A Guide to Creating Inclusive Workplaces

This page provides employers with key resources and guidance for building inclusive workplaces. It includes training opportunities, best practices, and information on financial incentives to support the hiring and retention of individuals with disabilities. You'll also hear perspectives from both employers and employees in the highlighted video.

Valuable resources, including video insights, guides on best practices, and access to educational and training programs can all be found below. Explore the various financial incentives available at federal and state levels, designed to support your efforts in building a more diverse and inclusive workforce. Whether you're just beginning your journey or looking to enhance your existing practices, this guide will equip you with the tools and knowledge needed to succeed.

Disability Inclusive Workplaces: Employer and Employee Perspectives video

Experience the "Disability Inclusive Workplaces: Employers and Employees Perspectives" feature, where organizations from different industries share their experiences in cultivating inclusive environments. We are grateful to MicroTek, Inc., Old Colony YMCA, Plymouth Branch and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston for their leadership in demonstrating how inclusive practices create meaningful benefits for everyone.

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For Employers: Talent Acquisition and Capacity Building

Massachusetts-Based Resources:

• Mass Ability: Become an Employer Partner. You can meet your workforce needs and expand what's possible for people with disabilities.
• Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB): Are you looking for innovative ways to tap into a diverse talent pool? Consider partnering with the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind for your recruitment needs.
• Work Without Limits (WWL): Work Without Limits helps businesses and employers connect with qualified candidates with disabilities, Disability Owned Business Enterprises (DOBEs), and Community Partners.
  • Work Without Limits Business Network is a consortium of private and public sector employers committed to the inclusion of people with disabilities. Members share best practices and build their capacity to attract, recruit and retain employees with disabilities; market to and service customers with disabilities; and include disability-owned businesses in supply chains.
  • Work Without Limits Annual Virtual Career Fair connects qualified job seekers with disabilities with employers seeking to hire. Prior to the event, recruiters receive training on Disability Etiquette and Interviewing Candidates with Disabilities. 
  • Jobs Ability Jobs Board is a virtual gateway for job seekers with disabilities and employers looking to hire. Thousands of candidates and job postings are updated daily. Businesses can search for candidates by skill, education/degree, industry, location, etc., and receive automated candidate matches.
• Centers for Independent Living (CIL) — CILs promote independent living and equal access for people of all ages with all types of disabilities. They often work with local employers interested in hiring qualified workers with disabilities.
• Employment Collaboratives: 
  • Central Mass Employment Collaborative
  • Greater Boston Employment Collaborative
  • MetroWest Employment Collaborative
  • NorthEast Employment Collaborative
  • South Shore Employment Collaborative
  • Western Mass Employment Collaborative
  • Employment First Massachusetts: it is a framework for systems change that promotes the idea that all people, with and without disabilities, are able to fully participate in competitive, integrated employment and community life.

Nation-Wide Resources:

• The Recruitment and Retention section of the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) website provides comprehensive information for employers about recruiting and hiring qualified applicants with disabilities.
• The Employer Assistance and Resource Network (EARN) is a resource for employers seeking to recruit, hire and retain qualified employees with disabilities.
• The Workforce Recruitment Program connects federal and private-sector employers with college students and recent college graduates with disabilities.
• A Resource Guide published by the federal cross-agency initiative, Curb Cuts to the Middle Class, provides employers with tools and resources they need to recruit, hire, retain and promote people with disabilities.
• Building an Inclusive Workforce is a Four-Step Reference Guide to Recruiting, Hiring, and Retaining Employees with Disabilities.

Ways to recruit workers with disabilities include:

• Partner with job service and workforce employment centers to post open positions.
• Engage with college and university career centers to reach a broader talent pool.
• Collaborate with disability-related advocacy organizations for targeted recruitment.
•  Incorporate individuals with disabilities into your diversity recruitment goals.
• Participate in disability-focused job fairs by posting positions or hosting a table/booth.
• Create summer internship and mentoring programs specifically for people with disabilities.
• Share job openings with independent living centers to attract qualified candidates.

Education and Training

Online courses and workshops

• Massachusetts Office on Disability (MOD)
  • Training Menu: View training offerings from the Massachusetts Office on Disability
  • MassAbility
    • On The Job Training: is a cost-saving service offered by MassAbility that helps employers find qualified job seekers.

Certifications and skills development programs 

• Disability:IN
  • 2024 Disability:IN Course Catalog
• Work Without Limits
  • Work Without Limits Training and Consulting
    • Work Without Limits Disability Inclusion Training focuses on increasing the comfort level, confidence, and competency of human resources personnel and hiring managers when engaging, interviewing, and managing candidates and employees with disabilities. 
    • Work Without Limits Disability Inclusion Consulting Services provide individualized technical assistance to help companies move toward becoming an Employer of Choice for persons with disabilities.
    • Work Without Limits Resources include a range of information for employers looking to increase their skills and knowledge around disability inclusion in the workplace such as quick tips, fact sheets, and links.

