WorkFirst: For Employers

What can Easterseals WorkFirst Employment Service do for your business?

WorkFirst is Easterseals' workforce development service dedicated to connecting businesses with qualified, motivated individuals with disabilities. We meet with employers to learn their needs and match them with individuals whose skills and interests match the business's needs. This process benefits everyone: the business gets a competent, reliable employee, and the person gets a great job they enjoy.

The Benefits of Hiring Through Easterseals WorkFirst Employment Services

Hiring through WorkFirst brings meaningful value to your business:

• Qualified Candidates: Individuals are pre-screened to ensure they are well-matched and qualified for your company's needs.
• Reduced Turnover:  Fill high-turnover roles with employees who bring stability and commitment.
• Improved Efficiency: Your team members can focus on their essential tasks with supported employees' contributions to general operations.
• Positive Brand Image: Your customers will have a positive view of your commitment to hiring people with disabilities.

What WorkFirst Provides:

• Job Support – We support your new employee with learning job tasks, safety rules, and workplace expectations to ensure a successful start.
• Ongoing Hiring Support  – Contact WorkFirst when you have open positions. We can help you find the right person to fit your team.
• Employee Training – As leading experts in disability inclusion, we offer training and seminars to educate and empower your entire workforce.

Why Hiring Through Easterseals WorkFirst Is Good for Business

Hiring a qualified person with a disability brings greater benefits beyond just filling an open job. There’s a solid business case, too.

Reason 1: Return on Investment

Businesses that employ individuals with diverse abilities tap into talent from different pools and enhance their workforce. These opportunities translate into lower costs, higher revenues, and increased profits.

Increase Revenue

• Access new markets.
• Improve productivity through innovative and effective ways of doing business.

Reduce Costs

• Reduce hiring and training costs.
• Increase retention.
• Reduce costs associated with conflict and litigation.

Enhance Shareholder Value

• Capitalize on opportunities to meet business goals.

Reason 2: Better Marketing

Customers with disabilities and their families, friends, and associates represent a trillion-dollar market segment. They, like other market segments, purchase products and services from companies that best meet their needs. A large number of Americans also say they prefer to patronize businesses that hire people with disabilities. Increase your opportunity to gain a lasting customer base.

Capitalize on New Market Opportunities

• Mirror the market to attract a wider customer base.
• Increase your market share.

Develop New Products and Services

• Respond to marketplace needs.
• Lead your market.
• Increase profitability.

Reason 3: Innovation

Innovation is key to your business’s success. Employees with disabilities bring unique experiences and understanding that transform a workplace and enhance products and services. As part of your team, employees with disabilities help build your business and can lead your company into the future.

Workplace Innovation

• Create more efficient and effective business processes.
• Develop and implement management strategies to attract and retain qualified talent.
• Use technology in new ways to increase productivity.

Product and Service Innovation

• Stimulate new product and service development through disability-inclusive, diverse teams.
• Customize products and services to increase profitability.

Define The Future

• Foster the development of next-generation products and services.

(Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of
Disability Employment Policy) https://abilitypath.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Employment-Toolkit.pdf

Myths Vs. Facts for Employers

1. Myth: Hiring employees with disabilities increases workers' compensation insurance rates.
   Fact: Insurance rates are based solely on the relative hazards of the operation and the organization’s accident experience, not on whether workers have disabilities.
    
2. Myth: Providing accommodations for people with disabilities is expensive. 
   Fact: The majority of workers with disabilities do not need accommodations to perform their jobs, and for those who do, the cost is usually minimal. In fact, two-thirds of accommodations cost less than $500, with many costing nothing at all. Available tax incentives make it even easier for businesses to cover accessibility costs.
   ¹Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a service of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy
    
3. Myth 3: The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) forces employers to hire unqualified individuals with disabilities.
   Fact: Unqualified candidates are not protected under the ADA. To be protected from discrimination in hiring, an individual must first meet all requirements for a job and be able to perform its essential functions with or without reasonable accommodations.
    
4. Myth 4: Employees with disabilities have a higher absentee rate than employees without disabilities.
   Fact: Studies by firms such as DuPont show that employees with disabilities are not absent any more than employees without disabilities.
    
5. Myth 5: Under the ADA, an employer cannot terminate an employee who has a disability.
   Fact: Employers can terminate workers with disabilities under three conditions:

• The termination is unrelated to the disability
• The employee does not meet legitimate requirements for the job, such as performance or production standards, with or without a reasonable accommodation.
• Because of the employee’s disability, they pose a direct threat to health or safety in the workplace.

(Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy)