EmployABILITY Strategy - NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet

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Disclaimer

While every effort has been made to ensure that the document is correct at the time of printing, the State of NSW, its agents and employees, disclaim any and all liability to any person in respect of anything or the consequences of anything done or omitted to be done in reliance or upon the whole or any part if this document.

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You may copy, distribute, display, download and otherwise freely deal with this work for any purpose, provided that you attribute the Department as the owner. However, you must obtain permission if you wish to

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To obtain such permission, please contact the Department of Premier and Cabinet, GPO Box 5341, 4-6 Bligh Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000.

© State of New South Wales through the Department of Premier and Cabinet, 2010.ISBN 978-0-7313-3459-9 [Print]ISBN 978-0-7313-3460-5 [Electronic]

Enquiries regarding this document can be directed to:Public Sector WorkforceNSW Department of Premier and CabinetTelephone: (02) 9228 4444

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Introduction

The right to employment is one that many of us take for granted. For people with a disability however, finding a job they can perform and access, successfully applying for it, and then, keeping that job, can be challenging.

The NSW Government recognises the challenges faced by people with a disability and seeks to support them staying in rewarding and meaningful employment and participating fully in the community through Stronger Together, a whole-of-government policy initiative.

The NSW State Plan 2009 specifically targets improving access to employment for people with a disability or those with a mental illness through two priorities:

• Increase employment and community participation for people with a disability Close the gap in the unemployment rate between people with a disability and the overall community by 50%

by 2016.

• Improve outcomes in mental health Increase the employment of public mental health service clients.

While the NSW public sector has made significant efforts to reduce the barriers to employment, the estimated number of people with disabilities employed in the sector has steadily declined over the last decade. The proportion of the workforce identifying they have a disability is estimated to have declined from 8% in 2000 to 3.7% in 2010.

As the State’s largest employer, with about 11 per cent of the NSW workforce, the NSW public sector has the opportunity to demonstrate leadership in improving the employment opportunities for people with a disability. The sector offers varied career opportunities, flexible working conditions, and work locations across the entire State. The sector can model policies and activities to encourage other employers to expand their efforts to provide greater employment opportunity for people with a disability.

EmployABILITY: Increasing employment opportunities for people with a disability in the NSW public sector is a targeted, sector-wide approach to employing, developing and retaining employees with a disability. It encourages agencies, managers and employees at every level to focus on ability, not disability, and to explore opportunities to value and build a workforce that reflects the diversity of our society.

1 Consultation with departments suggests significant levels of under-reporting. Disclosure of disability status is voluntary. There are a complex range of reasons for this under-reporting, including the relevance of their disability to their role and fear or concern of stigma or discrimination.

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Establishing the direction for the NSW public sector

EmployABILITY establishes a new target to increase the employment of people with a disability requiring a workplace adjustment to 1.5% by 2013 from the current representation level of 1.1%2. This will be achieved by stabilising the declining trend in 2010-11 and increasing disability employment by 0.2% in each subsequent year to 2013.

To achieve this target the NSW public sector will need to:

• improve employment opportunities for people with a disability, with a focus on people who require disability specific assistance in the workplace context

• improve access to employment and workforce participation for a broader representation of people with a disability, depending on the work context

• build a workplace culture that values and supports people with a disability and enables individuals to identify their disability without fear of discrimination.

While this increase seems small, the sector needs to focus on establishing practices that will reverse the downward trend by cultural change and community promotion.

Consultation feedback

During 2008 an agency reference group provided advice on practical strategies and best practice examples to improve employment outcomes for people with a disability. Following this process, a series of forums were held across the State. Both face-to-face and online consultations were held to gather the ideas, experiences and perspectives of NSW public sector employees with a disability and their managers. This feedback has been integral in shaping EmployABILITY.

Participants identified ways in which the NSW public sector could improve employment outcomes through targeted actions related to recruitment, retention and career development. Further consultation with all principal Departments was undertaken in March-April 2010 to refine actions and confirm the direction in EmployABILITY. The highlights are summarised below.

1. Retention: valuing and retaining people with a disability

• Develop workplace plans with the employee at the start of the employment relationship which establish and make the necessary workplace adjustments.

