Diversity & Inclusion: Is your workplace inclusive? Ask a disabled employee

Let me introduce myself. I am Anne Hawker and I work at the Ministry of Social Development as the Principal Disability Adviser. I have worked in promoting the employment of disabled people for the past 40 years.

As a disabled employee, the buzz around diversity and inclusion had me excited. Finally, disabled people will have a voice. But it has been my experience that disabled people are often left out of the diversity and inclusion conversations, particularly when it comes to employment.

Disabled people are New Zealand’s largest minority group, accounting for 24 per cent of the population. The 2013 Disability Survey showed that 75 per cent of disabled people want to work. This is in stark contrast to the 24 per cent of disabled people in employment. It is not a record we can be proud of, but we can change it and increase employment for disabled people by providing the right support.

In my work at the Ministry of Social Development, I am leading a project to increase the employment of disabled people in the public sector. Measure Labour Force Participation rate Employment rate Unemployment rate Average weekly income.

The public sector has a leadership role in increasing the employment of disabled people, and this is expected of government agencies under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which New Zealand ratified in 2008. We want to set a good example in the public sector, so that others will follow.

The New Zealand Disability Strategy described ‘disabled people’ as being disabled not by our impairment but by the environment. This includes attitude, lack of adequate support, inaccessible physical environments and inaccessible information, including websites.

How you can be truly inclusive

To start changing the picture painted above in your workplace, there is a simple formula known as the 3As: attitude, accommodation and accessibility.

Attitude

Have you, your staff, or the agencies you work with, undergone disability responsiveness training? This helps create a culture of valuing the contribution of disabled people and helps remove the ‘fear factor’.

Accommodation

Does your agency have a reasonable accommodation (workplace adjustment) policy? Is this offered to everyone, so that people don’t feel they are being singled out?

Does your agency have a disability employees network that gives senior leadership in the agency a way of directly hearing from staff, and is the network valued and the members’ issues listened to and acted upon?

Accessibility

Are your systems accessible? Does your website comply with the Web Content Accessibility Standard 2.1 AA rating? Are the HR systems of the agencies you work with accessible? Are the training and professional development opportunities accessible, for example, are New Zealand Sign Language interpreters available or is material available in Braille, Easy Read, larger print and audio description?

Having the 3As in place will help in creating a diverse and inclusive workforce and a workplace that truly recognises and values the contribution of disabled employees.

Anne Hawker is the Principal Disability Adviser at the Ministry of Social Development where she has worked for the past 12 years. Before that, she worked at ACC and the Ministry of Health and as CE of the Head Injury Society and Director of the Mosgiel Abilities Centre. Anne has held several leadership positions at a regional, national and international level. These have included President of DPA(NZ) and Vice President of the MS NZ. In 2008 she was elected as the first female World President of Rehabilitation International.