Are you looking for smart, talented employees? Are you interested in new ways to find potential hires? Do you want to save your business money through hiring incentives? If so, please consider recruiting and hiring people with disabilities!
Employing Individuals with Disabilities:
There are many Americans with disabilities who are not currently employed, but have the skills and experience necessary to succeed. For information on the benefits of hiring from this often overlooked talent pool, read the Business Case for Hiring People with Disabilities. You can also find success stories on Disability.gov, as well as case studies of companies who have benefitted from hiring people with disabilities.
Hiring Process: Interviews and Applications:
Opening Doors to All Candidates: Tips for Ensuring Access for Applicants with Disabilities
Focus on Ability: Interviewing Applicants with Disabilities
Recruiting and Retention:
Diversifying Your Workforce: A Four-Step Reference Guide to Recruiting, Hiring, & Retaining Employees with Disabilities (U.S. Dept. of Labor)
Reasonable Accommodations:
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities, unless it would cause undue. A reasonable accommodation is any change in the work environment or in the way a job is performed that enables a person with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunities.
Studies have shown that the costs associated with making these accommodations are often less than expected, and the benefits of employing people with disabilities far outweigh the expense. According to the Job Accommodation Network, 56 percent of accommodations cost absolutely nothing. For more information about reasonable accommodations, visit the Employer Resources section on Disability.gov.
State Programs:
Many state governments provide resources or programs for people with disabilities and their employers. Massachusetts’ Employing People with Disabilities portal is an example of a specialized state program. Visit your state's labor agency to learn more about available services in your area.
Tax Incentives:
Federal and state tax incentives for businesses are part of the many benefits of hiring people with disabilities. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit is a federal tax incentive for businesses that hire employees from 12 target groups, including Veterans and certain people with disabilities.
To learn more about tax incentives related to hiring people with disabilities, read SBA’s Hiring People with Disabilities guide or visit Disability.gov’s Tax Incentives section.
Supervision Issues:
Applying Performance and Conduct Standards to Employees with Disabilities (EEOC)
Employers Best Practices for Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities (EEOC)
Veterans' with Disabilities:
Veteran's with Service Connected Disabilities and the ADA: A Guide for Employers(EEOC)
Additional Resources for Employers:
Employing Individuals with Disabilities:
There are many Americans with disabilities who are not currently employed, but have the skills and experience necessary to succeed. For information on the benefits of hiring from this often overlooked talent pool, read the Business Case for Hiring People with Disabilities. You can also find success stories on Disability.gov, as well as case studies of companies who have benefitted from hiring people with disabilities.
Hiring Process: Interviews and Applications:
Opening Doors to All Candidates: Tips for Ensuring Access for Applicants with Disabilities
Focus on Ability: Interviewing Applicants with Disabilities
Recruiting and Retention:
Diversifying Your Workforce: A Four-Step Reference Guide to Recruiting, Hiring, & Retaining Employees with Disabilities (U.S. Dept. of Labor)
Reasonable Accommodations:
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities, unless it would cause undue. A reasonable accommodation is any change in the work environment or in the way a job is performed that enables a person with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunities.
Studies have shown that the costs associated with making these accommodations are often less than expected, and the benefits of employing people with disabilities far outweigh the expense. According to the Job Accommodation Network, 56 percent of accommodations cost absolutely nothing. For more information about reasonable accommodations, visit the Employer Resources section on Disability.gov.
State Programs:
Many state governments provide resources or programs for people with disabilities and their employers. Massachusetts’ Employing People with Disabilities portal is an example of a specialized state program. Visit your state's labor agency to learn more about available services in your area.
Tax Incentives:
Federal and state tax incentives for businesses are part of the many benefits of hiring people with disabilities. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit is a federal tax incentive for businesses that hire employees from 12 target groups, including Veterans and certain people with disabilities.
To learn more about tax incentives related to hiring people with disabilities, read SBA’s Hiring People with Disabilities guide or visit Disability.gov’s Tax Incentives section.
Supervision Issues:
Applying Performance and Conduct Standards to Employees with Disabilities (EEOC)
Employers Best Practices for Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities (EEOC)
Veterans' with Disabilities:
Veteran's with Service Connected Disabilities and the ADA: A Guide for Employers(EEOC)
Additional Resources for Employers:
- Disability.gov offers employers information on topics such as recruiting and hiring, interviewing and employment laws and regulations.
- The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) acts as an advocate and facilitator for people with disabilities in the workforce.
- ODEP’s Add Us In initiative works to identify and develop strategies to increase employment opportunities within the small business community for individuals with disabilities.
- The Job Accommodation Network (JAN), is the leading source of free, expert and confidential guidance on workplace accommodations and disability employment issues.
- The Employer Assistance Resources Network (EARN) establishes connections between employers and qualified candidates with disabilities.
- The Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) helps employers find qualified college students and recent graduates with disabilities who are looking for summer and full-time job opportunities.
- Think Beyond the Label and evolve your workforce at http://www.thinkbeyondthelabel.com/Default.aspx. Think Beyond the Label is committed to making the business case for employing people with disabilities. We are a partnership of health and human service and employment agencies with federal grants, coming together to build a uniform national infrastructure and approach that connects businesses to qualified candidates with disabilities. Our goal is simple: to raise awareness that hiring people with disabilities makes good business sense. Employees with disabilities have unique, competitively relevant knowledge and perspectives about work processes, bringing different perspectives to meeting work requirements and goals successfully. Hiring someone who “thinks outside the box” might be thinking too small when there’s an opportunity to hire someone who lives outside the box. Why hire people with disabilities? Employing people with disabilities can reduce hiring and training costs, increase retention, improve productivity and provide access to new markets.