• Provide better information to managers and staff about workplace adjustments – what they are, what is available, and how they can be funded and arranged.

• Provide managers with support and guidance on managing and supporting people with a disability in the workplace.

• Promote the use of flexible work arrangements where appropriate, including access to flexible hours and telecommuting.

• Apply the Premises Standards in the design of office facilities and ensure accessible business systems to avoid or remove barriers to employment opportunities and to increase effectiveness in the workplace.

2 People with a disability requiring an adjustment is a cohort of employees and represents a subset of the previous benchmark indicator of People with a disability. It includes people who may require disability related assistance, flexibility, workplace modifications or equipment in the employment context. A full definition is on page 12.

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2. Recruitment: improving the recruitment experience for people with a disability

• Promote and improve access to work opportunities in the sector for people with a disability.

• Provide more avenues of entry for people with a disability such as traineeships, work placement programs, graduate opportunities, subsidised trial placements and targeted positions at all levels in agencies.

• Simplify the recruitment process, in particular, the way selection criteria are currently addressed and the highly structured recruitment process.

• Ensure that job advertisements, websites and information are more accessible.

• Provide disability awareness training for interview panel convenors with a focus on recognising and valuing ability.

3. Career development: helping people with a disability build careers in the NSW public sector

• Encourage senior managers to provide leadership and to act as champions for employees with a disability.

• Provide meaningful work and varied development opportunities including: – working in higher roles – job rotations and interagency opportunities specifically for people with a disability – mentoring and networking opportunities for people with a disability – access to professional development programs.

• Provide better information and training for employees and managers, particularly in large decentralised agencies where people with a disability or mental illness may feel isolated in the workplace.

EmployABILITY has actions in six key result areas to ensure improved employment outcomes for people with disabilities in the NSW public sector

43 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 2003 “Disability programmes in need of reform” OECD Policy Brief, OECD, Paris.4 Mitchell, J et al 2006 “The effects of ageing on employment of people with and without disabilities”, Rehabilitation Counselling Bulletin, vol. 49, no.3, pp157 -165

Valuing and retaining people with a disability

Key results areas addressed by this part of the strategy

Organisational Leadership Retention Recruitment Skills Building culture acquisition partnerships and

and career engaging with key development stakeholder groups

Why this is important

The representation of people with a disability employed in the sector has significantly dropped over the last decade. We want to reverse this trend and focus on improving the retention of people with a disability in the sector.

The NSW public sector has a workforce which is older than the general workforce. The proportion of employees aged over 45 is growing more quickly than the NSW workforce. The majority of working-age people with a disability develop their condition while at work3.

The retention of knowledge and people with substantial skills and experience is critical, if high levels of service delivery are to be maintained. As there is a tendency for employees with disabilities to leave the workforce earlier4, agencies need to consider a range of retention strategies, including flexible work options, in order to retain experienced staff.

Some people with a disability may need time away from the workplace because of their disability, we want to make it easier for them to maintain their place in the workforce. The implementation of flexible work arrangements, greater recognition of reasonable adjustment options and increased acceptance of people with disability in the workplace will increase the retention of people with a disability and improve morale. These strategies will potentially benefit all employees by improving workplace culture and morale and creating workplaces which benefit everyone. With the relatively high estimates of disability and mental illness in the overall population it can impact many in our workforce directly or indirectly if they are a person with carer responsibilities.

All employers, including the NSW public sector, have obligations to comply with anti-discrimination legislation. Employers can avoid action in the discrimination jurisdiction by creating workplaces which more readily accommodate and support people with disabilities. All employers must also comply with other relevant legislation including occupational health and safety requirements.

Our aim

Establish supportive, flexible and responsive working environments to increase the overall representation of people with a disability requiring an adjustment in the NSW public sector from 1.1% to 1.5% by 2013.

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How we will get there

Strategy Actions Who Timeframe

1. Build supportive workplace cultures in which diversity principles are understood, valued, implemented and respected.

1.1 Provide information and advice to managers on managing disability in the workplace:

• educate managers and supervisors about workplace adjustment and flexible work practices for people with a disability.

• incorporate disability issues in management development programs, including how to provide supervision and support to people with a disability.

