Disability Inclusion in the Workplace

Disability inclusion is about more than just hiring people with disabilities or being ADA compliant. Companies need to ensure their workplace offers equal opportunity, fair compensation, and career advancement for all employees - no matter who they are. Just meeting a required quota does little, if nothing, for progressing the workplace for people with disabilities. Even with a larger focus now placed on DEI, people with disabilities are often overlooked when companies build their strategies. In fact, a recent Harvard Business Review survey found that just 20% of employees who had a disability agreed that their workplace culture is fully committed to helping them thrive and succeed. 

This is why companies need to be intentional about their DEI strategies and take an honest look at the policies, practices, and procedures they have in place to ensure their employees with disabilities — visible or invisible — can achieve their highest potential and thrive. Our co-founder and CEO Mandy Price and Kanarys’ Advisory Board Member John Register, who’s also a Paralympic silver medalist and board member of the American Association of People With Disabilities, worked together on these recommendations on how companies can make their workplaces more inclusive for people with disabilities: 

1. Understand the many types of disabilities — both visible and invisible. Disability comes in all shapes and sizes, and a person’s needs are just as individual as they are. There’s more to disability than what meets the eye. Sometimes it can be visible like someone in a wheelchair or a person wearing a hearing aid, or it can be invisible like autism spectrum disorder or diabetes. It’s critical to also consider employees with mental disorders like anxiety or depression as they may need special accommodations as well. To ensure you’re providing support for all employees, take into account the many types of disabilities. People are multi-faceted, and it’s especially important when surveying employees to take an intersectional approach to understand their specific needs. 

2. Make it safer for employees to disclose their disabilities. In Accenture’s recent survey, 76% of employees with disabilities were not fully disclosing their disabilities at work (e.g., to HR, colleagues, supervisors/managers), and 80% of C-suite executives and their direct reports who have disabilities are also not disclosing them. It’s important for employees to disclose their disabilities (especially if it impacts work performance) so employers can create a more inclusive environment. This needs to start during the recruitment process — companies need to ensure the language in their job listings encourages individuals with disabilities to apply, that they provide accommodations during interviews and that they are actually meeting those necessary needs. 

3. Allow employees to work remotely. With many employers considering reopening their offices, they need to take into consideration that employees with disabilities may have benefited from working remotely. Some aspects of disabilities, like fatigue or chronic pain, can be more easily managed from home. Also, ensure that there is digital accessibility; for example, provide closed captioning during meetings or alt-text and image descriptions. Another consideration is restructuring jobs and allowing flexible schedules or a ten-hour or four-day workweek, which could benefit employees who experience fatigue or weakness or those that may be receiving medical treatment. 

4. Encourage employees to not use offensive language. Words and phrases like “stupid,” “out of your mind,” or “blind as a bat” should be banned in the workplace. This language can be negative or insulting to people with disabilities. Leaders should set the tone for their team by never using offensive language and encouraging employees to be mindful of their word choices to create a welcoming work environment for employees with disabilities.  

5. Invest in company employee resource groups (ERGs). ERGs play a crucial role in supporting underrepresented employees in the workplace. A simple way to support employees with disabilities is to help ensure ERGs have a significant budget and influence with your organization. Most importantly, employees who take on extra work to support ERGs should be compensated, and this work should not be viewed as volunteer work. Companies like Twitter pay resource group leaders and allocate more resources to these groups, and others should follow their lead as this is valuable work and should be treated as such. 

6. Engage DEI consultants and industry experts. DEI experts can identify hidden or systemic barriers that prevent an inclusive and equitable environment for employees who are disabled by conducting workplace equity audits and helping companies really take the time to diagnose these issues before jumping straight to training. When armed with data, companies can begin tackling the issues, specifically those for employees with disabilities, and work towards building long-term sustainable and measurable goals. Once specific issues have been identified, the DEI expert can help the organization implement a comprehensive long-term strategy and deliver tailored workshops and training like unconscious bias training to help minimize ableism in the workplace. 

Kanarys is Your DEI Champion

At Kanarys, we are the diversity, equity, and inclusion people with the data-driven approach. Since 2018, Kanarys has aimed to change the world by creating equitable workplaces where everyone belongs. We guide your organization’s DEI path every step of the way with courage and collaboration. It starts with data, analytics and insights, and continues with recommendations and implementation. 

Our mission, as your partner and champion in the ever-evolving DEI journey: Help you understand what it takes to foster lasting, systemic change today and for tomorrow. Because when you succeed with DEI, your employees can thrive—and so can your organization.