Post a Job with WorkAbility III

Hiring individuals with known disabilities and providing reasonable accommodations for current employees is not merely a practice of altruism. Rather, it has been our observation that employers benefit by encouraging diversity in the workplace. These benefits positively effect internal employee morale, consumer spending on the employers’ goods and services, and social welfare. Here are a few points to keep in mind when weighing the options between hiring and not hiring a qualified applicant with a disability:

• Employing individuals with disabilities encourages spending within the disabled consumer population who represent over 1 trillion dollars in aggregate consumer spending.

• Individuals with disabilities are CEOs, scientists, real-estate agents and parents.

• Traditional marketing strategies have been modified to include consumer values. Consumers are not only interested in the product but the messages or values that are attached to a company. Hiring qualified individuals with disabilities is an excellent practice which improves this worthy social cause.

• In all likelihood, your company/agency has hired a significant number if individuals with disabilities. In our observation, almost all of our students fear disclosing their disability because they feel they will not be offered employment or they may be fired upon disclosing.

• The safety record of employees with disabilities is virtually identical to non-disabled employees (DuPont multi-year study).

• People with disabilities have no greater absenteeism rates than non-disabled employees (DuPont multi-year study).

What’s in it for You?

The WorkAbility III program has a longstanding and successful history of matching employers’ needs for reliable, skilled workers with applicants who have the qualifications and desire to perform the duties consistent with their training. By providing us with your job announcements, we will provide individualized

• Recruit qualified applicants
  Job announcements are sent to WorkAbility III for review. The announcement is shared among our 4 professionally-trained Vocational Specialists. These announcements are matched with qualified applicants who have the skills necessary to perform the essential and required functions of the job.

• Increase profitability
  Reduce costly employee turnover by isolating your applicant pool to applicants who are eager to apply their existing or newly-acquired skills. WorkAbility III assists both employers and students by individually matching appropriate and qualified applicants to job openings. These individualized services have been observed to increase retention and positive performance evaluations.

• Utilize potential financial incentives
  Employers who hire individuals with disabilities qualify for a Work Opportunity Tax Credits. These are similar to Welfare-to-Work tax credits but they apply specifically to employees with a disclosed disability. Further information can be found on EDD’s website and the Department of Labor’s website. Furthermore, tax credits are available to “eligible small businesses” for increasing accessibility or use of accommodations to assist disabled employees. Further information can be found at The Internal Revenue website.

• Inservice presentations for businesses
  In 2002, the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development published "Misconceptions about Hiring Workers with Disabilities” - the results of a survey of over 500 employers. Results indicated that less than half (40%) of employers surveyed provide training of any kind to their employees regarding working with or providing accommodations to people with disabilities. WorkAbility III offers training seminars and/or technical assistance to employers regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and workplace modifications. These training services are offered free of charge.

• Consulting services of reasonable accommodations
  Citing the same research study listed above, data indicated that 31% of the employers lacked knowledge about accommodations and 22% cite supervisor/co-worker attitude and stereotypes. Both of these figures contributed to barriers to employment or advancement of people with disabilities. According to the Job Accommodation Network, studies in the U.S. and Canada estimate that over 70% of employees with disabilities require no accommodations. For those that do require job-related accommodations, 19% cost nothing, 50% cost less than $500, and only 17% cost more than $1000. The annual cost for an accommodation is less than $45.

WorkAbility III is able to provide technical assistance regarding the use of accommodations. Our most recommended resource is the Job Accommodation Network (JAN). This program is a free consultation service provided by the Office of Disability Employment Policy within the Department of Labor.

Please contact us you have questions regarding our program or if you wish to receive any of the services listed above.

• Jenn Cook, M.S.
  WorkAbility III Coordinator
  San Diego Community College District
  3375 Camino del Rio South, #105
  San Diego , CA 92108
  (619) 388-6810
  jcook@sdccd.edu