All departments/ agencies

December 2011

1.2 Agency workforce development plans to incorporate agency disability planning.


Ongoing

1.3 Apply the new Premises Standards in the building of new or refitting of workplaces and ensure accessible business systems to limit employment barriers.


May 2011 and ongoing

1.4 Ensure a harassment and discrimination-free environment for all employees, including people with a disability.


Ongoing

1.5 Conduct exit interviews to discuss opportunities for improving workplace access and opportunities for people with a disability.


Ongoing

1.6 Undertake research:

• of the workforce to understand career progression, representation levels and relative satisfaction levels of people with disabilities

• to assess other potential talent pools in the broader workforce.

DPC 2011-2012

1.7 Acknowledge achievement and innovation in disability employment initiatives and practices via awards and recognition activities.

Sector-wide recognition will be encouraged through the Premier’s Awards.


DPC

2011-2012

2. Improve induction processes

2.1 Clearly communicate to all staff the commitment to improve employment outcomes for people with a disability.


June 2011

2.2 Ensure managers work with employees that have identified as having a disability to develop workplace plans that clearly identify the strategies to support the employee and any necessary modifications required.


Ongoing

2.3 Provide post placement support for employees that have identified as having a disability and their managers.


December 2011

2.4 Provide disability awareness training as part of induction training for all staff.


December 2011

2.5 Provide mental health awareness training for the workplace as part of induction programs for all managers and supervisors.


2011-2012

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3. Provide practical support for agencies and employees with a disability.

3.1 Establish and support public sector disability networks for employees.

Establish a champion to support the department/agency network.


December 2011

3.2 Provide advice to managers and agencies on identification of equipment and financial support programs available to assist them in making workplace adjustments.

DPC June 2011

3.3 Develop clear policies, operational guidelines and resources on workplace adjustments and ergonomic/ workplace assessments for managers, HR specialists and employees.

DPC June 2011

3.4 Develop clear information resources for managers, human resource specialists and employees to assist with development of departmental and agency planning.

DPC December 2011

4. Support public sector employees with disabilities or mental health issues to maintain their employment within the public sector after a period of absence.

4.1 Provide mental health information, training and support for line managers.

Departments/ agencies

DPC

December 2011

4.2 Develop and implement a return to work plan to identify creative strategies that enable people with a disability to return to work following periods of absence, including enhanced flexible work practices.

Departments/ agencies

December 2011

4.3 Encourage employees with a mental illness to develop workplace ‘wellness plans’, with the assistance of their medical practitioner, to enable early intervention when symptoms of mental illness become apparent in the workplace.

Employees with a mental illness and departments/ agencies

Ongoing

4.4 Establish a panel of specialist disability employment providers which can provide tailored support to employees with a disability and their managers, as required.

DPC December 2011

75 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers 6 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 2003, Transforming Disability into Ability: Policies to Promote Work and Income Security for Disabled People, OECD, Paris.

Improving the recruitment experience for people with a disability


Organisational Leadership Retention Recruitment Skills Building culture acquisition partnerships and and career engaging with key development stakeholder groups


The unemployment rate for people with a disability is almost twice the unemployment rate in the total workforce5. This declining level of employment participation is not isolated to Australia but is part of an international trend6.

People with a disability tend to leave the workforce faster than people without disabilities. Employees with disabilities also told us that they tend to remain at their entry level and have limited access to career mobility opportunities.

People with a disability can and do compete for public sector positions on the open employment market. However, some people – particularly people with a severe or profound disability – require coordinated pathways into the sector, access to information about job opportunities and help with applying for those opportunities. Importantly, many are faced with reduced employment options due to access issues.

Strategies are required to target a more diverse range of applicants. Traditional recruitment methods are becoming less effective. If we are to increase the pool of applicants, we need to do better at attracting and responding to the requirements of diverse groups. With an ageing workforce and skill shortages in some professional streams, the sector needs to maximise its access to talent pools.

We want to address those factors that make seeking employment in the public sector more challenging than it needs to be for people with a disability.

Our aim

Reduce barriers to employment and increase the number of people with a disability applying for jobs in the NSW public sector.

