Annual
Report, 2004 - 2005
Minister's
Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities
Employment
Strategy for Persons with Disabilities
Council
Mandate
The Minister's
Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities advises the Minister
of Human Resources on solutions and strategies for increasing the
employment, employability and independence of persons with disabilities,
particularly through partnerships with business and industry throughout
BC.
The Minister's
Council is a
"call to action" and a positive challenge
to BC’s business community.
Minister's Message
On behalf of
the Government of British Columbia's Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance,
I am pleased to present the second annual report of the Minister's
Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities.
As Minister of
Human Resources, I am dedicated to supporting persons with disabilities
to achieve greater independence through employment, and I am committed
to helping BC businesses succeed.
Most persons with
disabilities want to work and businesses need better access to greater
numbers of skilled workers. Despite improvements in technology and
workplace supports, persons with disabilities continue to face high
levels of unemployment - and businesses have not been connecting with
this talented and highly motivated workforce.
It is the Council’s
mission to challenge this reality head-on.
During the past
year, the Minister’s Council studied employers’ experiences,
approaches and challenges in recruiting and retaining employees with
disabilities. We used the results of this research to develop new
resources to help remove obstacles facing employers and employees
with disabilities, and to cultivate a new appreciation for persons
with disabilities in the workplace.
The Minister’s
Council launched its new tools at a ground-breaking event called
WorkAble
Solutions: Taking Action on Employment for Persons with Disabilities
in Vancouver last December. These new tools include a handbook to
help employers address their concerns, a new Internet job source for
workers with disabilities and a WorkAble Solutions video showcasing
the benefits of hiring persons with disabilities.
Two hundred business
leaders came to share the results of the council’s research
and celebrate the launch of our new employment resources. These executives
are the first to bring the WorkAble Solutions message to the BC marketplace.
Next year’s challenge is to bring that message to all British
Columbia businesses.
The work of the
past year has been a great success and I would like to thank all those
people who worked so hard to make this happen.
Yours sincerely,
The Honourable
Susan Brice
Council
Chair
Minister of Human Resources
Introduction
to the 2004-2005 Annual Report
The 2003-2004
Minister’s Council report,
"A Profile of Persons with
Disabilities in British Columbia: Employment, Labour Market Needs
and Occupational Projection,"
concluded that systemic issues
and historical biases in labour practices must be examined and corrected
for persons with disabilities to access employment opportunities.
To instigate change in BC’s business community, a co-ordinated
effort by employers and government is required.
The Minister’s
Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities began the 2004-2005
year by undertaking a research project to document employers’experiences in hiring persons with disabilities. On December 3, 2004,
the Minister’s Council launched the WorkAble Solutions initiative
that included the introduction of an interactive web site and tools,
including a handbook that serves to support the recruitment, employment
and retention of persons with disabilities. The results of our research
informed the development of the handbook as a practical guide for
employers on the realities and merits of hiring people with disabilities.
The research project
built a strong business case for BC employers - persons with disabilities
are an important talent pool that is largely been overlooked in British
Columbia. Despite employers’historical concerns, research shows
that the job performance of persons with disabilities has proven to
meet or exceed that of employees without disabilities. Furthermore,
persons with disabilities represent $25 billion in spending power
in Canada, the cost of most workplace accommodations is minimal, disability
management programs are proactive and cost-effective and, hiring persons
with disabilities builds an inclusive, effective and productive work
environment.
The successful
launch of WorkAble Solutions serves to inform the business community
of the tremendous resource British Columbia has in its persons with
disabilities. This past year was important in marking a transition
from project planning to implementation. The WorkAble Solutions initiative
is truly a reflection of the Council’s mandate to be a 'call
to action’and represent a positive challenge to BC’s
business community.
Background
BC’s
Employment Strategy for Persons with Disabilities
Working Towards
Greater Self-Reliance and Participation
The Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance envisions a province in which those British Columbians
in need are assisted to achieve their social and economic potential.
The ministry also provides services that move people toward sustainable
employment and assist individuals and families in need.
