National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) and Employer Challenge
Commit to Hiring and Retaining People with Disabilities
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) and DVR challenge employers to commit to hiring and retaining individuals with disabilities by recognizing that this untapped talent pool is key to achieving an equitable, diverse, inclusive, and accessible workplace.
DVR is committed to partnering with you to achieve these goals as well as meet the individualized needs of your business.
We offer a variety of resources for disability in the workplace, trainings, and services to support your business, including customizable workshops available at no cost. Contact our Business Relations Team now to get started!
The 2025 Employer Challenge: Conquering your DEIA Journey is now live!
Are you a change-maker? Does your company want to have improved inclusion of Disability and Accessibility in your workplace but don't know where to start? Implementing DEIA in the workplace can feel like a daunting task, much like climbing a mountain. But with preparation, tools, and the right guides, you can learn the ways to conquer this journey with the help of DVR’s Business Relations Unit.
This virtual 3-part workshop series will help your company:
- Build knowledge and understanding of the current challenges when implementing initiatives around the hiring of People with Disabilities (PWDs);
- Gain a better understand of the ADA and create positive interactions around Reasonable Accommodations in the workplace;
- Discover best practices for creating accessible workplaces from other leading business who've successfully implemented change in their companies for inclusion of PWDs.
Interested in joining this cohort of committed Employers across the State, who are committing to the inclusion of Disability and Accessibility in their workplaces? Register now and let's get to work.
Why Make a Commitment?
Individuals with disabilities are an untapped labor pool, with only 34.4% of adults currently employed compared to an estimated 75% of adults without disabilities currently employed (nTIDE, July 2022).
Businesses who actively pursue hiring and retaining people with disabilities financially outperform businesses that do not, with an average of 28% higher revenue and 30% higher profit margins (Disability:IN, 2018).
When people with disabilities are part of your workplace, they help to drive innovation, culture change, and positively contribute to the economic, social and governance (ESGs) impacts businesses, yielding positive returns for both the business and its' customers.
Employer Challenge and Commitment
We commit to hiring and retaining people with disabilities through implementing practices related to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility (EDIA) by:
- Recognizing that people with disabilities are essential to achieving financial and culture success within my business
Intentionally reviewing our policies, practices, and workplace culture to identify opportunities for positive change and promoting a culture that values the contributions of all perspectives
Striving to implement the best practices of accessibility within all aspects of our work and workplace
Working to eliminate attitudinal barriers and bias that may be present within our recruitment and retention practices by promoting skills-based strategies within our business practices when appropriate
October is NDEAM
Held annually in October, National Disability Employment Awareness Month is led by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy and it's true spirit lies in the many observances held at the grassroots level across the nation every year. Employers of all sizes and in all industries are encouraged to participate in NDEAM. The theme for 2024 is "Access to Good Jobs for All."
The most recent data available (2022) from the American Community Survey (ACS) estimates 35.1% of people age 16 and over with disabilities in Colorado are employed whereas 71.8% of Coloradans without a disability were employed, a gap of 36.7 percentage points. This is down from a gap of 41 percentage points in 2017. We are making progress!
Why this is important to us at DVR:
- We believe in the importance of employment and that it is a social determinant of health.
- We believe in the employability of all people with disabilities, and
- We believe that disability is an integral component of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA)
Resources and Events
Check out these videos:
- "Hidden Disabilities in the Workplace: How to be fully inclusive." CDLE Executive Director, Joe Barela, interviews DVR's Sandy Sharp, Business Outreach Specialist.
- "What Disability Inclusion Means to Me" CDLE members of the OneCDLE Affinity Group, Disability Affinity Team, share their perspectives of an inclusive workplace.
- Alia Andrews, with the Office of Behavioral Health, shares her career path and recovery.