APPENDIX B: CORE SUPPORTS

V. Employment Supports

Overview

In 1997 the federal, provincial, and territorial governments endorsed an employment support initiative entitled the Employment Assistance for People with Disabilities (EAPD). This initiative was developed to respond to workplace, systemic and physical barriers that challenged persons with disabilities from fully participating in the Canadian workforce. The emphasis of the program was on employment assessment and counselling, provision of assistive technologies, and incentives for employers. The EAPD agreements were reinforced by federal partnership with provinces and territories and the creation of In Unison, a federal disability strategy. Through In Unison, this partnership has identified several employment-related commitments. Two examples are promotion of work and volunteer opportunities and encouragement to employers to make appropriate job and workplace accommodations.

The provision of employment supports is essential to the establishment of full citizenship amongst all Albertans. In 1991, the labour participation rate for Albertans with disabilities was reported to be 66% compared to a rate of 84% for the general population. Without the assistance of employment supports, persons with disabilities will continue to be under-represented in workforce participation statistics, earn less income than their non-disabled peers, and require ongoing government assistance for funding basic and disability supports required in daily living.

While 44% of persons with disabilities are not actively a part of the workforce, more than half of this population reported they would be capable of full participation if barriers and disincentives were permanently removed. Canadian men without disabilities had an average employment income of $30,000 in 1991 compared to $22,129 for men with disabilities. Canadian women without disabilities had an average income of $18,000 compared to $13,425 for women with disabilities.

Employment supports refers to the range of services and aids required by Albertans and employers in the workplace. Similar to personal supports, the type of employment supports required by an individual is dependent on the type and severity of disability, the nature of the workplace environment, and employment duties of the position.

Employment supports for an employee with disabilities may include altering the work schedule or restructuring the job, among other changes.

Persons planning to or already employing persons with disabilities have indicated that having access to employment supports significantly impacted their decision to employ them and the subsequent success or failure of the work arrangement. Some of the employment supports identified as significant to employers included funding for accommodation costs and information and assistance with accommodating the workplace.

Context of Employment Supports in Alberta

Employment supports for Albertans with disabilities is a shared responsibility of the Alberta and federal governments. However, the Alberta government has the responsibility for administering employment supports through Alberta Human Resources and Employment. The Ministry has five programs that deliver employment supports across Alberta. They include Disability Related Employment Supports, Skills for Work, Train-on-the-Job, Skills Development, and Self-Employment.

Depending on the need for employment and the availability of services in the individual’s community, a person may access one or more these supports.

Disability Related Employment Supports

Throughout Alberta, the Career Development Centres or Canada-Alberta Service Centres receive funding to deliver the Disability Related Employment Supports (DRES) program to Albertans residing in the community. Supports covered by DRES funding are goods and services that are beyond the employment supports provided by mainstream services. Albertans with disabilities may require services that are no longer in duration or more expensive than traditional mainstream services. The DRES program is a supplement to existing mainstream programs for individuals with disabilities who are destined for the labour market. The four disability related employment supports covered by this funding are education supports, workplace supports, assistive technology and financial supports.

The provision of DRES is based on an individual’s employment plan that outlines specific activities with estimated timelines for completion. The employability assessment and employment plan identify required interventions for the individual with disabilities to progress towards full employment.

The Premier’s Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities has had an opportunity to review the disability related employment supports programs in the regions of Calgary South, Edmonton Canada Place, Lethbridge, Grande Prairie, Hinton, Lloydminster, and Peace River. Funders, persons with disabilities, and service providers identified several issues during the review of DRES. Two examples are poor portability of employment supports across regions, and limited staff knowledge about the program and its funding administration.

A Need for Employment Supports Reported by Albertans with Disabilities

A 1991 study showed that when questioned about their requirements for work, 20% of Albertans with disabilities identified employment supports as a necessary component of their workplace environment. Of the Albertans with disabilities identified as unemployed or not in the labour force, less than 37% indicated employment supports as necessary for their potential employment environment.

Various programs funded by Human Resource Development Canada and Alberta Human Resource and Employment have indicated that some employers require assistance with, for example, locating accessible technology or assistive devices. By identifying the needs of employers for employment supports, the provincial and federal governments have been better able to plan for programs that address employment supports and deliver the outcomes desired by Albertans, employers and governments.

