The Sioux Falls Rotary Club put together a panel of advocates to bring awareness to disability in the workplace, and to educate people on how simple accommodations can make all the difference.
U.S. Census data shows about 50,000 South Dakotans report having a disability. This includes visible disabilities as well as unseen disabilities such as mental illnesses.
While about 50% of the disabled community participates in the workforce, lack of accommodations can cause issues. Rotarian Kira Kimball said many people with disabilities report not working as many hours as they would like. This creates an untapped workforce within the disabled community.
Sharla Svennes, the liaison for the Human Relations Commission, said businesses are required to provide reasonable accommodations to their employees. However, not every business is aware of this responsibility. This can lead to unintentional discrimination towards people with disabilities.
“Disability discrimination, a lot of the claims that we see, look a little bit different because often it is that failure to accommodate,” Svennes said. “Failure to think about how can I change this job a little bit, how can I change this policy, or just make a little adjustment, sometimes it’s not even a big thing, to make this job work for somebody who has a disability.”
Fortunately, there are resources to help employers find ways to make their workplaces more accessible. The Job Accommodation Network is a website that allows people to search by disability and find accommodations that can be implemented.
Vicki Stewart, the Executive Director of Employment Disability Resources, said the majority of these accommodations are reasonable.
“56% of accommodations cost absolutely nothing,” she said. “That’s a high percentage. And if there is a cost to an accommodation it’s typically $300 or less. And that number has actually gone down in the last two years, it used to be $500 or less, so accommodations are even becoming more reasonable.”
Sometimes, even the simplest adjustments can make a workplace welcoming to a person with a disability. Stewart suggests businesses state they are disability friendly on their website and provide potential employees with a way to request reasonable accommodations.
The panel members also stressed the importance of using “people first” language, such as a person with a disability rather than a disabled person, because having a disability doesn’t define a person.