DIGITAL LABOR MARKET – DIGITAL SKILLS AND ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ACCESSIBILITY

Significantly accelerated in recent decades, digitalization has transformed almost all processes, activities, the economy, and society as a whole, through the use of digital technology. The labor market has naturally responded to technological progress and the needs of employees and employers in an increasingly digitally connected environment, transforming itself into a digital labor market. Online recruitment platforms, freelancing sites, professional social networks, and other digital channels today facilitate the process of recruiting and hiring in the online environment, offering flexibility, access to a wider range of opportunities for both employers and employees and not least, in turn promoting diversity and inclusion in the labor market. The digitalization of recruitment workplaces and work brings with it a series of advantages especially for disadvantaged categories such as people with disabilities, opening up new opportunities and removing certain barriers that they encounter in traditional work environments like discrimination, physical accessibility, inflexible schedules, additional costs for travel to the workplace, etc. However, not to be neglected are the challenges people with disabilities face in adapting to new technologies and work models as digital skills and assistive technology necessities. This paper aims to highlight the advantages of the digitalization of the labor market vs. the traditional one, its impact and the benefits brings to employees with disabilities or those who want to be employed despite their physical or cognitive limitations. Also, some basic required digital skills and assistive technology for disabled people’s employment and job success are focused on

Rethinking Disability in the Private Sector: Report from the Panel on Labour Market Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities

In July 2012, the Government of Canada appointed a panel to consult with private sector employers, as well as other organizations and individuals, on the labour market participation of people with disabilities. The panel members were asked to identify successes and best practices in the employment of people with disabilities, as well as the barriers faced by employers, and to report on their findings. In-person and telephone consultations were conducted with almost 70 employers, and feedback was received from approximately 130 online submissions. Responses came from organizations of all sizes across the country and in a broad range of industry sectors. Findings were shared anonymously with a number of national non-profit organizations and business associations to determine if they resonated with other stakeholders. While the consultations were the main focus of the panel’s efforts, research was also conducted into the business case associated with hiring people with disabilities in Canada and other jurisdictions. This report is directed at Canadian private sector employers, and offers the following findings: Many companies are doing great things, but more education and training are needed (see “Employers speak”). While most of the companies we heard from showed a genuine desire to hire people with disabilities, education and training are required to overcome barriers, dispel myths and put theory into practice. As the examples of forward-thinking Canadian companies and their best practices testify, there is significant experience available on which to build. Hiring people with disabilities is good for business. (see “Understanding the business case”). We heard this from senior and experienced business leaders who recognize the value of an inclusive work environment. Although mainly intuitive, their beliefs are supported by the performance of corporate diversity leaders on the capital markets, as well as data on employee retention and productivity. It is noteworthy that in 57 percent of cases, no workplace accommodation is required for people with disabilities. In the 37 percent of cases reporting a one-time cost to accommodate an employee with a disability, the average amount spent is $500. The keys to success are leadership and effective community partnerships (see “Making it work for you”). To increase employment among people with disabilities and access the related benefits, tone from the top and the actions of leaders are imperative. Also critical is identifying community partners who fully understand the business’s talent needs and are committed to customer service. To help organizations begin the process of engaging and employing talented people with disabilities, this section also includes a list of initiatives called “Getting started.

Leveling the Playing Field: Attracting, Engaging, and Advancing People with Disabilities

People with disabilities experience significant challenges in finding employment. The participation of people with disabilities in the workforce and their median income are both less than half that of the civilian workforce. They work part time 68 percent more frequently than people without disabilities. These disheartening results persist despite the enactment of significant federal legislation aimed at making the workplace more supportive and accessible to people with disabilities. The Conference Board Research Working Group (RWG) on Improving Employment Outcomes for People with Disabilities was convened to address how to overcome these disparities. It was sponsored by the Employment and Disability Institute at Cornell University, under a grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education. The RWG members focused on four questions: 1) The business case: Is it advantageous for organizations to employ people with disabilities? 2) Organizational readiness: What should organizations do to create a workplace that enables people with disabilities to thrive and advance? 3) Measurement: How can success for both people with disabilities and the organization itself be determined? 4) Self-disclosure: How can people with disabilities, especially those whose disabilities are not obvious, be encouraged to identify themselves so that resources can be directed toward them and outcomes can be measured

Evolving Beyond Reasonable Accommodations Towards Off-Shelf Accessible Workplaces and Campuses

