Expanding Employment Opportunities for People With Disabilities
As a small business keen to attract a wider workforce talent pool, consider ramping up efforts specifically to hire people with disabilities.
Of course, you may already have an inclusive workforce and be seeking to broaden and widen opportunities for staff with disabilities to boost retention. A more diverse and inclusive workforce pays off in multiple ways.
Here are five actions small business owners and managers can take to increase employment opportunities for employees with disabilities. These tips will also help make the workplace easier to navigate for current employees with disabilities.
1. Create a more inclusive culture and accessible workplace
Even if you believe your workplace is inclusive and accessible, there’s always room for improvement. Can you be sure that every employee feels safe, valued, and supported to communicate their concerns and put forward ideas in your workplace?
As a hypothetical example, despite an employee named Pat being dyslexic, he’s managed to obtain three college degrees scoring top marks. In his building inspector role for a government authority, his written reports are full of typos and grammatical errors that spell-checking apps don’t pick up.
Pat doesn’t feel comfortable disclosing his learning disability to his co-workers or manager. However, he continues with his valuable technical expertise, putting in extra hours, but still faces harsh criticism. If his workplace was more inclusive, he might feel it’s safe to talk about dyslexia and ask for support.
This sort of treatment sends a message to other staff that differences aren’t tolerated and certain employees may not feel like they belong.
This is an example of an invisible disability, but what about staff with more obvious types?
A safe and inclusive work culture embraces all types of disability and aims not to discriminate. Such a workplace is open to change and encourages a diversity of thought and abilities. Managers listen first, then discuss solutions and support.
Everyone has different lived experiences, so consider how your organisation can encourage them to be their whole self at work.
Set the standard with your own transparency, candour, kindness, and respect.
2. Discuss and offer reasonable accommodations
Your small business may not have been set up using Universal Design best practices. That approach sees environments or products designed for everyone without retrofitted adaptions or specialised design. Accessibility goes beyond compliance with standards. For example, you might need to find out what the transport-to-and-from-work needs are for your staff members with a disability.
Reasonable accommodations are adjustments or modifications to a work environment or role that allow a qualified person with a disability to perform the work—whether they’re part-time, full-time, or even doing a trial. Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations unless doing so would cause them ‘undue hardship’. Staff can request these at any time and don’t need to use specific legal language to do so.
Examples include:
Changing work schedules to offer flexibility in hours or location
Physically modifying the workplace to include adjustable desks, wheelchair ramps, or accessible restrooms
Restructuring job duties by reallocating non-essential tasks
Providing assistive technologies, such as screen readers, refreshable Braille displays, modified keyboards or input devices, or communication tools
According to the Department of Labor, six out of ten accommodations cost nothing, and the rest average around $500. Employers can also access free, confidential advice and resources on accommodations, process strategies, and legal guidance through established networks. The national goal is for apprentices with a disability to comprise at least 7% of the total apprentice workforce.
3. Provide training and development opportunities
Include existing staff with a disability in your business’s skills audits. Identify skills, interests, or attributes they may already have—or ones that need refreshing to support growth in their role.
In assessing individual skills gaps, consider whether current team members could act as mentors. Staff with disabilities often bring valuable insights that can help improve your onboarding process and internal systems.
Be sure to include input from people with disabilities in developing and reviewing your:
Professional development opportunities
Advancement pathways
Performance management frameworks
Review your documents and policies to ensure they aren’t creating unintentional barriers or lowering expectations. Wherever possible, co-design your business tools with people with a disability, not just for them.
To expand opportunities for new staff, consider developing a registered apprenticeship program. Studies show such programs help build internal talent pipelines, improve engagement, reduce turnover, and save costs. In fact, for every $1 invested in a registered apprentice, businesses can see a return of $1.44.
4. Tap into existing resources and financial incentives
You don’t need to start from scratch—numerous resources and incentives already exist to help small businesses employ and support people with disabilities.
Financial incentives may include tax credits and deductions for accessibility improvements, inclusive hiring, and workplace adjustments. These support mechanisms reduce the risk and cost for businesses investing in diverse hiring.
There are also workforce partnerships and apprenticeship networks that connect employers with qualified candidates and provide guidance on inclusive hiring practices. These intermediaries can save time, simplify compliance, and support long-term workforce inclusion goals.
5. Partner with advocacy groups, non-profits, agencies, and organisations
It’s difficult to generalise the needs of people with a specific disability type—each person’s experience and capacity can vary greatly.
Take Down Syndrome, for example. Research has identified two common barriers to employment: a higher level of support needed compared to some other disability types, and a general lack of awareness among employers and co-workers about how to engage effectively.
Yet the benefits of hiring people with Down Syndrome are substantial. Studies have shown that inclusive workplaces see improvements in leadership, staff motivation, customer satisfaction, and overall organisational culture.
Groups such as Down Syndrome Innovations design tailored workforce programs to address these needs, providing pre-employment training, coaching, and apprenticeship opportunities in areas such as customer service and logistics. These are often delivered in partnership with local industries, training intermediaries, and state-level apprenticeship offices.
Examples of organisations supporting employers in this space include:
Employer Assistance and Resource Networks
Disability inclusion and advocacy associations
Disability-focused training and employment providers
Research institutions offering technical assistance to businesses
Community-based workforce development programs
These partnerships help employers design accessible career pathways, diversify hiring, and build a more resilient, inclusive business model.