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Archive: August 2021

SEPTEMBER IS ACCESSIBILITY MONTH AT SMALL BUSINESS BC

31 August 2021
Categories: happening

Across British Columbia, there are more than 614,000 individuals aged 15-64 that have a disability. These skilled and diverse individuals represent an important talent pool that remains under-represented in the workforce, despite comparable education and skillsets.

The business case for hiring disabled individuals has never been stronger. For companies looking to gain a competitive advantage, 90% of consumers prefer businesses that employ people with disabilities. Is your business taking steps towards becoming an accessible employer?

“No one should be shut out of meaningful work and participation in society because of barriers to accessibility,” said Nicholas Simons, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. “By supporting employers as they hire, train and promote people with disabilities, we are supporting long-term and meaningful employment for the over 20% of British Columbians living with disabilities.”

Introducing Accessibility Month at Small Business BC

September is Disability Employment Month in British Columbia. It offers an important opportunity to celebrate and recognize inclusive employers and the vital contribution people with disabilities make in the workplace.

Small Business BC is marking the occasion by hosting Accessibility Month: ‘It Matters’, a month of free business education featuring ASL interpretation and closed captioning. Accessibility Month covers a variety of popular business topics, from business planning to marketing and payroll.

This year, our theme of ‘It Matters’ highlights that individuals with a disability are equal in every way, and we all have an important role to play in empowering their success through the creation of a more accessible world. By offering broader access to skills and training, we hope to encourage more people to join us on this important journey toward removing barriers and creating a more inclusive workplace.

In keeping with current public health guidelines, all educational sessions will be delivered remotely via webinar. These presentations will show the ASL interpretation and on-screen live captioning alongside the webinar speaker.

How it Works

Whether you’re looking to start or grow your business, our educational calendar for the month is stacked with informative and practical sessions that will put your business on the road to success. Demand is expected to be extremely high and places are limited. Book as early as possible to avoid disappointment. If you do happen to miss out on the webinar of your choice, we will be opening a waitlist.

Webinars Available During Accessibility Month

 

 

Google Launches Program To Hire More People With Autism

26 August 2021
Categories: happening

Google is teaming up with Stanford University in an effort to make its workforce more neurodiverse.

The technology giant said recently that it is launching a new program aimed at bringing more people with autism into its cloud workforce and supporting them better.

With Google Cloud’s Autism Career Program, the company said that it will work with experts from the Stanford Neurodiversity Project — part of the university’s medical school — to train as many as 500 Google Cloud managers and others who are integral in the hiring process to work more effectively with candidates who have autism.

Stanford will also help coach job applicants with autism and the support will continue if candidates are hired.

In addition, there will be changes to the interview process for those who are part of the Autism Career Program in order to be more accommodating, according to Rob Enslin, president of global customer operations for Google Cloud. Candidates with autism may receive extra interview time, be offered questions in advance or be able to do their interview in writing.

“These accommodations don’t give those candidates an unfair advantage,” Enslin said in a blog post about the new program. “It’s just the opposite: They remove an unfair disadvantage so candidates have a fair and equitable chance to compete for the job.”

Enslin cited statistics showing that just 29% of those with autism have paid employment, a situation he called “tragic” and one he said is in many cases the result of unconscious bias.

“This bias often unintentionally marginalizes great candidates and means businesses miss out on valuable talent who can contribute and enrich the workplace,” Enslin said. “This program is just one example of Google Cloud’s commitment to inclusion, and it is an important step forward to building a more representative team and creating value for customers and stakeholders.”

 

Invis – ABLE

26 August 2021
Categories: working

Other Types of Invisible Disabilities

  • Chronic Pain: A variety of conditions may cause chronic pain. A few of those reasons may be back problems, bone disease, physical injuries, and any number of other reasons. Chronic pain may not be noticeable to people who do not understand the victims specific medical condition.
  • Chronic Fatigue: This type of disability refers to an individual who constantly feels tired. This can be extremely debilitating and affect every aspect of a persons every day life.
  • Mental Illness: There are many mental illnesses that do qualify for disability benefits. Some examples are depression, attention deficit disorder, schizophrenia, agoraphobia, and many others. These diseases can also be completely debilitating to the victim, and can make performing everyday tasks extremely difficult, if not impossible.
  • Chronic Dizziness: Often associated with problems of the inner ear, chronic dizziness can lead to impairment when walking, driving, working, sleeping, and other common tasks.

People with psychiatric disabilities make up a large segment of the invisibly-disabled population.

Invisible disabilities can also include chronic illnesses such as renal failure, diabetes, and sleep disorders if those diseases significantly impair normal activities of daily living. If a medical condition does not impair normal activities, then it is not considered a disability.

96% of people with chronic medical conditions live with an illness that is invisible.

Many people living with a hidden physical disability or mental challenge are still able to be active in their hobbies, work and be active in sports. On the other hand, some struggle just to get through their day at work and some cannot work at all.

List of SOME Invisible Disabilities

 

Employer Inclusion Awareness

26 August 2021
Categories: thinking

September is a time to celebrate and recognize inclusive employers and the important contribution people with disabilities make in the workplace.

5 Easy Tips to Being a More Inclusive Employer

    1.  Talk to your staff about the benefits of inclusive hiring and why it makes good business sense.
    2.  Celebrate the diversity of your existing team through a lunch and learn or group outing.
    3.  Talk to other organizations – like members of the Presidents Group – who are also on this journey and learn from their experiences.
    4.  Review your recruitment practices – what barriers might exist for someone trying to apply?
    5. Check out what some of our Presidents Group members have done:

 

 

What Are Other Employers Doing in September?

  •  Vancity is hosting a book club on the topic of disabilities for employees.
  •  Gabi & Jules Bakery is connecting with other small businesses to have a conversation about inclusive employment.
  •  The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority will feature intranet stories on the topic of people with disabilities in the workplace.
  •  Destination BC is engaging their employees by having quizzes related to content on accessibleemployers.ca
  •  The BC Tech Association is following @AccessEmployers on Twitter and re-tweeting relevant content to spread awareness within their network.

What is your organization doing to build diversity and inclusion?

Shared from: https://accessibleemployers.ca/september-is-disability-employment-month-in-bc/

 

 

 

PRINCETON JOB BOARD

25 August 2021
Categories: working

WorkBC Princeton welcomes you to come into our centre and look at our Job Board!

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