Summer 2003
In This Issue:
- Career Development for Employees with Disabilities
- A Matter of Fact...
- Serving Persons with Service Animals
- Upcoming Dates and Events
- Network News: New Network Brings Teamwork
- Ordering Up Braille Menus
Career Development for Employees with Disabilities
People with disabilities are like other employees; they want to do a good job, appreciate constructive supervision, enjoy new challenges and want to get ahead. Businesses that successfully recruit and retain qualified employees maintain a competitive edge in the global marketplace. One way for employers to retain employees is to establish career development plans for all employees, including those with disabilities. The following strategies contribute to the professional and personal growth of employees:
Career Planning. Employers must recognize that people with disabilities have aspirations and career goals. Supervisors should discuss career expectations with each employee, including an evaluation of the employee's interests, talents and skills in relation to the requirements of available jobs. If an employee's career goals seem unachievable, the supervisor should provide constructive feedback and try to reach an agreement with the employee on appropriate goals and paths to achieving them. However, the supervisor should not assume an employee's disability will be a barrier. Employers should encourage career lattice movement or provide job rotations so employees can gain new experiences and recognize the transferability of skills and abilities to other positions.
Team Building.Team building opportunities give employees chances to solve problems and develop solid working relationships with co-workers. Employers should ensure that employees with disabilities have leadership opportunities and are assigned to special projects, planning sessions, off-site projects and assignments requiring travel.
Networking. Employers should include employees with disabilities in both formal work groups and informal employee gatherings. People with disabilities enjoy the same types of social and recreational activities as employees without disabilities. Frequently, important business is discussed at these events and interpersonal relationships are developed. Employers should arrange events in accessible facilities and arrange transportation to accommodate staff with disabilities.
Mentoring. All staff can benefit from the guidance of a more experienced employee. Employers should encourage employees to find mentors, whether or not the mentor has a disability. When the younger employees become more experienced, they should be encouraged to mentor other new employees, who may or may not have a disability.
Performance Appraisals. Performance appraisal procedures vary among companies. Some companies use formal, written documents; others use less formal, often oral, procedures. Employers must treat employees with disabilities the same as all other employees. If a position has been restructured to accommodate a person's disability, evaluate the employee only on those tasks he or she is expected to perform, but apply the same performance standards to employees with disabilities that are applied to all employees. Supervisors should discuss the evaluation with the employee prior to the final write-up. After the discussion concerning the job performance in the current job is completed, it is important to have a career development discussion.
Training.Training opportunities should be available to employees with disabilities. Management and leadership training should be among the options available, in addition to specific skills training. Formal classes must be held in accessible facilities. Materials should be available in large print for persons who are visually impaired; interpreters should be provided for participants who are hearing-impaired; and other accommodations should be made as needed.
Self-Development. An employee with a disability must take responsibility for his or her career development. Employees should continually seek out new education, training and information. They should keep up on the latest information in the field, network and volunteer for new assignments.
*source: JTPR Workplace Connection, www.impact-publications.com
A Matter of Fact...
Whenever possible, let employees choose the projects they would like to work on. Even though it may involve a little orchestration, allowing people to choose their jobs gives them the greatest opportunity to succeed.
Source: "Communications Briefings", July 2003, www.briefings.com
Serving People with Service Animals
Service animals help persons with disabilities maintain a level of independence and self-sufficiency in daily living. Businesses who serve the public must allow persons with disabilities to enter with their service animals. Listed below are some facts and tips about service animals in places of business:
- Service animals are animals that are individually trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities such as guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling wheelchairs, alerting/protecting a person who is having a seizure, or performing other special tasks. Service animals are working animals, NOT pets.
- Under the ADA, businesses that serve the public must allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals into all areas of the facility where customers are normally allowed to go. This federal law applies to all businesses open to the public, including restaurants, hotels, taxis and shuttles, grocery and department stores, hospitals and medical offices, theaters, health clubs, parks, and zoos.
- Businesses may ask if an animal is a service animal or ask what tasks the animal has been trained to perform, but cannot require special ID cards for the animal or ask about the person's disability.
- People with disabilities who use service animals cannot be charged extra fees, isolated from other patrons, or treated less favorably than other patrons. However, if a business such as a hotel normally charges guests for damage that they cause, a customer with a disability may be charged for damage caused by his or her service animal.
- A person with a disability cannot be asked to remove his service animal from the premises unless: 1) the animal is out of control and the animal's owner does not take effective action to control it, or 2) the animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. In these cases, the business should give the person with the disability the option to obtain goods and services without having the animal on the premises.
- Businesses that sell or prepare food must allow service animals in public areas even if state or local health codes prohibit animals on the premises.
- A business is not required to provide care or food for a service animal or provide a special location for it to relieve itself.
- Allergies and fear of animals are generally not valid reasons for denying access or refusing service to people with service animals.
- Violators of the ADA can be required to pay money damages and penalties.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, ADA Business Briefs. To download the entire fact sheet, please go to http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/business.htm.
Upcoming Dates and Events
September
16 - BLN Corporate Disability Awareness Training - Roanoke, VA
22-23 - Worksite Accommodations: A Symposium for Employers' - Rossyln, VA
October
15 - Virginia's Disability Mentoring Day - There is still time to sign up to be a Mentor!
15-17 - Virginia SHRM Conference - Falls Church,VA
Registration info: mwmidkiff@aol.com
30 - Shenandoah Valley Regional Disability Awareness and Awards Luncheon - Staunton, VA
http://wwrc.virginia.gov/svrcdea
November
5-7 - BLN National Summit, San Francisco, CA http://www.cabln.org
New Network Brings Teamwork
Employers in Culpeper and its surrounding counties will find it easier filling their recruitment needs, thanks to the PD-9 Workforce Resource Network. This Network is the latest addition to a string of Workforce Networks that has been expanding throughout the state. The Network program provides opportunities for workforce development professionals and businesses to come together to share job leads and community resources that meet workforce needs.
"This new Network will support an area that has been in need of this valuable employment outreach tool," says Mike Somers, DRS Business Development Manager, Blue Ridge Region. The area includes Planning District Nine, which covers the counties of Culpeper, Orange, Madison, Fauquier and Rappahannock, and the five Workforce Centers that serve it.
"What's unique about this Network is that, although we are rural, our agencies and community partners really pull together and work as a team," says Frances Payne, Program Director of the Career Center of Orange County. "It is wonderful to see different agencies and organizations working side by side on a daily basis, it's a true partnership."
The next meeting for the PD-9 Workforce Resource Network is scheduled for September 10, 2003. The Network plans to hold it's meetings quarterly until better established. Meeting times will be from 10 a.m. until noon. For more information on this Network, please contact Ray Matthews at 540-727-3257 or Frances Payne at 540-672-4595.
Ordering Up Braille Menus
The Fredericksburg, VA Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind wants area restaurants to better accommodate customers who are blind and visually-impaired. Members are visiting restaurants and asking owners if they will consider printing some of their menus in Braille or large print. Read the following article which was featured in the Free Lance-Star (published 6/21/03): http://www.freelancestar.com/News/FLS/2003/062003/06212003/1011962
To download the PDF version of this newsletter, please click here.
