Hiring Employees with Disabilities: 4 Best Practices from Top Companies

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) makes discriminating against a person with a disability is illegal. Failing to treat your employees equitably could lead to an EEOC investigation, fines, lawsuits, and public reputation as a discriminatory workplace.

More importantly, though, it’s unethical and might make you miss out on hiring a talented, creative, and hard-working employee.

There have been many laws and organizations created to fight for the rights of disabled workers, including the ADA and protections from the Human Rights Commission, as well as proactive business leaders who appreciate and understand the value a company gains by looking past a person’s disability and focusing on their abilities.

Today, companies are recognized for their commitment to workplace diversity and the inclusion of disabled persons. Below, we outline four of these organizations and the ways they prioritize ability diversity in their workforces.

Think Beyond the Label

“Think Beyond the Label” was created to better inform, connect and communicate with all stakeholders in the disability and employment system so that we can be a catalyst for a more inclusive workforce,” according to the National Foundation for Autism Research.

The website’s job board curates job postings from around the world to connect candidates with disabilities and employers. The listings can be filtered by country, state, city, or job title, and cover a wide variety of industries, so job seekers can find the perfect opportunity for them without fearing discrimination.

RELATED: 4 Ways to Achieve DEI in the Workplace

Fair360

Fair360 (formerly DiversityInc.) annually publishes a Top 50 Companies for Diversity List. The list includes 50 companies that perform well in six key areas of workplace fairness:

• “Leadership Accountability – CEO & Senior Leadership Commitment, Board of Directors, Executive Fairness Councils and DEI Management
• Talent Programs – Employee Resource Groups, Mentoring, Sponsorship and High Potential programs and practices
• Human Capital Metrics – Human Capital Metrics for Overall Workforce, Management, New Hires, Promotions and Turnover Representation
• Workplace Practices – Representative Candidate Slates, Onboarding, Fairness Training, Workforce Development & Engagement and Employee Benefits practices and policies
• Supplier Fairness – Supplier fair spending and practices
• Philanthropy – Philanthropic giving and practices”

The company also creates more specific rankings, such as industry-based lists and lists of best companies for LGBTQ employees, women of color, and executives of different minority groups. Below are 2023’s top-ranked companies for people with disabilities (PwD).

Hilton

A member of Fair360’s Hall of Fame, Hilton promotes ability diversity around the world, with company-wide initiatives as well as local projects in specific properties and regions.

Mike Gathright, Hilton Senior Vice President of Customer Channels as well as the Hilton Leadership Group Advocate for Hilton’s Abilities Team Member Resource Group and a board member of the National Organization on Disability (NOD), shares that accessibility is a major initiative for inclusivity in the company. One major project, an overhaul of their call center system, aims to “make the application more accessible to help our current Team Members grow and enable us to expand our hiring of people of all abilities, with minimal external accommodations necessary.”
Hilton’s employees also contribute to local inclusivity initiatives. “One of our Team Members . . . founded UP 21, a project to help young adults [with Down Syndrome] develop life skills and obtain permanent employment across a number of Hilton properties in Russia,” shares Gathright. A manager at a property in Central America implemented ‘“awareness”’ polos with sign language artwork for [hearing-impaired] Team Members to wear to effectively communicate,” he says. “The result: Improved communications, greater awareness among guests and increased comfort among Team Members, ultimately empowering them to provide the best hospitality.”

Hilton values hiring people with disabilities for two main reasons, Gathright says. First, they “have tremendous talent that is often overlooked. They’re tenacious, they have had to overcome adversity and challenges, they’re inherently innovative,” he says. “Not only that, but at Hilton, we also want to ensure our Team Members represent our guest population,” he continues. “This empowers us to continue to make the guest experience better for everyone. Our Team Members with disabilities bring unique perspective to our business, ensuring we build accessibility into everything we do.”

RELATED: How Do the World’s Most Ethical Companies Prevent Discrimination?

