Recruiting Employees With Disabilities to Your Company
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As an employer, it’s your job to hire the best of the best. Oftentimes, that means hiring employees with disabilities. After all, everyone should have the right to work, and your company will benefit by being more inclusive. Employees with disabilities have a lot to offer your workforce, so read this guide from Personal Injury Attorney S. Huntsville to learn how to effectively recruit people with disabilities to your company.
Accessibility Matters
For employees with disabilities, a welcoming workplace is an accessible workplace. For workers with physical disabilities, this means having elevators and wheelchair ramps on your property as well as bathrooms and entryways wide enough to accommodate mobility devices.
If you run a remote company, make sure that disabled workers can successfully interact with your technology. Develop online content that’s accessible for screen readers, and add alt text to visual media, so visually-impaired individuals can engage with your content.
It is common when recruiting employees for employers to offer assistance with housing and relocation expenses. It’s wise to explore what housing options are available in your area for accommodating prospective employees with disabilities. Even with assistance, it may be difficult to attract candidates with disabilities if their potential housing options are limited.
Finally, as the Center on Disability Studies notes, understand that some disabilities are invisible but still need to be accommodated. For example, employees with mental health issues may need more frequent time off and more flexible working hours.
Provide Inclusivity Documentation
In addition to showing your disabled employees that you’re an inclusive, accessible company, you need to tell them, too. Creating pamphlets is an effective way to communicate information to employees about important things, such as your workplace’s policies and their legal rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Put Them on a Path to Success
Unfortunately, disabled people don’t often achieve the same financial success as other people do over the course of their careers. Embarrassingly, full-time employees with a disability earn less than their able-bodied coworkers, and the gender gap increases that difference. Women with disabilities earn about $14,000 less annually then men with disabilities, according to MS Magazine.
Since disabled people often face obstacles in their working lives, it’s important to partner with them to develop a career path and explore opportunities that match their unique skills. Provide opportunities for employees with disabilities to socialize with their colleagues through formal and informal team-building activities. Regularly schedule performance reviews to highlight strengths, outline goals, and identify areas of growth potential for your employees with disabilities. Finally, be accommodating to employees who may need a quiet workspace, communication devices, or remote work arrangements in order to thrive.
You can offer continuing education to all of your employees as an incentive. This benefit can be even more enticing to disabled employees because they are less likely to attend college and even less likely to complete a degree. With the prevalence of online programs, more people with disabilities are set up to successfully complete a college degree. Many accredited universities now offer undergraduate and graduate degrees online that you can fit around your schedule. Majoring in information technology can be a great option for disabled students as many of our accessibility tools are technologically based. Plus remote options are more plentiful now for employment. And IT is a highly desirable skill for any employee.
Get Your Business Set Up
Before you take on employees, you need to have your administrative affairs in order. Contact your local chamber of commerce for assistance with establishing a business in your community, and obtain an EIN, as this is what the IRS uses for tax and retirement plan purposes.
It may also be prudent for you to consult an employment law attorney who can help you navigate the complexities of hiring employees with disabilities. This type of legal professional can ensure both you and your employees understand your rights and responsibilities.
Inclusion is Key
Individuals with disabilities are unfortunately excluded from meaningful employment far too often. You can do your part to help both differently-abled people and your company thrive by extending them opportunities and committing to being an ally.
If you have been injured on the job in Alabama, contact Personal Injury Attorney S Huntsville. We are committed to helping employees with work injuries get the compensation they deserve. Contact us today for a consultation.