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5. Promote public sector careers for people with a disability

5.1 Improve access to information through jobs.nsw about:• jobs and careers within the NSW public sector for people

with a disability• internal and external assistance available for people with

a disability.

DPC/DSTA June 2011

5.2 Implement the Ready, Willing and Able Program (a new program which provides targeted employment opportunities).

DPC/ADHC


2011

5.3 Market entry-level programs including apprenticeships, traineeships, JumpStart cadetships, graduate programs and targeted disability positions.


DPC

Ongoing

5.4 Adopt advertisement wording which encourages job applications from people with a disability.


June 2011

5.5 Work with stakeholders to develop joint initiatives to promote employment opportunities for people with a disability.

DPC Ongoing

6. Address factors that make applying for jobs in the public sector difficult for people with a disability

6.1 Ensure position descriptions and selection criteria are based on the inherent requirements of a job and do not directly or indirectly discriminate against people with a disability. For example, the requirement to hold a driver’s licence if the position does not require the ability to physically drive a car.


DPC

Ongoing

6.2 Establish relationships with specialist disability employment providers to support agencies and people with a disability throughout recruitment processes.

DPC December 2011

6.3 Educate managers to better understand the benefits of employing people with a disability.


Ongoing

6.4 Explore the feasibility of establishing a referral point to assist people with a disability in the recruitment process, for example in preparing applications or for an interview.

DPC 2011-2012

7. Develop consistent approaches to recruitment action for people with a disability

7.1 Provide disability awareness training for interview panel convenors and ensure that they understand that reasonable adjustment processes apply throughout the recruitment process.


Ongoing

7.2 Ensure selection panels and managers understand and apply a range of selection and assessment techniques to fairly assess applicants’ abilities.

DPCAll departments/ agencies

Ongoing

7.3 Provide information to agencies on the services provided by specialist disability employment services.

ADHC/DPC 2011-2012

7.4 Require that contractors engaged by agencies to assist in recruitment action demonstrate a thorough understanding of EEO and the sector’s commitment to improving employment outcomes for people with a disability.


December 2011

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Helping people with a disability build careers in the NSW public sector


Organisational Leadership Retention Recruitment Skills Building culture acquisition partnerships and and career engaging with key development stakeholder groups


People with a disability enjoy a progressive work environment. They seek to build long term careers in roles where their contribution is valued and where they can make a difference to society.

A diverse workforce which is representative of the total community is better placed to design and deliver quality services. Diversity needs to be reflected at all levels in the NSW public sector workforce with people with a disability leading service delivery activities, training other staff and influencing policy decisions. Unfortunately, many of the employees with a disability we consulted indicated that they felt their careers had plateaued. They saw limited opportunities for promotion through the ranks of their organisation. In particular, employees with a disability in regional areas often have serious difficulty accessing career advice, mentoring and support.

We want to ensure people with a disability have the same level of access to training and professional development opportunities as other employees.

Our aim

Improve networking, support and training and development opportunities to enable people with a disability to build long-term careers in the sector.

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8. Support career planning, development and career mobility activities for people with a disability

8.1 Ensure all staff with a disability have coaching and performance plans.


Ongoing

8.2 Improve opportunities including providing dedicated places for staff with a disability to access professional development, leadership, mentoring, coaching and peer support opportunities.


Ongoing

8.3 Provide opportunities for employees with a disability to participate in the full range of professional development opportunities such as participation on committees, interagency projects, working groups, secondments, mentoring, shadowing programs, and other career development programs.


Ongoing

8.4 Ensure all staff training and development activities whether conducted in-house or externally, to take into consideration access requirements of people with a disability.


Ongoing

8.5 Ensure a proportion of positions available on management development programs are allocated to employees with a disability. Give consideration to accepting people with a disability who do not necessarily meet all the criteria for acceptance (i.e. employees at Grade 7-8 may be accepted into programs where the pre-requisite grading is 9-10).

DPC Ongoing

Making a difference

The Department of Premier and Cabinet will monitor the implementation of EmployABILITY across the sector via existing EEO reporting arrangements.

1. DPC will monitor and measure progress against the aims established for each of the key action areas.

Retention:

• Increase the representation of people with a disability requiring an adjustment in the NSW public sector workforce.