Wells Fargo

In addition to being considered the second-best company for PwD by Fair360, Wells Fargo is also number 5 on CAREERS & the disABLED Magazine’s 2023 Top 50 Employers list.

On their disability inclusion page, the company cites three main ways it promotes a safe, healthy, and positive work environment for employees and applicants of all abilities.
First up, accommodations. “Wells Fargo is committed to the health, safety, well-being, and success of its team members with medical conditions and disabilities,” says the website. “Our commitment is to seek successful solutions and reasonable accommodations, helping our team members with disabilities or medical restrictions to successfully perform their jobs.”

But accommodations don’t stop with current employees. Job applicants with disabilities can contact the company to arrange accommodations for the application and interview processes, ensuring that every candidate gets a fair chance to share their skills and abilities.

Finally, Wells Fargo broadens their ability diversity to include neurodiverse people in their inclusivity policies. “At Wells Fargo, we believe everyone has unique strengths and skills to contribute in the workplace and we strive to remove barriers that may limit an individual from showcasing their full potential,” their website says. “We aim to make Wells Fargo a compelling destination where neuro-diverse colleagues feel valued and inspired to do their best work in an environment that is inclusive and accessible for all.”

The company’s Neurodiversity Program “facilitates a more considerate, accommodating, skills-based hiring model that is accessible by design,” and was created to include more candidates with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Dyslexia, ADHD, and more.

TD Bank

TD Bank has won multiple awards for its ability diversity efforts, including a spot on the National Organization on Disability’s “Leading Disability Employers” list for five consecutive years.

According to the company’s website, “There’s power in diverse abilities. All of us are stronger when each of us can access our full potential. And we’re helping to make that happen—wherever and however we can.”

Their diversity initiatives include:

• Hiring some interns through Project SEARCH, a training program that helps high school students with disabilities transition into the workforce
• Sponsoring the Achilles International Hope & Possibility Race in New York City, which “[welcomes] athletes of all ability levels and wounded, ill or injured veterans”
• Hiring employees through Specialisterne, an organization that connects employers with neurodiverse candidates
• Promoting diversity and inclusion beyond accommodations for employees with disabilities

Dow

Finally, manufacturing company Dow has also consistently been recognized for their diversity and inclusion of people with disabilities. For six years in a row, the company received a perfect score on the Disability Equality Index, a tool that measures “measures key performance indicators across culture, leadership, accessibility, employment practices, community engagement, support services and supplier diversity.”

One of Dow’s key initiatives is their Disability Employee Network (DEN), one of many resource groups for employees. Their website explains that “DEN focuses on improving perceptions about people with disabilities and raising awareness about the contributions they make – both at work and outside of work – and fosters the success of people with disabilities.”

“From formal training to policies that promote inclusion, accessibility and equal treatment, we invest in growing our understanding and appreciation of the differences among us to thrive. At Dow, we lead with inclusion because without an inclusive workplace, diversity is just a numbers game instead of being a powerful force for Dow winning in the marketplace,” says the website. They achieve this by working diversity and inclusion into:

• Governance
• Customers
• Talent
• Suppliers
• Communities
• People Leaders
• Reputation

The company also extends their initiatives outside the workplace by supporting people with disabilities in local communities. For example, Dow Europe supports EnableMe, an organization that helps PwD find resources such as peer groups, expert advice, and job-hunting support.

How Case IQ Can Help

Simply not excluding candidates and employees with disabilities isn’t enough. Take ideas from these top companies surrounding inclusion and you’ll not only hire talented people, but gain a reputation as a diverse and welcoming organization, too.

Even in an inclusive workplace, harassment and discrimination incidents unfortunately can happen. With Case IQ’s modern case management software, you can investigate and resolve these issues more efficiently in one centralized, secure platform. Our new whistleblower hotline, provided by WhistleBlower Security, provides employees with a safe and easy way to report concerns. Learn more about how Case IQ can improve your organization’s processes here.

Important: This post is for informational and educational purposes only. This post should not be taken as legal advice or used as a substitute for such. You should always speak to your own lawyer.