Myths, Facts and Figures Disability Employment Presented by: Patricia Guenette, Vice President of Operations, Square One

Myths, Facts and Figures People with disabilities are the most underemployed people in the country. People with disabilities are the nation's largest minority.

Disability Employment In order to further understand why people with disabilities are underutilized and underemployed in America, I have listed information to help set the record straight on hiring and employment of people who have a disability. The aging of the U.S. Workforce will continue to affect business recruitment efforts now and in the near future. By tapping into an untapped candidate pool and hiring qualified people with disabilities, your business will not only increase in diversity but utilize a group of people that is projected to grow. Recent metrics indicate that there are over 13 million working age adults with disabilities and only 26% are employed.

Myths vs Facts Fact Myths Hiring people with disabilities can cause an increase in the company's insurance rates or workers’ compensation costs. Insurance rates and workers compensation costs are calculated solely based on hazards associated with a company’s operation and their previous on the job accident rates. It does not account for whether workers have disabilities.

Myths vs Facts Myths Facts Employees with disabilities have a higher illness/absenteeism rates. Recent studies from major firms show that absenteeism rates for employees with disabilities are not any higher than the rates recorded for non- disabled employees.

Myths vs Facts Myths Facts The hiring of employees with disabilities require expensive accommodations. Most workers with disabilities require no special accommodations. For the minority that do, 15% cost employers nothing, 51% cost employers between $1 - $500, 12% between $501 - $1000 and 22% cost over $1000. This study was by the Office of Disability Employment Policy Job Accommodation Network.

Myths vs Facts Facts Myths Person with disabilities are unable to meet performance standards. In a study conducted in 1990 by DuPont which including 811 employees showed that 95% of people with disabilities rated average or better in job performance compared to 90% for employees without disabilities.

Myths vs Facts Myths Employers can fire workers with disabilities as long at the termination is unrelated to the disability or the employee does not meet legitimate requirements for the job, such as performance or production standards, with or without a reasonable accommodation or because of the employee’s disability, he or she poses a direct threat to health or safety in the workplace. (Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy) Facts Under the ADA, an employer cannot fire an employee who has a disability.

Disability Employment New information that you may be interested in hearing about : The Labor Department proposed a rule on December 8, 2011 that would require most companies with federal contracts to set goals of having disabled workers make up 7 percent of their workforce. Labor officials hailed the plan as an economic game-changer at a time when a staggering eight of 10 working-age Americans with disabilities are out of the workforce entirely. The government long has used the leverage of federal spending to promote affirmative action in the hiring of women and minorities. The new rule would, for the first time, give similar treatment to people with disabilities. The Labor Department will take comment on this rule for the next 60 days. The rule would apply to those contractors with at least 50 employees that have a minimum $50,000 in government contracts. That currently includes about 170,000 contractors in the United States. Source: Associated Press

Disability Employment PRINTED IN JULY 12, 2011 MANY EMPLOYERS WANT DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE - IN CONNECTICUT, ONE COMPANY WANTS MORE DIVERSITY IN ITS WORK FORCE, BUT IT'S NOT FOCUSING ON ETHNICITY OR RACE.   WITH EVERY BOX THAT'S OPENED, EVERY BUTTON THAT'S PRESSED AND EVERY CRATE THAT'S SORTED, EMPLOYEES AT THIS WALGREENS DISTRIBUTION CENTER IN WINDSOR, CONNECTICUT ARE BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS; MORE THAN 40% OF THE PEOPLE WORKING HERE REPORT HAVING A DISABILITY. FOR WALGREENS' RANDY LEWIS, WHAT BEGAN AS AN EXPERIMENT HAS BEEN A REVELATION FOR THE COMPANY, WHICH NOW PLANS TO INTRODUCE LEWIS' PROGRAM IN ITS RETAIL STORES. EQUALITY IS AT THE CORE OF WALGREENS' INCLUSIVE HIRING POLICY. EQUAL PAY, EQUAL WORK, AND EQUAL EXPECTATIONS, SOMETIMES WITH A LITTLE HELP, TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE CAN MEET THOSE EXPECTATIONS. THE SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS COST THE COMPANY LESS THAN $25 DOLLARS PER WORKER, AND LEWIS SAYS WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES HAVE FEWER WORKPLACE ACCIDENTS, LOWER ABSENTEEISM, AND LOWER TURNOVER THAN PEOPLE WITHOUT DISABILITIES.

Disability Employment Leveraging an Untapped Resource Fear and economic concerns are often a factor into people's hesitancies about hiring the disabled. Education and providing opportunity is the key! Personally, I have found that even after only one try, many people become converted believers in hiring someone with a disability. “ I've had supervisors who I thought were going to run me over in the street the first three months,” Now I can honestly say they are getting up at staff meetings and saying, “ I believe in this. It has been something that has been great for me and for the team.“ What's even more interesting is that many disabled workers show a trait that has disappeared in recent years: company loyalty. They appreciate the fact that they have a job and they're willing to be loyal to the company. Advocates for disabled workers say they offer many benefits to employers. The biggest advantage to both employer and employee is that disabled workers have learned how to be flexible. They're able to overcome adversity and solve problems. One of the biggest misconceptions around today is that there is nothing anyone can do to help eliminate barriers that confront people with disabilities. This is simply not true! There are many tools and resources available to the businesses community. Many partners exist in the community including government agencies and nonprofit organizations who can also leverage abundant free resources and tax credits. Tax advantage of these valuable services. When you're looking at hiring qualified employees with disabilities, here are some of the best practices to get started: Learn about local available resources for training, awareness, and support. Consider embedding disability components into training for supervisors and new employees, and include disability in diversity training. Conduct informational interviews. Participate in job fairs that include minority organizations. Connect with Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies in your state and work with them on how you can participate; distribute position job announcements to them.

Disability Employment Thank you for your time and attention. Season’s Greetings to all!