Workers with disabilities represent an often overlooked talent pool for employers. The resources below can help employers recruit and retain talented individuals of all abilities and create more inclusive workplaces:
- Funded by NIDILRR, the ADA National Network provides information, guidance and training on how to implement the Americans with Disabilities Act. Browse resources for employers or call 800-949-4232.
- ODEP's Resources for Employers Page provides tools to help effectively recruit, retain, and advance people with disabilities.
- The Campaign for Disability Employment is a collaborative effort to promote positive employment outcomes for people with disabilities by encouraging employers and others to recognize the value and talent they bring to the workplace.
- NIDILRR's Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employer Practices Related to Employment Outcomes Among Individuals with Disabilities looked at the literature and surveyed human resources professionals on the effect of inclusive human resources and practices.
- The California Employment Consortium for Youth and Young Adults with Intellectual and Other Developmental Disabilities (CECY) has posted several videos that illustrate how employers are successfully integrating and supporting employees with intellectual and developmental disabilities. CECY is one of 14 Partnerships in Integrated Employment (PIE) grants being funded by ACL.
- For those on the hiring side interested in building an inclusive workforce, engaging frontline personnel, and encouraging strategic planning related to changing policies and workforce dynamics that impact the demand for qualified candidates with disabilities, visit the tools, resources, and training available from the Diversity Partners Intervention: Moving the Disability Employment Needle Trough Value Added Relationships Between Talent Acquisition Providers and the Business Community at www.buildingdiversitypartners.org.
- The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) helps employers recruit, hire, retain and advance people with disabilities. In addition to hosting webinars and other events, EARN also maintains a website, AskEARN.org, which provides information on: recruiting and hiring; retention and advancement; laws and regulations; creating an accessible and welcoming workplace; and federal contractor requirements. The website also offers a variety of resources to assist state and federal government agencies in making their workforces more inclusive and reflective of the citizens they serve. For regular updates, be sure to subscribe to EARN's bi-weekly newsletter and follow EARN on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
- Job Accommodation Network (JAN) — ODEP-funded service that provides free, expert and confidential guidance on workplace accommodations and other disability employment issues.
- JAN's Workplace Accommodation Toolkit — Online toolkit provides guidance related to the reasonable accommodation process and creating disability-inclusive workplaces. The toolkit includes sample accommodation procedures, examples of policies and forms from leading U.S. businesses, training presentations, videos, checklists, and best practices for creating an inclusive workplace for people with disabilities. The toolkit also provides inclusive practices at various phases of the employment life cycle for recruiters, hiring managers, and supervisors; human resource professionals; accommodation consultants; and allies of employees with disabilities.
- Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology (PEAT) promotes the employment of people with disabilities through the development, adoption, and promotion of accessible technology policy. PEAT brings together employers, technology developers, accessibility thought leaders, government policymakers and consumers and provides a mix of resources, outreach and collaboration, to serve as a catalyst for innovation and policy development related to accessible technology in the workplace. To ensure new and existing technologies can be used by people with disabilities, PEAT connects with the world’s leading companies yielding tangible results. PEAT’s website (www.PEATworks.org) offers a central hub of online resources and opportunities for collaboration to employers and IT companies interested in adopting accessible technology as part of everyday business practices. PEAT also created TalentWorks, a robust online resource that helps employers and HR professionals make their eRecruiting technologies accessible to all jobseekers.
- Workplace Initiative helps companies recruit, hire and retain the largest untapped source of employment talent in the country: people with disabilities. The Workplace Initiative strives to close the employment gap for people with disabilities by creating scalable solutions for disability employment and inclusion through partnerships and consulting services. It enables companies to amplify disability as a critical component of diversity. The Workplace Initiative also helps organizations learn how to recruit, hire, and retain talent with disabilities and strengthen the capacity of organizations to train and educate job seekers with disabilities. They help companies design, implement and sustain programs for hiring talent with disabilities. Their projects support all companies looking for talent with all types of disabilities—both visible and invisible, including all types of physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorder, mental health issues, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, visual and hearing impairment, and learning and attention issues—for all job types. In doing so, they help companies tap into a new source of talent, realize significant cost savings, and reach a customer base with more than $220 billion in spending power; they strengthen communities and the economy; and they help job seekers with disabilities realize their full potential.
- Disability:IN is the leading nonprofit resource for business disability inclusion worldwide. Their network of more than 170 corporations expands opportunities for people with disabilities across enterprises. Their organization and 50 Affiliates raise a collective voice of positive change for people with disabilities in business. They also produce the Disability Equality Index ranking the best places to work for disability inclusion. Disability:IN promotes disability inclusion by heightening awareness, advising corporations and sharing proven strategies for including people with disabilities in the workplace, supply chain, and marketplace. They expand opportunities for people with disabilities by helping companies invigorate their disability initiatives, explore best practices, incorporate culture changes, and realize positive business outcomes.
- Cornell University’s BenchmarkABILITY® is a self-assessment tool for organizations. Learn more about leading practices to promote disability inclusive workplaces by taking any of six short checklists.
- Registered Apprenticeship is an employer-driven model that combines on-the-job learning with related classroom instruction that increases an apprentice’s skill level and wages. It is a proven solution for businesses to recruit, train, and retain highly skilled workers.