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Maximizing the value of disability employment supports
Editorial by Christian Saint Cyr
National Director / Canadian Job Development Network
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Many employers have a strong track record in supporting workers with disabilities and yet for others, they are not only reluctant to hire workers with disabilities, they really don't understand disabilities in the first place.
According to the Accessible Canada Directorate, 72 percent of people without disabilities surveyed reported understanding what a disability is, though only 47 percent (less than half) said they understood well the types of barriers those with disabilities may face.
This isn't just a concern for job developers who work exclusively with people with disabilities. Given that 27 per cent of all job seekers have a disability, this creates an opportunity for us to come up with a strategy to support these individuals and help employers better understand the benefits.
To this end, it's helpful for us to take a two-pronged approach to engaging employers. We need to first help employers understand the nature of disabilities and then second, the benefits of hiring someone with a disability.
We often note that workers with disabilities are more loyal or experience less absenteeism than workers without disabilities. And while there is data to support this assertion, it's helpful to look for an actual example.
Let's take for instance Megleen Inc., which operates six Tim Hortons stores in Toronto and includes people with disabilities in all aspects of their business. They say their stores experience employee turnover of 35 percent compared to the 75 percent industry average.
In one year alone, absenteeism of Megleen’s 35 employees with disabilities (17 percent of the workforce) was zero.
This Tim Hortons chain argues their employees with disabilities are also extremely productive. In one particular case, the hiring of an employee with a disability led to a 20 percent productivity increase.
While I believe we should focus primarily on our clients strengths and minimize their challenges, when the disability is readily apparent or we need to disclose the disability, we should be ready with strategies and discussion about how the disability can be mitigated. This is often an area where employers have little knowledge but high expectations around the cost and the functionality of an employee.
All across Canada, there are organizations that support employers in providing accommodations for employees with disabilities.
Take for instance, the Neil Squire Society which operates all across Canada. Their team of occupational therapists and assistive technology specialists conduct workplace assessments, workstation accommodations, equipment evaluations, and environment/equipment improvements to reduce pain and fatigue.
Quite often it is the provinces and territories which provide funding for these very supports.
A key to supporting employers in finding the right candidate, often requires creating a larger pool of both employers and candidates.
The Employ Ability Project, operated by the Ontario Disability Employment Network, but offering supports in not only Ontario, but also Quebec, Alberta and Manitoba, connects employer partners to a talent pool of post-secondary students and recent graduates who have disabilities.
They are wanting to work with employment service providers which may have employers in their networks who might be a good match for these job seekers. Service providers are also welcome to join as employer partners themselves to fill their own internal vacancies.
One benefit of Employ Ability for employers is that they receive a 12-month license to Jobs Ability Canada at no cost. This provides a value of up to $10,000 and grants access to an AI-driven recruitment platform with over 1,700 qualified candidates across the country.
The Employ Ability Project also provide practical training and resources for inclusive recruitment and assist in identifying potential grants to cover a portion of candidate wages.
To help employers understand the benefit of hiring workers with disabilities, it's critical for job developers to gather a complete understanding of what supports are available in the community. This might include technology, counselling and supports to thrive in the workplace but may also include wage subsidy, training and self-employment supports.
Between the 2017 and the 2022 Canada Disability Survey, we saw the national disability rate rise from 22.2 percent to 27.0 percent. While there are many factors that contribute to this rise, a core consideration is that 'disability' is becoming increasingly normalized in society.
Employers who've been struggling with a skills shortage for more than a decade have become far more open to accommodating disabilities.
A study, released earlier this year by the Canadian Association for Supported Employment (CASE) and the Centre for Community Based Research (CCBR), found that many barriers to employment for persons experiencing disability centred around stigma, lack of knowledge about disability, and rigid workplace policies.
In gathering this research, the authors found system-level changes needed to be enacted. Rather than focusing on individual accommodation, study participants suggested system-level adjustments to improve employment access and inclusion—which would benefit all workers. To this end, they recommended the following approaches for career professionals (among others) to undertake with employers:
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Normalize flexibility: Flexible hours and hybrid/remote options allow people to manage appointments, health, and pain without sacrificing productivity.
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Create safer, clearer disclosure processes: Disclosure should be optional, supported, and framed around access needs. Managers and supervisors should be familiar with disclosure processes and relevant legislation.
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Improve recruitment practices: Ensure hiring processes are clear and accessible. Consider candidates with employment gaps and transferable skills and offer trial periods.
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Strengthen communication and trust: Ongoing communication, regular check-ins, and being believed regarding barriers create a sense of safety and trust that are foundational to success.
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Move from tokenistic to meaningful inclusion: Equity statements are backed by policies, practices, and training co-designed with people who experience disability.
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Work with employment service providers: A huge endorsement of the career development sector, CASE’s executive director, Joanna Goode, echoed participants’ comments that employment service providers can significantly improve outcomes.
As we all know, it's Disability Employment Awareness Month. We'll at least it is in every province except British Columbia, which, not playing well with others, acknowledges September as Disability Awareness Month.
You can't just decide when something is happening when everyone else acknowledges something else. We can't call Lake Ontario Lake America, and I'm sorry The Brick, but there's no such thing has Christmas in July. Christmas is in December, unless of course your Russian Orthodox and I suddenly realize I'm losing the train of my logic.
The key is that it's Disability Employment Awareness Month for most people in Canada and this is our opportunity to not sell employers on their 'responsibility to hire people with disabilities' but instead that hiring people with disabilities is the best thing they can do for their business.
I've often said that I would never walk in to an employer and say, "I'd like to tell you about a disabled client I'm working with..." Saying it that way loads the challenge and leaves an employer with all sorts of preconceived notions.
I would instead say, "Let me tell you about this amazing client I'm working with," and let the employer learn about the disability, if necessary, in the normal course of hiring. A disability is just one facet of who a person is and what they can contribute. That is one of the most important things we need employers to understand during Disability Employment Awareness Month.
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We’ll be discussing the value of hiring individuals with disabilities at this week's #MotivatingMondays meeting of the Canadian Job Development Network, Monday October 19th at 8:30am Pacific; 9:30am Mountain; 10:30am Central; 11:30am Eastern; 12:30pm Atlantic and at 1pm in Newfoundland.
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On the morning of Monday October 19th 'Click this Link' to join the session.
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To learn more, send me an email at:
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