In April 2002,
the ministry announced a new Employment Strategy for Persons with
Disabilities. The Strategy is a comprehensive approach to supporting
persons with disabilities who want to take advantage of opportunities
to be employed on a full-time, part-time, temporary or voluntary basis.
It also provides for continued assistance to those who are not expected
to be able to gain independence.
The Strategy has
focused on two key initiatives:
- Development
of a specialized Employment Program for Persons with Disabilities
(EPPD), offering a full range of services, tools and supports such
as job training and placement, technical equipment, physical accommodations
and follow-up workplace support (www.mhr.gov.bc.ca/pwd/eppd/htm);
and,
- Establishment
of the Minister’s Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities,
which held its inaugural meeting in January 2003.
Further to these
initiatives, in April 2003, the government established a $20 million
endowment fund with the Vancouver Foundation to assist British Columbians
with disabilities to find and maintain employment. This Disability
Supports for Employment Fund is used to provide a range of support
services that enable persons with disabilities to participate in the
workplace as they are able. Each year, approximately $1 million in
income from the fund will be distributed in grants to BC charities.
In December 2003,
the Minister’s Council report,
"A Profile of Persons
with Disabilities in British Columbia: Employment, Labour Market Needs,
and Occupational Projections,"
examined the employment
and employability of persons with disabilities in BC. The research
team concluded that employers were not utilizing the skills and abilities
of persons with disabilities to their fullest potential, and that
employment projects do not always provide what persons with disabilities
want or require. Moreover, researchers found that employers needed
access to better, more readily available information about the workplace
needs of persons with disabilities.
This research,
coupled with the Minister’s Council report
"Recruitment
and Retention of Persons with Disabilities in British Columbia Research
Report"
(2004), informed the development and eventual launch
of WorkAble Solutions on December 3, 2004, including a set of tools
aimed to assist BC’s business community recruit and retain persons
with disabilities.
Annual
Report 2004-2005
Research
Project: Recruitment and Retention of Persons with Disabilities in
British Columbia
Persons with
disabilities are an untapped talent pool that is being overlooked
by many employers in British Columbia. In fact, employers in British
Columbia who do not recruit persons with disabilities are eliminating
almost 300,000 individuals from the provincial labour market.
In April 2004,
the Minister’s Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities
launched a research project to achieve the following:
- Research,
document and validate British Columbia employers’experiences,
approaches, challenges and best practices with respect to recruitment
and retention of employees with disabilities; and
- Create a useful
tool to encourage BC employers to recruit and accommodate persons
with disabilities and gain visibility with other employers regarding
potential employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.
The Minister’s
Council retained the services of a consortium lead by WCG International
Consultants Ltd., in partnership with Human Capital Strategies, Sorensen
&
Associates, and Spark Group, to undertake the research.
The researchers
documented the experiences of British Columbia employers. Research
methodology included a literature review of all relevant reports,
studies and data sources, a survey of over 500 employers in all sectors
and regions, seven in-depth employer case study interviews, and focus
groups involving 47 key employers, academics, government and stakeholders.
The research findings
provide evidence of the challenges employers face when recruiting
and retaining persons with disabilities, as well as potential solutions.
The research demonstrates that there is a need for attitudinal changes
and awareness-raising among employers, more effective practices, better
information and co-ordination of services for employers and more support
services for and awareness among persons with disabilities.
Based on their
findings, some of the researchers’recommendations included:
- Developing
a cost benefit analysis of hiring persons with disabilities
- Developing
employer networks to promote hiring and retention of persons with
disabilities
- Developing
a one-stop-shop for information and resources
- Developing
an awareness campaign for the public and employers
- Improving
the matching of supply and demand by effectively using employer
networks, industry groups and employment agencies.
The Executive
Summary and the Final Research and Validation Report from the Recruitment
and Retention of Persons with Disabilities in British Columbia Research
Project can be viewed and downloaded from www.mhr.gov.bc.ca/epwd/initiative.htm.
December
3, 2004: Launch of WorkAble Solutions
WorkAble
Solutions: Taking Action on Employment for People with Disabilities.
