Hiring Practices That Help People With Disabilities Contribute Their Talents

This piece follows up on my previous two pieces, titled “Employing People With Disabilities — Part 1” and “Employing People With Disabilities: How Type of Disability Matters — Part 2,” and describes hiring practices that help people with disabilities and enhance your workforce.

If you would like to benefit your agency’s workforce while helping people with disabilities, and would like to be a “model employer of people with disabilities, then consider instituting hiring practices, already used by some governmental entities, that improve workforces while giving meaningful opportunities to qualified people.

In “The State as a Model Employer of People with Disabilities: Policies and Practices for State Leaders,” the Council of State Governments listed hiring practices that benefit individuals with disabilities:

• “Specialized Appointment Lists for Noncompetitive Employment” – This practice prevents algorithms from screening out applicants with disabilities for having certain traits. For example, in Delaware, state agencies can choose applicants the Delaware Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and Division for the Visually Impaired had certified for jobs.
• “Hiring Preferences” – This practice makes sure that qualified applicants are “given priority” during recruitment for government jobs. For example, in Montana, individuals with disabilities must be employed over people without disabilities when both have “substantially equal” qualifications for eligible initial positions.
• “Trial Work Periods and Paid Internships or Apprenticeships” – This practice involves hiring people with disabilities for pre-employment positions, which helps these individuals develop employment skills. For example, the Alaska Provisional Hire Program enables hiring managers to hire applicants with severe disabilities for roles that last at most four months, with the possibility of the employee’s transitioning to a permanent role, when Alaska’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation has certified those applicants.
• “Mandatory Interviews” – This practice requires employers to interview qualified people with disabilities who meet the minimum job qualifications. However, interviews should be made more accessible, as they place autistic people at a disadvantage. In Vermont, after Vermont’s Department of Human Resources verify and approve candidates with disabilities, the verified/approved individuals will gain “mandatory interview status.” They will automatically secure interviews for positions they apply for when they meet minimum education and experience qualifications.
• “Modifications to Civil Service Examinations” – This practice allows applicants with disabilities to take a modified exam, use accommodations while taking an exam, or be exempt from an examination. For example, in California, instead of taking an exam to receive civil service certification, people with developmental disabilities can get certified by interning with a state agency for 512 hours.
• “Expedited Certification Processes” – This practice permits certification for candidates with certain training and/or who are viewed as “work-ready” for government positions. Vocational rehabilitation agencies in Illinois and Maine created procedures for this.

Hiring preferences can take multiple forms, including:

• Giving additional points to applicants with disabilities.
• Requiring employers to hire people with disabilities over applicants without disabilities when qualifications are “substantially equal.”

Republican- and Democratic-leaning jurisdictions that have hiring preferences for people with disabilities include Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, and Montana. Since Colorado’s Disability Hiring Preference pilot program was successful, Colorado is expanding its initiative. Baltimore, Maryland; Montgomery County, Maryland; and Fairfax County, Virginia, are some jurisdictions that also have hiring preference for people with disabilities.

Learn more about hiring people with disabilities in my next piece, “Hiring Preferences for People With Disabilities.”

Miriam Edelman, MPA, MSSW, is a Washington, D.C.,-based policy professional. Her experience includes policy work for Congress. Miriam’s undergraduate degree is from Barnard College, Columbia University, with majors in political science and urban studies. She has a master’s in public administration from Cornell University, where she was inducted into the national honorary society for public administration. She has a master’s of science in social work (focusing on policy) from Columbia University. She is a commissioner of the DC Commission on Persons with Disabilities. Miriam aims to continue her career in public service. She is especially interested in democracy, civic education, District of Columbia autonomy, diversity, health policy, women’s issues, and disabilities.

Photo Credit: Ivan S., Pexels