In the society today where every individual seeks to achieve financial and social independence, employment of any kind is the only way that can help one achieve them. This is also true for persons with disabilities.

A disabled person may succeed in securing a job but unfortunately, there are many people who suffer due to lack of a work place being inaccessible or lack of facilities available to them to perform their work effectively. Therefore the need of providing reasonable accommodation needs to be given importance for people with disabilities in work place.

In most work places, people having a disability are seen struggling or lost due to the lack of elevators, ramps for wheel chair users and lack of transport facilities for other people with disabilities from and to the work place.

According to American disabilities act, employers hiring about 15 employees with a disability must make it a point to provide reasonable accomodation facilities.

If one has to determine what is reasonable, an employer must fully be aware of the application or the reason submitted by the employee and decide as to whether or not an accommodation is applicable based on the factors of the type of environment they work in, the intensity of their disability, and the impact of their disability on the job one does.

Most employers are not fully aware of what reasonable adjustments need to be made for a disabled employee, but as employers it is important to understand them as it would help in determining the success of a work place.

Changing  work assignments  when necessary, providing  special and accessible  parking lots, improve the accessibility of the working area used by a person with a disability, make the presentation of tests and training materials in accessible formats, provide or adjust a product, equipment, or software as per the need, allow a flexible work schedule, provide assistance or a suitable service that would help increase access, a lot tasks that can be done rather complicating things are some of the good practices that would be good to keep in mind when hiring a person with disability.

For a better understanding on the subject, listed below are a few examples employees could refer to so as to give them a better idea on how to make life better for their disabled employees.

• One could think of providing things in alternative formats like, giving feedback in a written form rather than verbally, for someone who feels more at ease (people suffering from deafness or hard of hearing).
• Another very important aspect that one could consider is to provide accessible parking facilities, and making it easier for those employees who cannot walk long distances.
• A person with low vision or blindness would work more effectively if equipment such a magnifying glass or a screen reading software would be purchased and installed in the computer.
• Sometimes people with an intellectual disability may be not able to submit his tasks to the employer, therefore a list of tasks need to be given by the employer himself to understand what tasks the person has completed.

(Source adata.org)

Disability Entrepreneurship And Leadership (DEAL) Foundation works across the districts of Gadag and Bengaluru to promote sustainable livelihood opportunities for persons with disabilities. As part of our work, we promote awareness on the importance of reasonable accommodation and the different ways it can be provided so as to improve the working conditions for persons with disabilities. We provide trainings, organize conferences and also link with different employers through social media and help them improve their work environment.

For any specific questions one might have regarding the blog, please write to us at info@deal-foundation.com

And to know more about the work we do, please log on to www.deal-foundation.com.