To mark the 2004
United Nations International Day of Disabled Persons on December 3rd,
the Honourable Susan Brice, Minister of Human Resources announced
a new set of tools to support employment for persons with disabilities,
which included the launch of an interactive job web site and an Employer
Handbook to support the recruitment and retention of persons with
disabilities.
WorkAble Solutions
was announced to incite change and encourage action among British
Columbia’s business community: persons with disabilities are
a valuable asset and an untapped element of our work force that can
no longer be ignored.
The event attracted
more than two hundred business executives to address employment opportunities
for both BC businesses and persons with disabilities.
The December 3rd
event included the following:
-
WorkAble
Solutions Web Site:
WorkAble Solutions - http://www.workablesolutionsbc.ca/
This web site is a contemporary job source that connects employers
and job seekers with disabilities in British Columbia. The web site
is mutually beneficial for persons with disabilities and employers.
It acts as a job posting resource for British Columbians with disabilities
that are seeking employment, and facilitates the recruitment of
persons with disabilities for the business community. Support for
employers is available on the web site and resources include the
Employer Handbook and the Research Report, as well as links and
information on employment agencies.
Furthermore, the web site allows BC employers to demonstrate their
commitment to hiring persons with disabilities by advertising job
postings on the WorkAble Solutions site.
-
WorkAble
Solutions Employer Handbook:
Recruiting and Retaining Persons with Disabilities in British Columbia
- An Employer Handbook
The Employer Handbook is a practical 'how-to’guide
to recruiting, retaining and accommodating employees with disabilities.
The handbook demonstrates how employers can turn challenges into
workable solutions and increase the recruitment and retention of
persons with disabilities through information, awareness, education
and training, accommodation, workplace supports and effective disability
management. The handbook provides useful information to employers
on how to implement seven components of the recruitment/retention
cycle. The seven components are:
1. Getting started
2. Job design
3. Recruiting
4. Orientation and Preparation
5. Employee Development
6. Retention
7. Return to work
-
The
WorkAble Solutions Corporate Video
The WorkAble Solutions Corporate Video is a short informative tool
that offers employers a quick summary of benefits received from
recruiting and retaining persons with disabilities in their organizations.
Industry leaders and employees with disabilities are featured throughout,
each recounting a compelling story of the mutually positive effects
and results they have experienced as part of organizations that
hire and accommodate qualified job seekers with disabilities.
In creating this video, the Council sends a clear and concise message
to employers: hiring and accommodating employees with disabilities
will have a positive impact on employees, customers and business
performance. The video’s testimonials exemplify how hiring
persons with disabilities provides tangible benefits for both the
employer and employee with a disability.
The Disability
Supports for Employment Fund
Removing
Barriers to Employment
The lack of disability
supports - goods and services designed to assist persons with disabilities
in securing and retaining employment - is one of the top barriers
to employment for persons with disabilities.
The Disability
Supports for Employment Fund was created in April 2003, to provide
specialized accommodation, such as vehicle or workplace modification,
as well as tools and services to help persons with disabilities overcome
barriers to participating in employment or employment-related activities.
The Fund was
established with a $20 million endowment from the BC government and
is administered by the Vancouver Foundation. The foundation was selected
as fund manager because of its province-wide mandate and long-standing
history of philanthropic leadership.
Grants are awarded annually in June and December. The Minister’s
Council on Employment for Persons Disabilities provides advice to
the Vancouver Foundation on the disbursement of funds.
For more information
about the Disability Supports for Employment Fund, including funding
guidelines, the grant application process and application deadlines,
you can visit the Vancouver Foundation web site at: www.vancouverfoundation.bc.ca.
2004-2005
Grant Recipients
British
Columbia Rehabilitation Foundation - $50,000
Return-to-Work Program for the Assistive Technology
Service at GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre
GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre provides a vocational rehabilitation
counselling service. The Assistive Technology
&
Seating Service
(ATSS) supports persons with disabilities with job accommodation,
technology guidance, and rehearsal for future vocational endeavours.
The technology solutions currently held in the ATSS’s Technical
Aids Laboratory require updating.