One of the hallmarks of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), which prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of disability, is that it defines “discrimination” to include “not making reasonable accommodations to the known mental or physical limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability.” This concept of reasonable accommodation was seen as innovative in two ways. It recognized that employers must sometimes take affirmative steps or make adaptations to afford individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to apply for and perform jobs. And it identified the failure to take such affirmative steps as a type of discrimination that would be just as actionable under the statute as a refusal to hire or other adverse employment action taken because of a person’s disability. In contrast to the first generation of civil rights laws that simply prohibited unequal treatment based on race, national origin, sex, and age, the ADA recognized that a one-size-fits-all approach does not always yield fair outcomes and that sometimes equity requires treating differently situated people differently. However, this Article argues that the reasonable accommodations framework, which has transcended employment to dominate nearly every context in which people with disabilities interact with society (including K12 and post-secondary education), has had unintended, harmful consequences. Further, this Article argues that those consequences have hindered the ADA’s goals of integrating people with disabilities “into the economic and social mainstream of American life.” By requiring that employers and educational institutions consider the accessibility of their work and learning environments only when a person with a disability arrives on the scene, the legal framework of reasonable accommodations reinforces the notion that inaccessible spaces, products, and ways of doing things are the default, to be altered if and only if a “special” person comes along who requires that something be done differently. Unfortunately, this after-the-fact approach to accessibility all too often stigmatizes workers and students with disabilities, has created unhelpful incentives and has led to far more litigation about the reasonableness of particular accommodations than actual progress in reducing the staggeringly high unemployment rate among people with disabilities. This Article calls for moving beyond the reasonable accommodations framework while not dispensing with it entirely. Part I traces the concept of reasonable accommodations from its origin in the Rehabilitation Act to the Fair Housing Amendments Act to the ADA. Part I will also describe how this concept has come to permeate other areas of law affecting individuals with disabilities. Part II discusses alternative approaches such as universal design and inclusive design that consider how to build accessibility into products and the environment from the beginning and will profile a few successful examples of such “off-the-shelf accessibility.” Part III describes the advantages of “off-the-shelf accessibility” over reasonable accommodations from the perspective of individuals with disabilities in schools and the workforce, from the perspective of employers and educational institutions, and from the perspective of society as a whole. Finally, Part IV offers recommendations for how employers and schools can move from a purely accommodations-based paradigm to embracing more “off-the-shelf accessibility” and suggests law reforms and policy proposals to facilitate and accelerate that shift

Inclusivity and support for employees living with disabilities in the South African Police Service (SAPS)

The problem of inclusivity in the workplace has been globally acknowledged as a challenge for employees living with disabilities. The objective of this study was to explore the experiences of employees living with disabilities in the South African Police Service (SAPS). Globally, there has been a lot of research conducted on diversity in the workplace; however, research on inclusivity is a rather new phenomenon. A theoretical model on inclusion and diversity in work groups is presented as a framework, which offers insight into the experiences that contribute to feelings of inclusion for a diverse workforce. This model identifies potential contextual factors and outcomes of inclusion. This study further defines inclusion and disability and provides literature on the barriers employees living with disabilities encounter once employed, as well as support structures that could enhance inclusivity for these employees. The study used a qualitative, explorative approach. Fifteen employees of the SAPS were selected for participation, based on their disability type as per the research criteria. A purposive convenient sampling approach was used to identify employees with disabilities, taking into consideration hearing, visual, physical and mobility impairments. Participants varied in age, gender and race and came from stations mostly situated in the southern suburbs of Cape Town, with one participant from George and one participant from Paarl East. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and provide insight into how employees living with disabilities perceive inclusion in the SAPS. A thematic analysis approach was used to identify which negative and positive experiences of inclusion were identified. Irrespective of the provision of disability policies and legislation, which clearly stipulate that no person may be unfairly discriminated against on the grounds of their disability, the findings from this study indicate that employees living with disabilities still experience discriminatory attitudes in the workplace. While some participants had positive experiences of inclusion, other employees reported negative experiences relating mostly to a lack of management support, non-conducive workplaces, lack of disability awareness, as well as negative attitudes towards disability in the workplace. The results of this study indicate that the general feeling of inclusion in the SAPS is, to a certain degree, fair, and that management and co-worker support, together with reasonable accommodation, played an important role in contributing to making employees living with disabilities feel included. This study shows that more research is required in terms of disability awareness, and an understanding of the needs of employees living with disabilities in the workplace, to create an enabling environment of growth for employees living with disabilities. It is proposed that this study be used to provide employers and employees with a greater understanding of how to effectively include and retain employees living with disabilities

Occupational Safety and Health and Disability Nondiscrimination in the Workplace: Complying with Dual Requirements