The majority of employment supports identified as necessary for work by Albertans with disabilities are job redesign, modified or reduced hours, and accessible washrooms. Depending on the nature and severity of disability, the 1991 national study identified one or more employment supports as necessary within the workplace environment for employed Albertans with disabilities.

Challenges Associated with Employment Supports

Despite the numerous initiatives aimed at improving employment supports for persons with disabilities, provincial human rights statistics suggest that employers are continuing to struggle with understanding the:

• Legal obligation of “duty to accommodate”. “Duty to accommodate” is a legal obligation that requires employers to take reasonable steps, without suffering undue hardship, to accommodate an employee that is identified as having a protected ground of discrimination based on human rights law. Other grounds protected by human rights legislation that have been cited as requiring an accommodation are religion, gender and race.
• Options for accommodating a person with disabilities in the work environment.
• Balance of “undue hardship” in assessing accommodation options. The concept of “undue hardship” has been defined as an accommodation that would impose an unreasonable hardship on the employer and that the hardship is unacceptable based on issues like financial cost, impact of a collective agreement, problems with employee morale, flexibility of work force and facilities, size of employer’s business, and safety. Accommodations that impose an inconvenience or operational upset are not sufficient to satisfy the undue hardship test.
• Cost of accommodations in the workplace and responsibility for funding the accommodations options. The Job Accommodation Network reports that 80% of job-related accommodations for persons with disabilities are less than $500.

Outcomes and Strategies

Specific Outcomes

1. Persons with disabilities will have the same opportunity as non-disabled Albertans to choose from employment options.
2. All Albertans will have the support they require to prepare for employment.
3. All Albertans will have the support and information required to access and make informed choices from a range of employment opportunities and to progress along a chosen career path.
<1i>Persons with disabilities will be valued members of Alberta’s workforce.

Visionary Outcome

All Albertans will have access to the employment and career opportunities required to reach for and achieve their full potential.

Short-Term Strategies

Strategy 1: Move aggressively toward a holistic approach to employment services for persons with disabilities.

Albertans who are entering or re-entering the workforce often require long-term support and/or a commitment from employers, governments and related agencies. This support and commitment is not currently available for persons with disabilities. The best way of providing it would be to develop ongoing partnerships amongst people with disabilities, service organizations, corporations and government.

The provincial ministries of Human Resources and Employment, Community Development, Health and Wellness, Justice, and Learning must work together to improve all programs and services dealing with the employability of Albertans with disabilities. These programs may include, but are not limited to, Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped, Supports For Independence, contract-funded employment service providers and career counsellors, and home care programs run through regional health authorities across the province.

It is important to recognize the need to address personal supports, early career planning, education and workplace supports as part of quality employment services and successful entrance into the workforce.

Strategy 2: Mobilize Alberta’s major employers.

here is a clear need to empower, support and require action from Alberta’s major employers. The provincial government and government-supported employers (educational institutions, hospitals, municipalities) must actively support workplace equity practices and serve as examples of best practices in hiring qualified people with disabilities. All employers must work in partnership to obtain and sustain employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The government of Alberta has an obligation to lead by example in embracing the principles of employment equity and demonstrating the value of including all Albertans within a diverse workplace.

Recommended Strategies

Enhanced Employment Opportunities

144. Remove all disincentives to employment from disability financial support and encourage AISH recipients to seek employment of their choice.
145. Establish employment programs that:
• Encourage lifelong learning and personal growth opportunities.
• Encourage returning to work by removing barriers.
• Encourage volunteering as a choice of activity.
• Encourage and support persons with disabilities to become entrepreneurs.
146. Develop mentorship/apprenticeship program opportunities for employers and persons with disabilities.