Canadian
Mental Health Association - $50,000
Cowichan Casual Labour Pool
This project will create a continuous training program for mental
health peer support workers. They will provide assistance when necessary
to persons with disabilities employed through the Casual Labour Pool.
Canadian
National Institute for the Blind - $50,000
CNIB Employment Training Workshop
A peer-mentoring approach will be used in the development of a pre-employment
training workshop for blind and visually impaired persons.
Cowichan
Valley Independent Living - $57,900
Supportive Employment Program for Persons with Disabilities
A peer support model will provide pre and post-employment assistance
to persons with disabilities.
Delta
Advocates for Community Mental Health Society - $50,000
Vocational Mentorship Program
The Vocational Mentorship Program will develop strong partnerships
with the business community with a
"mentorship" model
and to promote positive work experience, employment and transition
outcomes for individuals with mental health issues.
Developmental
Disabilities Association - $20,000
Employment Success Program at Jobs West
Employment Success Program at Jobs West will augment existing employment
services by providing essential vocational and social skills training
which will increase the employment potential for up to 60 adults with
developmental disabilities.
Kamloops
Brain Injury Association - $30,000
Pre-Foundational Skill Development
To develop a pre-foundational skills program for survivors with brain
injury so they can be prepared to enter pre-employment and vocational
training programs offered in the community.
Kwantlen
University College - $80,200
BC Employer/Persons with Disabilities
Inclusion Marketing Project
To develop a marketing team of post-secondary students and recent
graduates who are persons with disabilities to meet with BC employers
and present a business case for hiring persons with disabilities.
Neil Squire
Foundation - $110,000
Establishment of the Assistive Technology for Employment Centre
(ATEC)
A province-wide network will be developed for the provision of disability
supports for employment by establishing ATEC hubs in key areas of
the province.
Pacific
Assistance Dogs Society - $40,000
Jobs With Dogs
"Jobs With Dogs" will focus on a direct employment link
side effect of the program. While Pacific Assistance Dogs Society
goals and client approval criteria have focused on greater independence
and an enhanced quality of life, a recent board survey found that
many clients acquire the confidence and self-esteem necessary to improve
their education and gain or maintain employment.
POLARIS
Employment Services Society - $56,215
Reality Works
Reality Works will assist 12 youth (ages 18 - 25) with developmental
disabilities to assess, seek, administer and evaluate their disability
supports for employment.
Powell
River Model Community Project - $75,000
Employment Preparation Program
This project will help persons with disabilities become work ready.
By taking a holistic approach, the program’s team will work
with the individual; helping with all employment barriers: transportation,
socialization, childcare, lack of self-esteem, budgeting, vital statistics,
nutrition, personal hygiene, housing, education and job search. Each
participant will have a job coach to give guidance and support throughout
the process, even after they are gainfully employed.
Quesnel
Tillicum Society - $30,000
Moving Forward - Life Skill Program for Individuals with Fetal
Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Moving Forward - Life Skill Program for Individuals with Fetal Alcohol
Spectrum Disorder will assist FASD adults to develop daily living
skills, appropriate social behaviours and to identify employment goals.
Selkirk
College - $50,000
Internet Business Development for Entrepreneurs with Disabilities
Program
Internet Business Development for Entrepreneurs with Disabilities
Program will assist rural people with chronic health issues or disabilities
with establishing a home-based business.
Stepping
Stone Community Services - $50,000
Supported Work Enhancement Project
The project will increase employment opportunities for people with
serious and persistent mental illness by working in partnership with
local businesses to develop better job placements and providing on-site
support.
Steps
Forward - Inclusive Post-Secondary - $60,000
STEPS Co-op - Inclusive Co-op Employment
The STEPS Co-op - Inclusive Co-op Employment project undertaken in
partnership with Rotary and Spectrum and will promote the inclusion
of young adults with intellectual disabilities in the paid labour
force.
Surrey
Community Services Society - $44,035
Surrey Consumer Empowerment Project
Towards Real Employment
Surrey Consumer Empowerment Project Towards Real Employment will provide
adults with serious and persistent mental illness the opportunity
to develop basic work skills that may be later transferred to other
vocational environments. A qualified mental health consumer will be
hired to coordinate the program.