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Compliance and Accommodations

• Compliance: 
  • Under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment to a job, the work environment, or the way things are usually done during the hiring process. These modifications enable an individual with a disability to have an equal opportunity not only to get a job, but successfully perform their job tasks to the same extent as people without disabilities. The ADA requires reasonable accommodations as they relate to three aspects of employment: 1) ensuring equal opportunity in the application process; 2) enabling a qualified individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of a job; and 3) making it possible for an employee with a disability to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment.
  • Accommodations are sometimes referred to as “productivity enhancers”. Reasonable accommodations should not be viewed as “special treatment” and they often benefit all employees. For example, facility enhancements such as ramps, accessible restrooms, and ergonomic workstations benefit more than just employees with disabilities. Examples of reasonable accommodations include making existing facilities accessible; job restructuring; part-time or modified work schedules; acquiring or modifying equipment; changing tests, training materials, or policies; and providing qualified readers or interpreters. Here are some more examples. Many job accommodations cost very little and often involve minor changes to a work environment, schedule or work-related technologies:
  • Physical changes
    • Installing a ramp or modifying a rest room
    • Modifying the layout of a workspace
  • Accessible and assistive technologies
    • Ensuring computer software is accessible
    • Providing screen reader software
    • Using videophones to facilitate communications with colleagues who are deaf
  • Accessible communications
    • Providing sign language interpreters or closed captioning at meetings and events
    • Making materials available in Braille or large print
  • Policy enhancements
    • Modifying a policy to allow a service animal in a business setting
    • Adjusting work schedules so employees with chronic medical conditions can go to medical appointments and complete their work at alternate times or locations
• Accommodations: Employers can access guidance on implementing reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities.
  • Job Accommodation Network (JAN): Office of Disability Employment Policy-funded service that provides free, expert, and confidential guidance on workplace accommodations and other disability employment issues.
  • ADA Update: A Primer for Small Businesses — This publication provides general guidance to help business owners understand how to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and its design standards for accessible buildings.
  • Partnership on Employment and Accessible Technology (PEAT)
• Other resources on reasonable accommodations:
  • Accommodations Solutions from the Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP)
  • Reasonable Accommodations and Job Applicants
  • Small Employers and Reasonable Accommodation
  • Accessible Technology Action Steps: A Guide for Employers
  • The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) — Reasonable Accommodations Information
  • Employees' Practical Guide to Requesting and Negotiating Reasonable Accommodations Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
  • Telework as a Reasonable Accommodation

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Employer Tax Benefits and Incentives

• Eligibility for Incentives:
  • Federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)
    • Available to employers for hiring and employing individuals from certain targeted groups who have faced significant barriers to employment. 
    • WOTC partners with other workforce programs incentivizing workplace diversity and facilitation of access to good jobs for American workers.
  • Disabled Access Credit
  • Barrier Removal Tax Deduction
  • State (MA) Disability Employment Tax Credit (DETC)
    • A tax incentive program for employers to increase employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities in the Commonwealth.
    • Minimum of 12 months continuous employment - employers allowed to claim a state tax credit equal to $5,000 or 30% of wages paid to each qualified employee with a disability in the first taxable year of employment, whichever is less.
    • A MA resident with a disability a MA employer hired AFTER July 1, 2021, may participate.
    • After submitting the online certification form, the employee is certified by the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC).

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) Initiatives

The following resources provide more information about disability, diversity and inclusion:

• Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) — EARN is an ODEP-funded technical assistance center that offers information and resources to help employers recruit, hire, retain and advance disabled people; build inclusive workplace cultures; and meet diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) goals. A sample of resources includes:
  • Creating Inclusive Workplaces
  • Planning for Inclusive Hiring
  • Inclusive Branding and Messaging
  • Working Together: Ensuring People with Disabilities Feel Welcome and Included in the Workplace
  • Disability and Diversity at Work
  • Intersectionality in the Workplace
• Job Accommodation Network (JAN) — JAN is an ODEP-funded service that provides practical guidance and technical assistance on job accommodation solutions, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related legislation. JAN’s resource A to Z: Disability Inclusion offers information to help employers integrate disability into their DEIA plans and initiatives.
• Campaign for Disability Employment (CDE) — The CDE is an ODEP-funded collaborative effort among several leading disability and business organizations to promote positive employment outcomes for people with disabilities. It does this by encouraging employers and others to recognize the value and talent disabled people bring to the workplace and implement flexible and inclusive workplace practices. Toolkits are available for each of the CDE’s public service announcements:
  • “Mental Health at Work: What Can I Do?” Campaign
  • “Working Works” Campaign
  • “Who I Am” Campaign
  • “Because” Campaign
  • “I Can” Campaign
• Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology (PEAT): ODEP-funded initiative promoting the employment, retention and career advancement of people with disabilities through the development, adoption and promotion of accessible technology.
• Partnership on Inclusive Apprenticeship (PIA) — This ODEP-funded initiative was developed to foster and advance inclusive apprenticeship programs that expand access for career seekers with disabilities to good jobs in high-growth, high-demand industries. Although the PIA initiative has concluded, you can still find many of its valuable resources on this webpage.
• Inclusive Internship Programs: A How-to Guide for Employers — This guide was designed for public and private employers of all sizes to learn about the benefits and logistics of facilitating internship programs that attract young adults, including those with disabilities.
• Diverse Perspectives: People with Disabilities Fulfilling Your Business Goals — Information on the benefits of incorporating individuals with disabilities into diversity goals.
• Addressing the Needs of Youth with Disabilities and Other Intersecting Identities - A brief on how states can implement programs and services for youth and young adults with intersecting identities.

Date published:	July 9, 2024