• Monitor the representation of people with a disability employed in the NSW public sector against appropriate Australian Bureau of Statistics and other jurisdictional benchmarks.

Recruitment:

• Increase the number of people with a disability appointed to positions within the NSW public sector

• Establish measures for entry programs.

Career development:

• Increase the representation of people with a disability in agency and sector-wide leadership development programs.

• Monitor the number of people with a disability participating in employee networks.

2. Agencies will report their progress in achieving these goals as part of the EEO reporting obligations in their annual report, referring to specific actions and outcomes reported against their Disability Employment Strategy.

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Measurement and reporting challenges

Research indicates that people with a disability are under-represented in the workforce, generally, and in the NSW public sector. Workforce data about people with a disability in the public sector workforce is sourced from the NSW Workforce Profile and agency EEO annual reports.

Under-reporting is considered to be a factor in the declining estimated representation of people with a disability in the NSW public sector. Frequently agencies capture EEO data on commencement of employment and disability status is not updated during a person’s employment within the agency. Confidentiality provisions prevail and disability status may not be captured in agency reporting processes. Agency data may also be limited as many people choose not to disclose their disability to their managers or human resources units.

Disability employment planning is more complicated than for other equity groups as individual circumstances and the work context can vary significantly. We need more accurate data to better target the provision of support for employees with a disability.

Agencies will strengthen processes to track employees’ disability status by:

• Providing new employees the opportunity to identify as having a disability to ensure appropriate workplace support and adjustments can be provided

• Instituting processes to encourage employees to update their disability status annually

• Collecting baseline and ongoing data on employees who self-identify as having a disability and on retention rates – after first developing a privacy policy for dealing with this information.

At a sector-wide level we need to monitor achievements in disability workforce issues and trends.

Who is considered to be a person with disability?

Defining disability in employment is highly contextual. The definition used by the NSW Workforce Profile Collection is deliberately broad. It draws on the definition used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the Census of Population and Housing. For consistency in data collection and monitoring, this strategy adopts the definition used by the NSW Workforce Profile Collection.

The definition states that a person should identify as having a disability if they have one or more of the following limitations or restrictions:

• a long-term medical condition or ailment

• speech difficulties in their native language

• a disfigurement or deformity

• a psychiatric condition

• a head injury, stroke or any other brain damage

• loss of sight or hearing

• incomplete use of any part of their body

• blackouts, fits or loss of consciousness

• restriction in physical activities or physical work

• slowness at learning or understanding

• any other condition resulting in a restriction.7

More detailed data such as type of disability or level of severity is not collected.

7 Excerpt from NSW Public Sector Workforce Profile Collection Data Specifications July 2010

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Who is considered to be a person with a disability requiring an adjustment?

Employees identifying as having a disability who may require a workplace adjustment in order to perform their role or some aspect of their work situation adjusted in order to accommodate their needs. Adjustments can involve changes to any aspect of employment including:

• the tasks of the job

• the workplace or work area

• the behaviour of others at work

• the equipment used

• working hours.8

Planning context

Agencies are required to address disability employment issues through two planning requirements:

1. EEO Management Plans

Section 122J of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 requires all agencies to prepare and submit an EEO Management Plan to the Director of Equal Opportunity in Public Employment.

The EEO Management Plan is a high level, strategic document which facilitates the removal of barriers to the employment participation and promotion of EEO groups, including people with a disability.

A model EEO management plan, which agencies may adopt and modify to suit their needs, is available at www.eeo.nsw.gov.au

Implementation of plans and reporting of achievements is included in the department or agency annual report.

2. Disability Action Plans

The NSW Disability Services Act 1993 requires all NSW Government agencies listed in Schedule 1, Parts 1 and 2 of the Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002 to prepare a Disability Action Plan.

The Guidelines for disability action planning by NSW Government agencies provide a framework for agency level disability action planning. Agencies are required to report each year on their Disability Action Plans in their annual report.

The guidelines include five outcomes including Outcome 5: increasing employment participation of people with a disability in the NSW public sector. Agencies can refer to their EEO Management Plans for this outcome.

8 Excerpt from NSW Public Sector Workforce Profile Collection Data Specifications July 2010

EmployABILITY Strategy - NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet

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