T.Y.E.S.
Transition Youth Employment - $50,000
Job Coaching/Employment Supports
Job Coaching/Employment Supports will provide job coaching services
to persons with disabilities who are working in paid employment positions.
University
College of the Fraser Valley - $50,000
Targeted Employability Skills Training Program
Targeted Employability Skills Training Program will implement a new
model for integrating classroom employability instruction and skill-specific
training and work experience for diverse students with disabilities.
The Next
Steps
The launch of
the WorkAble Solutions initiative in 2004-2005 represents a point
of departure for the 2005-2006 year. The WorkAble Solutions tools
are readily available to employers in British Columbia and the interactive
web site facilitates job searching for persons with disabilities.
It is paramount to ensure that the dominant messages of WorkAble Solutions
have an impact on BC’s business community and subsequently to
improve employment outcomes for persons with disabilities in British
Columbia.
In 2005-2006,
WorkAble Solutions will move to the next phase by building momentum
and gaining further recognition of the WorkAble Solutions initiative
and partnerships with BC’s business community. For example,
a pilot marketing project funded by the Disability Supports for Employment
Fund and managed through a partnership between Kwantlen University
College and the BC Human Resources Management Association (BCHRMA)
is underway. The BC Employer/Persons with Disabilities Inclusion Marketing
Project provides training and skills for a number of post-secondary
students and recent graduates with disabilities to act as a marketing
team. Their mission is to reach out directly to BC employers and demonstrate
how, where and why to hire persons with disabilities, utilizing the
WorkAble Solutions tools.
By developing
new partnerships with businesses in British Columbia and fostering
existing ones, the Minister’s Council hopes to maximize the
impacts of WorkAble Solutions by enhancing its sustainability to create
more job opportunities for persons with disabilities.
A Final
Note
The members of
the Minister’s Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities
hope that you have found this annual report informative. The Council
encourages you, whether you are an employer, person with a disability
or a stakeholder, to join the Council’s
"call to action" challenge to increase the employment, employability and independence
of persons with disabilities. It is a challenge where success means
we all benefit.
Members
of the Minister’s Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities:
Honourable
Susan Brice
, (Chair) Minister of Human Resources
Robin
Ciceri
, Deputy Minister of Human Resources
Don
Avison
, President
University
Presidents’Council of British Columbia
Maurizio
Baldini
, Coordinator
Peer Support Program, South Okanagan-Similkameen Branch, Canadian
Mental Health Association
David
Berrington
, President
BC Human Resource Management Association
Robert
Buchan
, President
BC University Colleges Consortium
Bonnie
Campbell
, Vice-President
Human Resources and Public Relations, Thrifty Foods
Alice
Downing
, Consultant
Trustee of the BC Pulp and Paper Industry Health and Welfare Plan
Ron
Drolet
, Vice-President
Customer Service and Corporate Secretary, BC Transit
Kevin
Evans
, Vice President
Western Canada, Retail Council of Canada
Mary
Mahon Jones
, Chief Executive Officer
Council of Tourism Associations
Winston
Leckie
, Executive Director
Opportunities through Rehabilitation and Work
Honourable Brenda Locke, Minister of State for Mental Health and
Addiction Services
Clint
Mahlman
, Vice President
Human Resources, London Drugs Limited
Michele
Mawhinney
, Vice President
Human Resources, Vancouver International Airport Authority
David
Park
, Assistant Managing Director and Chief Economist
Vancouver Board of Trade
Jim
Reed
, President
BC College Presidents
Bill
Ross
, Regional Executive Head
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada,
BC-Yukon Region
Dallas
Smith
, Executive Chairman
Tlowitsis First Nation
Linda
Sinclair
, Vice President
Service Delivery, Western Canada, Royal Bank of Canada
Sam
Sullivan
, Founder
Disability Foundation
Mike
Touchie
, President
BC Aboriginal Network on Disability Society
John
Winter
, President
BC Chamber of Commerce
|