This brochure is one of a series on human resources practices and workplace accommodations for persons with disabilities edited by Susanne M. Bruyère, Ph.D., CRC, Director, Employment and Disability Institute, Cornell University ILR School. It was written in June, 2002 by Susanne M. Bruyere, and updated in December 2010 by Elizabeth Reiter, an independent legal consultant, Ithaca, N.Y., with assistance from Sara Furguson, a Cornell University Employment and Disability Institute ILR student research assistant. These updates, an

Photovoice—Towards Engaging and Empowering People with Intellectual Disabilities in Innovation

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Invisible Disabilities in Education and Employment

More than 1 in 5 UK adults are disabled. Disabilities that are not immediately obvious are known as ‘invisible disabilities’, such as mental health conditions, neurodivergences and energy-limiting conditions.1 Evidence on this topic is limited as most research focuses on disability in general, or on a few specific conditions. Those with invisible disabilities may face challenges due to a lack of awareness and difficulty accessing support and services. Strategies aimed at increasing access and inclusion for adults with invisible disabilities in employment, and in higher and further education, could include: increasing awareness and understanding via training and reciprocal mentoring schemes; introducing ‘passports’ for transfer of adjustments to avoid repeated disclosure; inclusive design that considers sensory and informational barriers to access; maintaining online access to events and services post-pandemic; updating policy and guidance with examples of less recognised invisible disabilities; and promoting flexible working and learning arrangements. The 2021 National Disability Strategy set out the actions the Government would take to improve the lives of disabled people, including making workplaces more inclusive and accessible. However, the High Court ruled in 2022 that the strategy was “unlawful due to inadequate consultation”, which the Government has sought permission to appeal. Fourteen policies in the strategy are currently paused

Une étude exploratoire des stratégies utilisées par les gestionnaires avec une dyslexie dans l'expression du leadership

La présente étude qualitative et exploratoire a pour objet d'approfondir la compréhension des stratégies utilisées par des gestionnaires avec une dyslexie dans l’expression de leur leadership. Le mot stigmatisation est souvent associé à la santé mentale et, d'après la Commission de la santé mentale du Canada (2013), il a des effets plus considérables sur la vie des personnes souffrant d'une maladie mentale que la maladie elle-même. Bien qu'elle ne soit pas une maladie mentale, la dyslexie constitue une incapacité invisible de trouble d’apprentissage, et de récentes recherches effectuées au Canada ont montré que, par rapport à ceux qui n'ont pas de troubles d'apprentissage, deux fois plus d'adultes qui en souffrent disent connaître des épisodes de détresse, de dépression, de troubles anxieux, de pensées suicidaires ou encore doivent consulter des professionnels de la santé mentale. Parmi les adultes chez lesquels la dyslexie a été diagnostiquée durant l'enfance, 85% choisissent de ne pas dévoiler leur état à leur employeur à cause de la stigmatisation. Bien que d'abondantes recherches aient été conduites sur l’impact de la dyslexie et d`autre troubles d’apprentissage en milieu de travail, très peu portent sur le lien entre la dyslexie et le leadership. La présente recherche a pour objectif de déterminer les stratégies qu’utilisent les gestionnaires avec une dyslexie (réflexion stratégique, actions, comportements efficaces) pour exprimer leur leadership, ainsi que de déterminer les types de mesures d'adaptation requis pour leur permettre de progresser comme dirigeants au même rythme que leurs pairs qui n’ont pas une dyslexie. Les résultats de la présente recherche pourront aussi aider les psychologues organisationnels qui travaillent avec des gestionnaires avec une dyslexie en ce qui a trait au développement du leadership, et au recrutement. Des entrevues semi-structurées ont été menées auprès de cinq gestionnaires de la Fonction publique du Canada atteints de dyslexie. Les données recueillies ont fait l'objet d'une analyse thématique qualitative. L’analyse thématique a permis de cerner les stratégies utilisées dans l'expression du leadership chez les gestionnaires avec une dyslexie participants à la présente étud

Making the Future of Work Inclusive of People with Disabilities

A joint publication by Fundación ONCE and the ILO Global Business and Disability Network, developed within the framework of Disability Hub Europe, a project led by Fundación ONCE and co-funded by the European Social Fund.This publication aims to contribute to the visibility of persons with disabilities in the debates about the future of work. It should also provide elements to ensure that the professionals who are committed to promoting the employment of persons with disabilities have a better understanding of how to constantly adapt their own work. Based on the core work of the lead contributors, it has been developed in a participative manner, conducting consultations with key experts, mentioned in the acknowledgements section