On Disability Employment – Part I

Happy New Year everybody! We here at Xcelerate hope you have had a wonderful Christmas and New Years and wish you all the best for 2012.

We hope to provide you with information and strategies to understand and deal with mental health related problems. Please note that the information on this page should not be used as a substitute for professional medical intervention and should only be used as a jumping off point.

Last entry we covered some common myths about people with disability, some of which were related to employment. Let’s kick this entry off with two more employment related myths:

MYTH – People with a disability have few skills and can’t or don’t want to work.

FACT – A recent ABS report found that over one million Australians with all sorts of disabilities were already in the workforce. (Australian Bureau of Statistics, Aging, Disability & Carers Report 2009) It stands to reason that there are more people with disabilities wishing and able to enter the workforce.

MYTH – Workers’ compensation premiums will go through the roof! This is something an employer cannot afford.

FACT – An Australian Safety and Compensation Council review of research found that workers with disability were no more likely to be injured at work than other employees. (Are People with Disability at Risk at Work? A review of the evidence. Australian Safety and Compensation Council, 2007)

While some of this information may overlap with what we discussed last time, it bears repeating. IN fact, Australia ranks 21^st out of 29 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in disability supports and employment (Sickness, Disability and Work: Breaking the Barriers – A Synthesis of Findings across OECD Countries, 2010).

Needless to say, this is not a good result.

Though why should an employer look to employing more people with disabilities?

According to the ABS, nearly 19% of the Australian population has a disability. In numbers, that is over 4 million people!

By employing people with disability businesses can draw from a wider range of talented individuals and ensure that they are picking the best person for the job.

Retaining staff who may have acquired a disability would cut down on hiring and training costs. This would ultimately save businesses money.

Hiring and retaining people with disability serves to boost workplace morale.

It could improve a business’ image. Businesses that hire people with disability could attract a wider customer base and increase customer loyalty. Imagine the word of mouth advertising a company would get from workers with disability and their families.

Hiring and retaining people with disability would also reduce the risk of claims of unlawful discrimination against the organisation.

If you are a business situated in NSW, your business may be able to leverage payroll tax benefits.

Aside from having benefits to businesses, hiring people with disability serves to promote goodwill and benefit the community. For example, less tax money will be allocated to paying disability and unemployment benefits if people with disability were earning a living.

Hiring people with disability would also serve to help people who may otherwise be overlooked. Everybody deserves a fair go, after all.

In part two we will go over some options and resources available to businesses looking to employ people with disability.

Additional information was referenced from:

Employers Guide to Partnering with Disability Employment Services – Joint Australian Network on Disability & Disability Employment Australia

Disability expectations: Investing in a better life, a stronger Australia – PricewaterhouseCoopers

Dispelling Common Myths About Disability

Hello and welcome to our second entry. Here we hope to provide you with information and strategies to understand and deal with mental health related problems. Please note that the information on this page should not be used as a substitute for professional medical intervention and should only be used as a jumping off point.

Today we will be dispelling some common myths about disability and people with disabilities.

MYTH – Supports in the workplace would be too costly

FACT – Most workers with disabilities only need small modifications to be made to the workplace, if at all. Hiring a person with disability through a Disability Employment Service provider or Job Services Australia provider opens up opportunities for additional support and funding to be made available to support the employees with disabilities in their workplace.

MYTH – People with disabilities always need help.

FACT – Many people with disabilities are able to go about their activities without requiring help.

MYTH – People with disabilities need to be protected from failing

FACT – Much like people without disabilities, people with disabilities have a right to and need to participate in the full range of human experiences. This includes both success and failure. While failure may have a negative effect in the short term, it also allows individuals to learn from their mistakes and hone their skills. Employers, thus, should allow all their employees the opportunity to make mistakes, regardless of whether or not they have a disability.

MYTH – Co-workers will be uncomfortable and their productivity will be negatively impacted

FACT – Workers with disabilities have a positive effect on co-workers. Witnessing someone overcome the challenges inherent in dealing with a disability in the workplace can often serve to raise co-worker morale.

MYTH – Employees with disabilities have a higher absentee rate than employees without disabilities

FACT – DuPont’s 1990 survey of people with disability in employment found that there were no significant difference in the rates of absenteeism between employees with disabilities and employees without.

MYTH – People with disabilities cannot contribute to the household, workplace or community

FACT – People with disabilities have a variety of skills and abilities that enable them to make important contributions to the family and the workplace. Oftentimes, they only need the right level of support to allow them to engage in rewarding careers.

MYTH – People with disabilities are ‘not like other people’ because they look, speak or behave differently

FACT – A person’s disability is only one of their many characteristics. Much like a person who wears glasses is no different to other people; people with more serious disabilities are the same and have the same needs and rights. People with disabilities deserve to be valued and respected.

MYTH – People with disabilities have problems getting to work

People with disabilities are just as capable of supplying their own transportation as people without disabilities. They are able to walk, use a car pool, drive, or use public transportation to travel to and from work. In addition, people with disabilities may be eligible for transportation assistance, training, or allowances depending on their circumstances.

