Job Accommodation Network (JAN) Brochure

[Excerpt] JAN is the nation’s premier source for information on job accommodations. Started in 1983, JAN responds to more than 32,000 inquiries annually from employers, job seekers and employees with disabilities and their families as well as service providers in the community. Staffed by skilled and experienced professional staff, JAN’s “consultants” provide technical assistance on workplace accommodations, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and key community resources

Focus on Ability: Interviewing Applicants with Disabilities

[Excerpt] As employers well know, the job interview plays a critical role in the hiring process, allowing them the opportunity to identify the individual who possesses the best mix of knowledge, skills and abilities for the position available. Below is information that may assist employers in ensuring maximum benefit from an interview when the person being interviewed happens to have a disability

Cultivating Leadership: Mentoring Youth with Disabilities

[Excerpt] A mentor is a person who through support, counsel, friendship, reinforcement and constructive example helps another person, usually a young person, to reach his or her work and life goals. Mentoring relationships provide valuable support to young people, especially those with disabilities, by offering not only academic and career guidance, but also effective role models for leadership, interpersonal and problem-solving skills. Mentoring relationships may take different forms

Opening Doors to all Candidates: Tips for Ensuring Access for Applicants with Disabilities

[Excerpt] The goal of the hiring process is to attract and identify the individual who has the best mix of skills and attributes for the job available. Ensuring that all qualified individuals can participate in the process is key to achieving this goal. By examining their hiring procedures and implementing some simple steps, employers can widen their pool of potential talent and ensure that they do not miss out when the best person for the job happens to have a disability

Diverse Perspectives: People With Disabilities Fulfilling Your Business Goals

[Excerpt] By fostering a culture of diversity, or a capacity to appreciate and value individual differences, in all aspects of their operations, employers benefit from varied perspectives on how to confront business challenges and achieve success. Although the term is most often used to refer to differences among individuals such as ethnicity, gender, age and religion, diversity actually encompasses the infinite range of individuals’ unique attributes and experiences. As the nation’s largest minority—comprising almost 50 million individuals—people with disabilities contribute to diversity, and businesses can enhance their competitive edge by taking steps to ensure they are integrated into their workforce and customer base

Workplace Accommodations: Low Cost, High Impact

[Excerpt] All employees need the right tools and work environment to effectively perform their jobs. Similarly, individuals with disabilities may need workplace adjustments — or accommodations — to maximize the value they can add to their employer. Employers accommodate workers everyday — with and without disabilities — to build a loyal, dedicated and productive workforce. A few examples include: • Flexible work schedules to accommodate family responsibilities; • Software to allow efficient manipulation of data; • Ergonomic chairs to alleviate back pain; • Wrist supports to reduce the effects of repetitive stress disorders; and • Telecommuting to reduce stress or address other issues associated with commuting to work

Workforce Intermediaries: Strategic Connections For Youth With Disabilities

[Excerpt] Over the last two decades, landmark legislation, successful initiatives and technological advances have helped improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Although significant strides have been made, much work remains to be done. People with disabilities continue to experience low employment rates and often have limited opportunities for career growth. At the same time, employers across the country report a lack of skilled workers to meet their workforce needs. Workforce intermediaries are in a unique position to address these challenges and may be particularly critical in supporting youth with disabilities and the employers who stand to benefit from their skills and talents. Workforce intermediaries are organizations that proactively address workforce needs using a dual customer approach—one which considers the needs of both employees and employers. Examples of organizations that can function as workforce intermediaries include faith-based and community organizations, employer organizations, community colleges, temporary staffing agencies, workforce investment boards and labor organizations

Career-focused Mentoring for Youth: The What, Why, and How?

[Excerpt] When asked to describe an ideal employee, attributes such as being a hard worker, a team player, and a good communicator are frequently cited by employers as being even more important than technical expertise. According, however, to a recent survey of 461 employers conducted by the Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the Society for Human Resources many new entrants to the workforce lack these important skills. These business leaders reported that while the three R\u27s are still fundamental to every employee\u27s ability to do the job, knowledge of applied skills is even more important. (Are They Really Ready to Work? Employers’ Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century U.S. Workforce (2006)). One remedy may be found in mentoring. Career-focused mentoring provides young people the opportunity to get a glimpse of the world of work that may not otherwise be available to them. It also allows them to gain and practice skills that are useful in professional and other settings, and to prepare for life as an adult

Advancing Opportunities: Accomodations Resources for Federal Managers and Employees

[Excerpt] Every day the nation benefits from the contributions of individuals with disabilities who serve in the federal workforce. Many of these individuals are entitled to workplace adjustments, or accommodations, in order to effectively carry out their duties. A variety of resources are available to assist federal managers in making these accommodations so they can hire, retain and advance qualified individuals with disabilities. An accommodation is a modification to a work environment or job functions to enable a qualified person with a disability to benefit from the same employment opportunities and rights afforded similarly situated individuals without disabilities. The following examples illustrate accommodations in practice in the federal setting

Circle of Champions: Innovators in Employing All Americans

[Excerpt] The Circle of Champions (CoC) is the distinguished group of U.S. businesses and organizations that have received the Secretary of Labor’s New Freedom Initiative Award for its innovative and proactive efforts to recruit, hire, and promote people with disabilities. The CoC is now working to share its proven strategies with businesses that want to hire and retain talented employees