Coordination

147. Require all government funded employment agencies to offer service to persons with disabilities in preparing for, gaining and maintaining employment.
148. Require all provincial government ministries and regional authorities to clearly indicate in their business plans how they will meet the employment needs of persons with disabilities, including but not limited to:
• School boards requiring students to engage in formal career planning activities with a qualified school counsellor on a one-to-one basis.
• Indicating on individualized education plans for students receiving specialized supports, how the student will be assisted in preparing for future employment.
• Regional health authorities clearly indicating that they will provide personal care supports to persons with disabilities in the workplace, not just at home.
• Children's authorities clearly indicating how they will work with adult services such as AISH and adult home care to ensure a smooth transition to employment.
149. Appoint a disability liaison officer in each government ministry. This person, whose role would be similar to that of the provincial ombudsman, would act as an information source and resource to the community, to persons with disabilities and to those who provide services for people with disabilities. The disability liaison officer would have specialized knowledge about the implications for service provision resulting from having a disability, and would be knowledgeable about the ministry’s programs and services for persons with a disability.
150. Set-up partnerships among people with disabilities and agencies, government and the private sector providing employment services.
151. Ensure that policies and regulations are standard and consistent across the province.

Employment Supports

152. Significantly broaden the definition of employment supports to include all assistance and support required by people with disabilities in order to enter and maintain employment. The definition should recognize that some persons with disabilities require more intensive support or more long-term support at work than is legislated by the human rights provision for “duty to accommodate.”
153. Have the supports provided follow the individual wherever he or she chooses to seek employment.
154. Coordinate personal supports initiatives that may be accessed by persons preparing for employment (e.g. Disability Related Employment Supports, student loan provisions for maintenance, Special Opportunity Grants for Students with Permanent Disabilities).

Awareness

155. To increase the probability that persons with disabilities will successfully enter and maintain employment, have the Alberta Human Resources and Employment business plan make a commitment to:
• More aggressively reach persons with disabilities and the agencies that serve them.
• Inform persons with disabilities about the services and programs they might be eligible for.

Renewed Thinking on Outcomes

156. Contract funded employment service providers currently require participants to commit 15 to 20 hours per week to training programs. Many people with disabilities are excluded from these programs because of this unrealistic requirement. Allow employment service providers to determine how many hours per week should be required on an individual basis.
157. Encourage employment counsellors to focus on meaningful involvement and development in the vocation chosen by the client, rather than full-time, paid employment.
158. Require employment service providers to evaluate their programs in order to be eligible for further funding, but also provide them with specific funding for proper evaluation of the success of their programs and for planning future programs. Programs must have reasonable goals and evidence-based outcomes.

Funding

159. Introduce a funding mechanism to provide contracts to employment service providers that serve people who need extensive support and preparation to enter or re-enter employment. This funding mechanism would be parallel to the current contracts to service providers that serve people who are almost employment ready.
160. Apply the philosophy of individualized funding (dollars following the person) to employment supports. This approach would increase choices and reduce pressure to stay in a less than optimal employment situation because of fear of losing needed supports.
161. Review and revise employment programs for persons with disabilities to acknowledge the additional support and time required by some participants to secure employment.

Model Employers

162. Encourage Alberta Human Resources and Employment, persons with disabilities and the private sector to work together to fund, develop and recognize best practices in employing persons with disabilities and in seeking out qualified persons with disabilities for their organizations.
163. Develop a new funding mechanism for developing best practices and demonstration projects at each phase of the employment continuum.
164. Create a partnership among persons with disabilities, Alberta Human Resources and Employment, volunteer and not-for-profit agencies and the Personnel Administration Office to:
• Encourage employers to proactively commit to employment diversity programs.
• Recognize employers who have demonstrated this commitment.
165. As the single biggest employer in the province, the Personnel Administration Office together with all government departments, should demonstrate effective leadership by embracing the principles of employment equity and demonstrating the value of including persons with disabilities in a diverse workforce.

Mainstream Employment Services

166. Require all mainstream employment service providers to train staff to:
• Serve customers with disabilities (using alternative communication formats, tools and adaptations as required).
• Be aware of the barriers to successful employment these people face and the types of support they require.
• Understand concepts such as the employer’s duty to accommodate, barriers to physical access and alternative communication formats.

Legislated Removal of Barriers

167. Review the Alberta Human Rights legislation and amend it to include immediate and definite penalties for non-compliance with the duty to accommodate in the workplace. (See also Strategy 2, Full Citizenship section.)
168. Provide enhanced support to complainants to the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission as they prepare, put forward and follow through on their complaints.