Transcript Student Meets Employer AHEAD 2013 Final

Student Meets Employer:
A Framework for Engaging Employers & Disclosing a Disability
Dr. Veronica Leona Porter
Associate Professor and Coordinator,
Cooperative Education - Northeastern University
Jeanette Richards M.S., CRC,
WorkAbility IV Coordinator - San Diego State University
Marci Shaffer, M.S.,
Disability Specialist - Northeastern University
Sara Mahoney, M.A.
Equal Employment Specialist - U.S. Department of State
Amber Cheek, J.D.
Presidential Management Fellow, Office of Disability Employment Policy
Session # 8.8
Dr. Veronica Leona Porter
Associate Professor and Coordinator,
Cooperative Education - Northeastern University
The Kaye, Jans, Jones Study
Hiring and Retaining Workers with Disabilities
 Researchers surveyed employers known to be reluctant to
comply with disability non-discrimination laws.
 They were asked “why they thought that other employers
might not hire or retain people with disabilities.”
Responses
Worried about cost of reasonable accommodations.
Don’t know how to handle needs of a worker with a disability on
the job.
Afraid that they won’t be able to discipline or fire a worker with
a disability for poor performance.
Can’t ask about applicant’s disability making it hard to assess
whether person can do the job.
Concerned about extra time for supervision.
Responses, continued
Afraid of other costs, insurance etc.
Afraid worker won’t work up to the same standard of others.
Rarely see people with disabilities applying for jobs.
Believe that people with disabilities can’t do the basic functions
of the jobs they apply for.
Responses, continued
They discriminate against job applicants with disabilities.
They are concerned about attitudes of co-workers toward the
person with a disability.
They find that applicants with disabilities don’t have the
necessary skills and experience.
They think of workers with disabilities as “problem employees”.
They find that job applicants with disabilities don’t present
themselves well in interviews.
Strategies for Improvement
More or better training on disability issues.
Central organization wide source for expertise on
accommodation issues.
Written guidelines for dealing with disability issues
External resources for guidance.
Centralized fund for accommodations
.
Written company nondiscrimination policy
.
.
Employment of People with Disabilities:
The Reality
High correlation between education
and employment
Work experience makes a
difference
Self-Advocacy skills impacts success
Jeanette Richards M.S., CRC,
WorkAbility IV Coordinator - San Diego State University
WorkAbility IV
A Cooperative Career Development Program
WAIV promotes access and offers enhanced career services
that empower student to:
 Choose, plan and prepare for a career
 Meet academic and career requirements
 Secure and retain employment
Engaging Employers
 Disability Mentoring Days
 Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP)
 Business Leadership Network
 Career Services (employer led panels, workshops, info sessions, etc.)
 Schedule A Registry – Dept. of Navy Southwest
 Bender Consulting – College Partnership Program
 “Add Us In” Grant – California Consortium, Disability-Inclusive Diversity
smALL Business “Add Us In” Grant from the U.S. DOL’s ODEP
Add Us In initiative
 Entry-Point!
 Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind
Marci Shaffer, M.S.,
Disability Specialist - Northeastern University
NuConnect
A Strategic Partnership between the Disability
Resource Center, Co-Op Program and
Career Services.
Wrap Around Experiential Model
for Success
Strategic
Partnership
DRC, CS,
Co-op
Resources
Employer
Advisory
Committee
Working
Group
External
Partners
Video
Sara Mahoney, M.A.
Equal Employment Specialist - U.S. Department of
State
Why Disclose?
• Advantages
• Disadvantages
• Students don’t have to disclose. They should understand that:
• They can request an accommodation at any time after
they’ve been hired, or
• Choose not to disclose at all.
Disclosure in Four Parts
• When
• Where
• To Whom
• How
Disclosure Complications
• Your Goal: to understand the line between what
employers want to know and what they need to know.
• Avoiding TMI
• Social Media Disclosure
What Employers Need to Know
• What employers should ask and what they should not ask
•
•
•
•
during the interview and in the on-boarding process.
Voluntary unless specifically outlined in written policies and
procedures
Employers must provide accommodations
The interactive process is essential
Best practice: asking every applicant if they need
accommodations
Amber Cheek, J.D.
Presidential Management Fellow, Office of Disability
Employment Policy
The Workforce Recruitment Program
The WRP:
 Is a free recruitment and referral program
 Connects employers with highly motivated
postsecondary students and recent graduates with
disabilities who are eager to prove their abilities.
 Is the largest database of Schedule A eligible
candidates in the government (approximately 3,000
students and recent graduates annually).
 Can be used to hire both interns and permanent
employees.
Goals of the WRP
Primarily, the WRP seeks to:
 Function as a primary pipeline for bringing new
talent into the federal government to fill mission
critical jobs.
 Help college Career Centers and Disability Services
Offices address the unique issues involved in
assisting candidates with disabilities with finding
employment, such as accommodations and the use
of the Schedule A Hiring Authority.
 Break down attitudinal barriers in the workplace.
WRP and Disclosure
The WRP is the perfect example of how these issues play out –
we see the process through the eyes of students, schools, and
recruiters.
Students must:
 Disclose that they are a person with a disability in order to register
 Speak about any accommodations they need with a recruiter, who adds
those details to their write-ups (recruiters are instructed not to disclose
specifics of a candidate’s disability in the database).
The Problems
Given our experience with WRP recruitment, we’ve pinpointed
two primary issues in recruitment of students with disabilities:
1. Students don’t understand how to speak about their
disability and request accommodations.
2. Recruiters and employers can’t read their minds.
Lost in Translation
• There is a distinct gap between what students try to say, and
what recruiters hear and write.
• Examples:
• The Good
• The Bad
• The Ugly
Addressing the Problems
• Campuses should take steps to ensure that Career Services
Offices and Disability Services Offices are working together
closely and sharing best practices
• Students need to learn what their accommodation needs are
and how to speak about their disability and the
accommodations they need
What Students Need to Know
• Teach your students to speak about their disability with these
goals in mind:
1.
2.
3.
Understanding the accommodations that meet their needs and will
be reasonable;
Being able to explain the accommodations they need to do the job
concisely, without dwelling on the details of their disability; and
Avoiding giving too much information or requesting
accommodations that are unreasonable
Resources on Disclosure
• The Legal Aid Society–Employment Law Center Fact Sheets -
http://www.las-elc.org/factsheets.html
• Disabilities in the Workplace: An Introduction to State and Federal Laws
• Disabilities in the Workplace: Reasonable Accommodations
• The 411 on Disability Disclosure Workbook - http://www.ncwd-
youth.info/sites/default/files/The_411_On_Disability_Disclosure_for_A
dults.pdf
• Article: The Art of Disclosing Your Disability Presented by Richard
Pimentel
http://www.miltwright.com/articles/ArtOfDisclosingYourDisability.pdf
• Illinois ADA Project FAQ: Disability Disclosure Under the ADA http://iusd.org/career/pages/documents/DisabilityDisclosureFAQ_Final
_.pdf
Resources on Disclosure
• National Service Inclusion Project - Look for July 25: Disability and
Disclosure Materials. Excellent PowerPoint and archived webinar.
http://www.serviceandinclusion.org/index.php?page=conf_archive
• University of Wisconsin River Falls Career Services Disability Disclosure
Handout http://www.uwrf.edu/CareerServices/upload/HandoutDisabilityDisclosure.p
df
• University of Montana Career Services Disability Disclosure Handout http://life.umt.edu/career/PDF/DisabilityDisclosureHandout.pdf