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Disability

Authors: Phil Friend and Fiona Morden

US Consultant: Julie DiMauro

Summary

  • There are a number of advantages for businesses that employ disabled people, including having access to a resourceful group of loyal employees. See The Importance of Employing Disabled People.
  • An inclusive philosophy should be embedded into all organizational policies and procedures to help eliminate attitudinal bias. See The Importance of Effective Policies.
  • To encourage disabled people to apply for vacancies, employers can ensure that advertisements are disability-friendly. See Attracting Disabled People to the Workforce.
  • Employers should consider job descriptions and application forms to enable disabled employees to have an equal chance of being invited to a job interview. See Accessibility in the Application Process.
  • Employers should put in place procedures to enable employees to request and receive accommodations at a job interview. See Pre-Interview Preparation.
  • Employers that create an inclusive workplace culture and train interviewers to be aware of the legal requirements pertaining to disabled employee applicants will enable disabled applicants to succeed at job interviews. See Accessibility at Interview.
  • Employers could consider work interviews in place of job interviews to enable disabled candidates who might not come across well at interview or who may not have the relevant employment experience have access to employment opportunities. See Work Interviews and Work Trials and Job Fairs and Work Experience.
  • Candidates should be asked to complete assessments only if the particular test is relevant to the job. See Screening and Testing.
  • Employers should continue the inclusive philosophy once they have recruited a disabled candidate, by considering the necessity of medicals, what reasonable accommodations could be put in place, evacuation procedures, whether or not to disclose an employee's disability and the onboarding process. See Post-Interview and Onboarding.
  • Once a disabled candidate becomes an employee, the employer should consider all aspects of employment to create an inclusive and safe workplace for him or her and an environment where the employee can work to the best of his or her ability. See Inclusive Employment.
  • There are a number of different accommodations that employers can make to assist employees with a disability. Employers should consider a range of factors to determine whether or not a particular accommodation is reasonable. See Reasonable Accommodations.
  • The support of supervisors is vital to the success of disabled people at work. See The Supervisor's Role.
  • Employers should monitor decisions on recruitment and other employment practices, by comparing data relating to disabled employees with that of non-disabled employees. See Monitoring.