Welcome Remarks
W. Roy Grizzard, Jr.
Assistant Secretary, U. S. Department of Labor
Office of Disability Employment Policy
Empowering Employers to Build an Inclusive Workforce
JAN Conference 2006
September 18, 2006
Boston, MA
Good morning, and welcome to the fifth annual Job Accommodation Network conference on accommodating and employing people with disabilities. Each year, I am pleased to report, we have more and more interest in this conference. In fact, if this were a theater, we’d be standing-room-only. That kind of response from employers and service providers bodes well for the employment of people with disabilities.
It’s my understanding that over 60 percent of you sitting in the audience are employers – private, federal, state and local. I’d like to take a little time this morning to tell you about some of the initiatives that the Office of Disability Employment Policy, or ODEP, as we call it, has that are focused on “Empowering Employers to Build an Inclusive Workforce.”
I believe the information I am about to share will also be very useful to those of you who are not employers, but who work with employers regularly to help them to build an inclusive workforce.
ABOUT ODEP
First, let me tell you a little about ODEP.
ODEP, an agency of the U. S. Department of Labor, focuses its initiatives on full inclusion of people with disabilities in the 21st Century workforce. Our vision is “a world in which people with disabilities have unlimited employment opportunities.”
ODEP develops policy, programs and demonstration projects to connect businesses with the talent they need to succeed.
Those of you who work in the One-Stop system may already be familiar with our Customized Employment initiative.
Earlier this month, we announced the development of a new credential for workforce development professionals who work with youth. This credential will be added to the Certified Workforce Development Professional program.
A large part of our efforts are devoted to providing disability employment technical assistance to employers. Among the services we fund are the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), your conference host, and the Employer Assistance & Recruiting Network (EARN), your breakfast host this morning.
For ODEP to make a difference, we know that we need to work in cooperation with a variety of partners -- service providers, educators, the workforce development system, to name just a few.
But, of critical importance is our work with employers. It really doesn’t matter how many individuals are ready to work. There must be a demand for that supply.
BUSINESS CASE
In the last few years ODEP has done considerable research on employers, their business need, their views, and the perceived impediments to hiring people with disabilities.
EARN conducted 26 focus groups with executives and human resources professionals across an array of industries.
We learned that the most prevalent employer concerns were the following: (1) finding and hiring qualified employees, (2) finding employees with the right work ethic, and (3) managing costs and benefits.
We know that there are significant challenges ahead. Businesses must find ways to meet the challenges of an aging, shrinking labor force.
ODEP’s employer research found that investing in workers with disabilities is a sound investment.
Employers’ top concern is finding qualified employees.
When employers learn that more and more young people with disabilities are graduating from high school and college, and that people who experience a disability have creative problem solving skills, employers recognize that many candidates with disabilities do have the talents, skills, and experiences for which they are recruiting.
Employers are concerned with performance and retention.
When employers learn that workers with disabilities have comparable performance and retention ratings to those of employees without disabilities, they see that hiring, retaining, and promoting people with disabilities positively impacts their bottom line.
Employers say job accommodations are costly.
When employers hear that almost half of the accommodations that are needed actually cost nothing, and those accommodations that do have a cost typically cost $600, then they see that they can make accommodations easily and cost effectively as well.
NEW FREEDOM INITIATIVE AWARDS
At the Department of Labor, Secretary Elaine L. Chao recognizes individuals, non-profit organizations and businesses that have implemented effective practices in the recruitment, employment, retention and promotion of people with disabilities.
To date she has presented the Department’s New Freedom Initiative Award to 13 businesses, and will recognize 4 more on October 26.
CIRCLE OF CHAMPIONS
Recently, ODEP invited the NFI Award companies to be part of a Circle of Champions and hosted a meeting to exchange information. We also invited several other companies that had demonstrated a commitment to hiring people with disabilities.
We learned about their experiences, which strategies work and which don’t. And, we were struck by their commitment to collaborate on new and innovative strategies to help ODEP expand its reach, and strengthen its impact in order to achieve our vision.
WORKFORCE EXCELLENCE INITIATIVE
But you don’t have to be an NFI awardee for us to work closely with you. A large part of our interaction with business is through our Workforce Excellence Initiative (WEI). This initiative seeks to raise awareness among employers that hiring people with disabilities is good for business.
Through WEI we recognize both companies whose existing work on disability employment practices is a model for other employers and companies that are willing to explore the integration of people with disabilities into recruitment and employment strategies.
As part of the WEI, we are also creating strategic alliances, with both businesses and organizations that represent businesses, to provide our alliance partners with information, guidance, and access to resources that will help them to recruit, hire, and advance workers with disabilities.
IMPORTANCE OF THIS CONFERENCE
At this conference, each of you – whether employer, service provider, educator, Workforce development professional – private or public sector representative – will have the opportunity to learn how to effectively support your efforts to build and maintain an inclusive workforce.
JAN has more than 20 years of expertise in this area. JAN has developed a national – and international – reputation through its thorough and individualized approach to helping employers make workplace accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
I know you will profit from JAN’s experience and the experts that JAN has brought together to address disability-related employment issues. And, I know that if you take back and implement at least some of what you learn in these two days, you and your organization will profit from the experience. And that profit includes your bottom line.
Thank you for your attention. I wish you a most successful conference.
