Disabilities Part 2: Inclusive Companies

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There are a couple of sources. One is, there is a domestically-based organization called the Disability:IN. They're formally known as the United States Business Leadership Network. And the companies that belong to Disability:IN are very disability-progressive. So if you looked at the Disability:IN website and you saw that those companies were part of the USBLN or the Disability:IN organization, then you would know that they were progressive, and those would be specific organizations I would target. Again, another list that I would target is DiversityInc, and I would look at their top 10 disability-friendly companies or corporations. And, again, I would target them. (gentle music) So some of the best practices that we see these corporations embracing then is, first of all, a centralized team to provide accommodations. So you would have a subject-matter expert. You would have a team that triages all the requests for accommodations. You would see that that team has technology backup of a accommodation tracking system to ensure that no information is lost during the accommodation process. Oftentime we find that they have a centralized fund. Another is in really more of the return to work realm. And, again, that's ensuring that as soon as somebody is medically stable, that the employer keeps that person engaged with the organization. And that even if they come back part-time and they're accommodated, initially, part-time, they're sort of weaned back into their old jobs. (gentle music) The first thing that I would do is, again, educate myself about the internal policies and practices. Oftentimes, again, the more progressive corporations are going to have an appeals process, so you wanna take advantage of that appeals process. And perhaps your supervisors did not agree with the type of accommodation, and perhaps it's just their familiarity with accommodations, in general, in what may or may not work. So it needs to be kicked up to the next level. So I think, first of all, I would definitely follow the internal hierarchy and the internal processes, and if there's an appeals process, I would wanna take advantage of that. After you've exhausted those processes, then you can file a complaint through the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the EEOC. (gentle music) JAN, the Job Accommodation Network, we also offer, at times, it's just a matter of, again, not understanding what kind of accommodations would work. So, as an employee, or even as an applicant, what I may do is, if I'm talking to a recruiter or a hiring manager that's not knowledgeable about accommodations, and I'm trying to offer them alternatives in what may or may not work. Then perhaps what we can do is call JAN or use our online chat, and we can do that together with both the employee as well as the supervisor and educate them both as to the rights and responsibilities under the ADA, but also propose solutions. (gentle music)