MYTH – People with disabilities are unable to meet performance standards, thus making them risky to employ

FACT – The 1990 DuPont survey of 811 employees with disabilities found that 90% of them were rated at average or above average in job performance, compared to 95% of employees without disabilities. Further, additional supports may be available to employees and employers to make the prospect of hiring a person with disability more attractive.

MYTH – Employees with disabilities are more likely to have accidents on the job than employees without disabilities

According to the 1990 DuPont study, the safety records of both groups were identical.

For comprehensive information on employment related issues for people with disabilities in Australia, please visit http://jobaccess.gov.au/. This is a great guide for Employers, Job Seekers and Service Providers.

The above information on disability myths was sourced from the following sites; please refer to the following links for more information:

http://www.easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=ntl_myths_facts

http://www.stockton.gov.uk/citizenservices/learning/steps/dismyth/

http://www.equalityni.org/archive/pdf/FactSheet4.pdf

http://www.inbln.org/styles/inbln/defiles/DispellingMyths.pdf

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=elwdterminal&L=5&L0=Home&L1=Workers+and+Unions&L2=Job+Seekers&L3=Special+Programs&L4=Connecting+Disabled+Workers+and+Employers&sid=Elwd&b=terminalcontent&f=dcs_cc_services_myths_and_facts_people_with_disabilities&csid=Elwd

http://www.doleta.gov/disability/htmldocs/myths.cfm

Stress and the workplace

Stress and the workplace

Hello and welcome to Xcelerateblog! Here we hope to provide you with information and strategies to understand and deal with mental health related problems. Please note that the information on this page should not be used as a substitute for professional medical intervention and should only be used as a jumping off point.

Today we will begin by tackling the issue of stress – work related stress in particular. Let us start off by defining stress:

What is stress?

Stress is your body’s natural response to threatening situations. It allows your body to rise to meet any challenges you may be facing. You may notice that your focus, strength, alertness and stamina are heightened when you are experiencing stress. A little stress is normal and important to functioning.

Stress is only a problem when you are experiencing so much of it that it begins to impact on your ability to cope with day to day life.

Common effects of stress

Stress can have a number of effects on your wellbeing, both physically and psychologically. It may even change the way you behave. Here are a handful of ways stress can impact upon you.

Physical

• Upset stomach
• Inability to sleep
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Muscle tension or pain
• Chest pain

Psychological

• Increased anger, or irritability
• Lack of motivation
• Lack of focus
• Increased anxiety
• Feelings of frustration
• Low self-esteem
• Sadness or depression

Behavioural

• Change to appetite
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• Social withdrawal
• Angry outbursts

As you can see, these effects can have a serious impact on your wellbeing and your productivity in the workplace. So what can you do about it?

Ways to manage Stress

Here are a couple of simple relaxation techniques that you can perform in the workplace to help you reduce your stress:

The Colour dot technique: This technique relies upon a phenomenon called conditioning. Put more simply, it relies on learning an association between two unrelated things through repetition.

First, you need a sticky dot in a colour that sooths you (e.g. you could use a green dot). Stick this dot in a place where you frequently look in your office. You could place it on your watch or on a computer monitor.

For the next part, whenever your
gaze lands on the dot, engage in a little relaxation breathing exercise. You should breathe slowly and deeply. Breathe in deeply through your nose while think to yourself “I am”. Breathe out deeply through your mouth while think “Relaxed”.  Continue doing this breathing exercise for a few minutes while looking at the dot. This slow breathing should calm your body down, and by extension, you too will be feeling calm.

Over time, you will learn the association between the coloured dot and being relaxed. This means you will be able to relax yourself simply by looking at the dot.

In the absence of the dot…
Relaxation breathing: You can utilise the breathing exercise to relax yourself. Remember to breathe slowly and deeply. You may even wish to find a quiet place in the office to spend 5 to 10 minutes engaging in this breathing exercise. You may consider doing this during your lunch break.

You can visit the following sites for more information on stress and stress relief:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress-symptoms/SR00008_D

http://au.reachout.com/find/articles/stress

http://www.stress-relief-tools.com/workplace-relaxation.html

http://hope-wilbanks.hubpages.com/hub/A-Quick-Guide-to-Meditation-in-the-Workplace

About Xcelerate

Xcelerate Employment has been a specialist disability employment provider since 1998.

We deliver a Disability Employment Service (DES) on behalf of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) as well as CTP and Workcover vocational rehabilitation that involves:

• Comprehensive assessment of each jobseeker’s skills, attitudes, vocational preferences and support needs.
• Identification of vocational and non-vocational barriers to employment.
• Place-train model of employment with robust post placement support to ensure sustainable employment outcomes.  [learn more]
• Case Managers with expertise in working with clients with disabilities, mental illness and acquired brain injury.

At Xcelerate, our Mission is to provide personal, individualised services to people with disabilities and special needs. We treat individuals like individuals and provide innovative and evidence based assistance to guide jobseekers along the pathway to independence.

Our Services are tailored to the personal needs of our jobseekers.

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