This week, we continue celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) and its theme: America’s Recovery: Powered by Inclusion. Inclusive organizations make equal employment opportunity for individuals with disabilities a core part of their mission and culture. They are proactive in recruiting, hiring, retaining, and advancing employees with disabilities, even creating human resource positions focused on this diverse talent pool. These organizations also create corporate cultures that are welcoming of people with disabilities, valuing their input, and actively fighting stigma and bullying in the workplace.

Recently, there is increased focus on the diversity efforts of hiring organizations (companies, non-profit organizations, and government agencies). In our Research In Focus series, we highlighted research on how some businesses are leading the way in promoting inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace. Among the strategies they use are employee resource groups, published diversity and inclusion statements, specific recruitment and hiring initiatives, and supplier diversity initiatives. Combining these with mainstream strategies like universally-designed workspaces, telework, and schedule flexibility, among others, could remove barriers and improve access for the workforce as a whole.

If you are interested in creating more inclusive workplaces, here are some resources from the NIDILRR community and elsewhere to get you started:

• Employing People with Disabilities: A Business Perspective – This self-paced online course is designed for employers seeking solutions to building a workplace that is inclusive of people with disabilities. The course offers practical and forward-thinking strategies to build a more diverse and inclusive culture. Developed by the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employer Practices Leading to Successful Employment Outcomes for Individuals with Disabilities (EP-RRTC).
  • Hear from employers and employees with this series of Employer Insights and Vignettes from the EP RRTC.
• Disability & HR: Tips for Human Resource Professionals – This portal offers articles, checklists, glossaries, and links on disability nondiscriminatory regulations, management and HR practice, the employment process, and accommodations of specific disabilities. From the ADA National Network.
  • ADA National Network Regional Centers can assist employers and their hiring teams in building inclusive workplace culture by understanding their rights and responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Call 800/949-4232 or visit adata.org/find-your-region.
• Human Resources Guide for Working with Employees Experiencing Vision Loss (PDF) – This guide provides useful information and guidance for HR staff who are helping employees who experience vision loss maintain employment. Published by the RRTC on Improving Employment Outcomes for People Who Are Blind or Have Visual Impairments.
  • Blind People Can’t Perform This Job…or Can They? – This brief article provides an overview of the services provided by vocational rehabilitation agencies to employers and makes the case for why hiring an individual with B/VI can be an asset for any organization. Also from the RRTC on Improving Employment Outcomes for People Who Are Blind or Have Visual Impairments.
• Inclusion@Work: A Framework for Building a Disability Inclusive Organization – This framework guides employers through seven keys to building an inclusive workplace: creating inclusive business culture, building the pipeline through outreach and recruitment, talent acquisition and retention, reasonable accommodations, communication policies and practices, AT and communication technology, and measuring success. Developed by the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) Employer Assistance Resource Network (EARN).
  • ODEP offers a wealth of resources for employers at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/program-areas/employers/diversity-inclusion
• Employment Mentoring Manual (PDF) – This manual guides employers and employment service providers in creating a mentoring program for young employees and job seekers with vision loss, a resource for building that pipeline to recruit diverse talent. From the RRTC on Improving Employment Outcomes for People Who Are Blind or Have Visual Impairments.
• Creating an inclusive workplace (PDF) – This brief describes types of discrimination and how they impact employees with psychiatric disabilities. From the RRTC on Improving Employment Outcomes for Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities.
  • This RRTC maintains an Employment Repository with extensive resources for employers who want to support their employees with psychiatric disabilities.

These are just a few examples of resources available to organizations who wish to build a culture of inclusion, where employees with and without disabilities have the same opportunities for success. If you would like to learn more, try these links:

• Explore currently funded NIDILRR projects focused on employment outcomes.
• Explore recently published research on inclusive workplaces in the REHABDATA database.
• Visit the Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion and the Job Accommodation Network.

You can also contact our information specialists to find online resources and local providers or to explore more research in this area.