October is National Disability Employment Month. Everyone knows it is also National Breast Cancer Month.
Bud did you know that over 85% of persons living with disabilities are unemployed? I know the unemployment rate is high for everyone but it has ALWAYS been higher for persons with disabilities. You may wonder why this is so...fair hiring practices are in place so how does this happen.
Resumes are sent in..OK the person gets a call for an interview. This is where the main issue is. When the person who is conducting the interview they already have a preconceived idea that if they hire the person living with a disability a few things will happen:
They will miss work do to their disability
Other staff will not want to work with some one who has a disability
If the job is dealing with the public what will the public think of the company if a person is the "face" of the company?
If anything happens to the person they company would be sued.
OK so you get the idea. NONE of these ideas are true. Sure folks will have a sick day, all people who are employed get sick once in a while. What the other staff think of the person with a disability should not even been a factor in hiring. If need be a in service could be done to educate them about the type of disability. This would best be done by the person themselves..who better to speak about their disability. As for being the "face" of the company well WE are here and if you ask me (you did not but I will tell you anyway since this is MY blog) in my opinion it would make the company seem more inclusive. As for me I am more likely to shop, use their services, etc. if they DO have a person with a disability working for them. The company is more open minded when they hire people based on what they can do, not what the company thinks they can do. Persons with disabilities are no more likely to sue than any other employee.
OK enough said but I thought you should know that is month is ALSO National Disability Employment Month.
