THE 2000 BARBADOS HOUSING AND POPULATION CENSUS estimated that 13 142, or five per cent, of the population were disabled.
Of these, 6 764 were between the age of 15 and 64 – the working-age group considered the productive sector of our country.
It therefore stands to reason that workplaces should place particular emphasis on including physically challenged people.
The United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities “prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in all areas of life” and includes specific provisions related to rehabilitation, education, employment, health and access to information, public facilities and services.
However, a 2004 World Bank study entitled Disability And Inclusive Development: Latin America And The Caribbean estimated that about 80 to 90 per cent of people with disabilities are unemployed or outside the workforce. Most of those who have jobs receive little or no monetary remuneration.
According to the UN, people with disabilities are frequently not considered potential members of the workforce as perception, fear, myth and prejudice continue to limit understanding and acceptance of disability.
“Myths abound, including that persons with disabilities are unable to work and that accommodating a person with a disability in the workplace is expensive.
Capable
“Contrary to these notions, many companies have found that persons with disabilities are more than ,” noted a UN fact sheet on disability and employment.
The UN stressed that the majority of people with disabilities want a dignified and productive life.
Employing and including the disabled also benefits the workplace since diverse work groups develop better solutions to business challenges.
“Many companies have found that by employing persons with disabilities they have been better able to understand and serve their customers with disabilities.
“Adapting services to meet the diverse needs of persons with disabilities allows business to develop greater flexibility, builds reputation and reaches out to a sizeable market,” the UN said.
Elviston Maloney, president of the Barbados Association For The Blind And Deaf, said in the July 8, 2010 DAILY NATION that Government needed to remove the “red tape” when it comes to hiring people who are visually impaired.
Charging that it was easier for a visually impaired person to get a job in the private sector than in the public sector, he said Government employees who lost their vision were retired disabled rather than allowed to remain in the service.
“People see a disability rather than who’s behind the disability,” Maloney said.
He said he knew of a visually impaired university graduate who tried to get a job in the Social Services Department but was rejected.
“With all the available technology, Government should lead the way. In my view, the public sector can assist people who have lost their vision by retraining them and redeploying them in other areas,” he said.
Productive
He suggested that companies such as LIME could hire visually impaired people as receptionists and directory assistants instead of relying so heavily on automated answering services.
Maloney reported that there was an increasing number of young people, some in their 30s, who had gone blind due to diabetes, glaucoma or macular degeneration but were still very productive.
He said the workshop, which focused on the production of mops and restoration of furniture, could not employ all of those people.
“They still have day-to-day expenses and obligations to meet. We are trying to encourage them to set up their own businesses and become entrepreneurs because they can still continue to make a contribution to society,” he said.
Back in 2008, it was noted that incentives might have been on the cards for employers who make workplace adjustments to accommodate and employ people with disabilities.
In addition, grants and loan schemes designed by Government and the private sector to encourage those with disabilities to become self-employed were a possibility. These suggestions were made by Senator Arni Walters, then Minister Of State
In The Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Employment And Labour Relations And The Social Partnership.
“It is my view that Government should consider providing incentives for employers who make workplace adjustments for people with disabilities,” Walters said in the September 15, 2008 DAILY NATION.
Walters said employers needed to be sensitized to fostering an organizational culture that encouraged people with disabilities to contribute to the organization rather than being discounted because of their limitations.
He lamented that data on people in the disabled community was “sorely” lacking.
The minister explained that just as data was needed for the mainstream population, a viable database was also required on people in the disabled community to maximize their contribution to the workforce.
The senator suggested that the Bureau of Social Policy, Research And Planning along with the National Disabilities Unit, Barbados Statistical Service, and non-governmental organizations representing the disabled community take action.
This, he said, would include determining the number of disabled people in Barbados, and how many of them are working or capable of work.
He further suggested that they also identify suitable jobs that could be performed by the disabled without major difficulty.
“It makes no point planning empowerment programmes for the disabled without this critical information,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the September 27, 2009 SUNDAY SUN, Mara Thompson, wife of late Prime Minister David Thompson, called on the business community to find jobs in the workplace for the differently able.
“In light of the current economic recession, I must make a special appeal to the business community to take into consideration these other needs of our differently able.
“The greatest ambition of our differently able children is to grow up to be productive adults. They want jobs. Many of them have special skills which can be used in the workplace,” she said.
