Are you looking for disability services in Wollongong or disability services in Campbelltown? Alive4Life Disability Services offers a range of individualised and engaging options to support NDIS participants on their journey towards personal empowerment and fulfillment.

What Are the Advantages of Hiring People With Disabilities?

Employing people with disability benefits companies in terms of productivity, loyalty, and their overall working environment. Aside from the fact that people with disability are recognised for promoting increased customer loyalty, employing them also means that you have the advantage of a great talent pool.

Let's have a look at the other advantages of hiring someone with a disability.

Fewer Compensation Incidents

People with disability tend to take fewer days off work and stay in jobs longer than other workers, according to the Government of Western Australia's Disability Services. What's more, they also possess good employee performance qualities that other employees may pick up to increase their attendance and tenure.



Strong Connections

Most companies work hard to improve the loyalty of their customers. With so much competition in the business, you have to find ways to stand apart. And the individuals you hire can offer you an edge. Notably, with the diligence and loyalty they have, most people with disability can build strong connections with customers, encouraging them to patronise your business repeatedly.



More Creative Solutions

Having a diverse workforce benefits both the company and its employees by providing different and innovative ideas to the team. Because people with disability can sometimes have a deeper understanding of your clients needs, employing them can add diverse perspectives to your discussions.



Why Do Companies Employ People With Disabilities?

There are a number of reasons why companies are now considering employing people with disabilities in their business. In fact, they can help companies in a variety of ways.



High Employee Retention Rate

Many studies have demonstrated that people with disability experience fewer absences from work and are more likely to work longer stretches of time than employees without disabilities. When looking for a career, people with disability prefer to look for secure, dependable employment. As a result, employee retention rate is high which could also be beneficial for the company's financial line.



Market Expansion

Consumers are most likely to support companies that meet their demands. Employing and promoting people with disability shows consumers with disabilities, as well as their families and friends, that they are appreciated, which may influence them to become or remain loyal customers and think more highly of the firm.



Increased Diversity

By having a diverse workforce, people without disability can learn more about making the workplace more inclusive and accessible by working alongside employees with disabilities. Significantly, they might take into account issues they had never tackled before. Workers with disabilities can also teach their coworkers how to be creative and find new approaches to challenges or tasks.



Exceptional Skills

What Abilities Could a Person With a Disability Bring to Your Business?

Problem solving

People with disability spent their entire lives resolving issues, and they can apply that mentality to their profession. Having the need to employ unconventional methods of doing their tasks, they can help others approach their work in a better way.



Innovative

Many people with disability use technological advancements in their daily lives. Using their knowledge with technology, they can potentially bring a diverse approach in dealing with work and clients in new and creative ways.



Reliability

People with disability are pretty reliable when it comes to attendance. They take their jobs seriously so you won't have a problem with turnovers and paying paid leaves.

How Do You Help a Coworker With a Disability?

People with disability can be more productive when they don't feel uncomfortable around their coworkers. Here are some ways that can help a coworker with disability.



Be Kind

Just like anyone else, people with disability also want to be treated equally. Being kind could be more than just being friendly. Despite having disabilities, they want to be able to contribute to the company as well.

By helping them accomplish certain tasks, people with disability boost staff morale and feel more comfortable working around other workers.



Know Their Preferred Communication Method

People with disability may have different preferences and needs when it comes to how they would like to be reached out by other workers. For instance, a person with mental health conditions or autism may prefer e-mails instead of phone calls and face-to-face meetings to avoid getting pressured to craft a response.

By considering their preferred communication methods, you are enabling them to share more ideas and be more expressive of themselves.



Be Flexible

Be adaptable. Whether you are a coworker or the boss of an employee with a disability, you can extend help to them by occasionally allowing them to work from home to accommodate to their doctor's appointment, manage discomfort, or otherwise be more productive. They might need to schedule particular tasks to work on days where assistive technology is most easily accessible.



Ask For Their Opinions

Workers with hearing disabilities or those who process language more slowly could be excluded from decision-making easily if they take too long to put their names forward.

Make sure to give everyone enough time to offer their opinions, then pay close attention to every response. Whether you do this on e-mail or on face-to-face meetings, you can use several channels of communication to seek responses and ideas from your employees with disabilities.



Create an Inclusive Workplace

One effective way to help people with disability is to create an inclusive workplace where they can feel equally included and supported, regardless of who they are or what they do for the company.



How Does the Support Wage System Work?

The Support Wage System provides a framework for calculating the wages paid to employees with disabilities who might not be capable to perform jobs of the same level as other employees.

In this system, a competent assessor will provide a free productivity assessment to companies to recommend how much wage subsidies will be paid to the employees with disabilities based on their productivity.

The assessment will:

• be completed at a time that is convenient for the employer, the employee with disability, the Employment Services provider, and the nominee (if the employee has one)
• take place during the employee's regular working days

The assessor can also offer advice on any adjustments that should be made so that the employee can perform their duties normally.



Takeaway

Employing people with disability or mental health conditions should not always be the last resort of employers. Despite being at a high risk of unemployment, the Australian government emphasises that people with disability can become valuable employees if given the proper training and resources. Not only does it provide an opportunity for them to become more independent and find meaningful work, but hiring people with disability allows employers to gain extra skills on their team.



At Alive4Life, we believe that every person with disability has the choice to work and live a fulfilling life, which is why we provide targeted support specifically designed for them. Whether you are a person with disability looking for work support or are an employer wanting to make your workplace more inclusive and accessible for employees with unique needs, our team at Alive4Life can help. Our work support services include disabled-friendly facilities, work accommodations, modified accessible instructions, and work materials in formats supporting accessibility standards, among others.