National Disability Employment Awareness Month
Be Aware, Not Wary of National Disability Employment Awareness Month
October has been National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Were you aware?
Unless you are a person with a disability or work closely with such a person, it may have escaped your notice. That’s why I think it’s important not to limit disability employment awareness to just one month. We should be aware year-round.
Aware, but not wary. As an employment attorney for 35 years I handled many disability discrimination cases. I attempted to assist employers with what the law requires under the Americans With Disabilities Act. I used to teach seminars and say “The ADA requires two main things: Don’t discriminate and do accommodate.”
Despite best efforts, many employers were wary of hiring people with disabilities. They asked wary questions such as “Can they keep up with production quotes?” “How can I afford the cost of accommodations?” and “Will they sue me if I make a mistake?”
Ensuring Accommodation in the Workplace
At Goodwill, we have a mission to help people overcome challenges to employment. Disability is one. Many of our employees have disabilities and are fully productive, joyful contributors. They are not just beneficiaries of our mission; they deliver our mission.
Consider David. He is legally blind and comes to work each day with his guide dog to process goods in one of our retail stores. David is faithful. He knows and performs his job well and has aspirations for growth. David’s blindness prevents him from certain positions, like truck driving, but there are things we can and have done to accommodate his vision challenge. We’re aware of David’s disability – as is he – but neither we nor he allows that disability to control his story.
Some disabilities are hidden. Jim* has been a Type 1 diabetic for 48 years, but you would not know it unless you noticed the insulin pump on his belt. Jim doesn’t need technology or training accommodation, but his co-workers still need to be aware of Jim’s disability. His blood sugar might go low and he may need some juice. He could need a reminder to eat lunch to keep his blood sugar stable, or he may need accommodation for a doctor’s appointment. But Jim decided, years ago, he would not be limited or controlled by his disability. Most people with disabilities feel the same way.
Building Awareness For National Disability Employment Awareness Month
So how do employers stay “aware” without being “wary” of employing people with disabilities? Here are a few tips:
• Engage in conversation. Find out what, if any, accommodations are needed by a disabled person. Being aware means being engaged and listening.
• Explore reasonable accommodations. The law does not require employers to spend enormous sums or change the nature of their business to accommodate disabled individuals. Ask for legal guidance on what reasonable accommodation might be needed to make your workplace accessible.
• Exclude assumptions or judgments. Randy Lewis, a senior vice president with Walgreens, wrote the book No Greatness Without Goodness, which explains how Walgreens embarked on the journey of actively recruiting and training disabled employees. One of the first steps was to jettison the mindset that disabled individuals could not keep up. Randy’s efforts proved the fallacy of that thinking. Your company can too.
Rather than limiting our disability awareness to the month of October, let’s make it a year-round goal to be aware, not wary. To be creative in our thinking, not constrained. We will all benefit if we join Randy Lewis and Goodwill on this journey to success.
*PS, I’m the “Jim” mentioned in this article.
Authored By Jim Priest
Jim Priest is president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma.
Originally published by Journal Record