertHR Legal Editor

The President declared October 2012 as National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM).

Every October, NDEAM is a national campaign to increase public awareness of the various employment issues facing individuals with disabilities. NDEAM also highlights the many contributions made by individuals with disabilities to the US workforce.

The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) - the federal agency in charge of promoting NDEAM - strongly encourages employers to get involved in NDEAM. To that end, the ODEP has created several suggestions on how employers can get involved.

For example the ODEP suggests that employers:

  • Put up a NDEAM poster;
  • Review their policies related to diversity and inclusion;
  • Post positive messages relating to the employer's commitment to diversified disability inclusive workforce in areas frequented by employees;
  • and Train supervisors on diversity inclusion, including the process for providing an individual with a disability a reasonable accommodation.

This year, NDEAM's theme is "A Strong Workforce is an Inclusive Workforce: What Can YOU Do?" This theme endorses the concept that a diverse workforce should include individuals with disabilities as such individuals bring a lot of skill and talent to the workplace.

Additional Resources

Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace

Create a Diverse Workplace

How can an employer create a diverse workforce and why should this be a goal?

Global Diversity and Inclusion Mission Statement

What Supervisors Need to Know About the ADA - Supervisor Briefing