Employing People with Disabilities Can Be a True Win-win

Hire Calling

Emily Benoit (left) and Erika Lamere say the Lincoln Street Stop & Shop in Holyoke has strived to cultivate an inclusive workplace.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. But for Lhea Destromp, it’s a year-round effort.

“This isn’t just seasonal. It’s about carving out intentional opportunities and making our workspaces more inclusive. And that’s a slow and thoughtful process,” said Destromp, an employment counselor in Regional Employment Services for the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS).

That said, the increased awareness in October does present an opportunity to create more dialogue around the value that workers with disabilities add to the workforce, the importance of inclusive employment policies, and barriers to employment that people with disabilities may face.

“When I’m talking to employers, I’m talking to them in terms of value and what they’re looking for, so I need to be able to convince them that an individual, or a whole group of people, are reliable and not a risk — because, at the end of the day, business people are thinking about risk. So it’s about putting the facts in front of people so that they can make informed decisions. And a lot of people don’t realize that individuals with disabilities tend to have the greatest longevity in their careers.”

As an example, she connected BusinessWest with the Stop & Shop store on Lincoln Street in Holyoke, where a man with a developmental disability named Michael has been bagging and retrieving carriages — and occasionally other tasks — for the past 35 years.

“Michael has been like a brother to me,” said Erika Lamere, an administrator at the store who has roughly the same tenure at the store. “We grew here together. And he feels like this place is his home because he’s been here so long.”

Emily Benoit, a department head who works closely with Michael, said there are rough days when he’ll get a little overwhelmed.

“Whenever something’s bugging him, like if he had a bad interaction with a customer, he’s able to talk to us and explain what happened and what he’s feeling, and we can kind of direct him — ‘OK, that’s all right, this happens, it’s normal.’ And talking about it helps him and brings him down a level so he’s not overwhelmed.”

That said, Michael’s time at Stop & Shop is marked by mostly good days, and the same goes for Chris, another employee with a developmental disability who mainly bags groceries. They’re popular with customers and — importantly — extremely reliable, Benoit said, something Destromp says is true for many of the clients she works with and helps connect with jobs.

Lhea Destromp

“It’s about putting the facts in front of people so that they can make informed decisions. And a lot of people don’t realize that individuals with disabilities tend to have the greatest longevity in their careers.”

“Why should these people not be included?” Lamere asked. “We’ve had supervisors come through the building that say, ‘what do they do?’ Well, they can do anything anyone else can do if they’re just taught how to do it.

“That’s one thing I love about this place — in all my years here, we have always made sure that everyone is included, no matter what it is: a disability, your race, your sexual preference, I don’t care,” she went on. “Everyone is a person and deserves to work if they want to. And yes, they may not be able to perform all tasks, but that doesn’t mean places shouldn’t hire them. And once they get comfortable, you’d be very surprised with the other things they are willing to do and end up doing.”

And doing well, Destromp added.

“Not only do many of these folks work in their positions for a long time, they’re very reliable, they very seldom call out, and individuals with disabilities have the lowest of workers’ compensation claims. So when we think about how an employer defines risk within the context of an employee, we’re checking all the boxes here.”

Meaningful Connections

Destromp, as noted, helps people with developmental disabilities secure meaningful work, and she does this from both sides.

“I work with job coaches on job development with individuals who are looking to get jobs. Typically they have a number of obstacles and barriers that have led to a pattern of instability that has made it so they can’t retain work. So I help create goals and strategies to work with these folks so that they can resolve these issues,” she explained.

“At the same time, on the other end, I’m working with employers and helping to prepare them so that they can embark on this journey. For some of them, it’s an easy job, and it’s just about placement. For others, we’re really carving in — helping them identify roles for people and supports.”

In many ways, she said, her department acts as a training program to determine where the barriers are and what someone needs to overcome them and secure employment.

“It really depends on the individual, almost how you think about physical therapy. If somebody has an issue with their leg versus an issue with their back or their core, they’re going to have a whole different regimen to support them and strengthen what they need. So, for us, it’s really about targeting those areas,” she explained. “We’re working to assess where the deficits are, and then we can identify strategies to support them.”

She’s also busy with engaging different constituencies around the issue of inclusive workplaces and what that means to both job seekers and employers.

“I’m doing more around community engagement and around finding places where folks can be establishing and deepening their skill sets and then connecting them more meaningfully to opportunities in the community, and then also working more closely with employers and helping them figure out ways to establish value and take that leap of faith.”

Jason Randall

“When they find an employer like ours and get into an environment where they feel accepted and wanted, their loyalty is increased, and their length of service with us is higher than others.”

As one motivation, she directs them to tax incentives for hiring disabled workers. The federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit reimburses 40% of up to $6,000 in wages to any employer that hires disabled individuals certified by a state workforce agency. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Disability Employment Tax Credit provides up to $5,000 or 30% of the wages paid to each qualified employee with a disability in the first taxable year of employment, whichever is less, decreasing to $2,000 or 30% of the wages paid, whichever is less, in subsequent years.

Those are attractive incentives, Destromp said, but they’re not the whole picture — more important is tapping into an employee pool that, as she noted, tends to be longer-tenured and more reliable than workers in general, at a time when businesses of all kinds are struggling with maintaining a workforce.

“It’s smart business, and the data doesn’t lie,” said Jason Randall, executive director of Human Resources at MGM Springfield, another employer that has embraced inclusivity in hiring.

“These employees do have a longer tenure with us. And in return, they find loyalty in a company that is taking a chance on them because other doors get closed on them through various interview processes or companies that don’t want to engage,” he noted. “When they find an employer like ours and get into an environment where they feel accepted and wanted, their loyalty is increased, and their length of service with us is higher than others.”

Randall explained that MGM has partnered with a number of organizations, not only DDS, but also the Western Mass Employment Collaborative, Viability, and ServiceNet — that support individuals with disabilities who are looking for work.

“We have great relationships with these organizations, meet with them frequently, and are very candid up front about the environment that we provide as a workplace as they’re trying to match their constituents to employment,” he noted. “We know that this environment may not be for everybody. Certainly, working front of house with guests isn’t for everybody, and working back of house, without guest contact, isn’t for everybody. So being candid and having dialogue up front helps create an expectation that these agencies can place or help their candidates apply for appropriate positions.”

The partnership doesn’t stop after hiring, onboarding, and training, Randall added, as the casino complex provides employee accommodations when needed, and works with the aforementioned agencies to determine those needs. “We’ve worked with employees who have a variety of disabilities, and some you can notice by sight, and some you don’t know what’s going on in their life, but they do have a disability.”

Destromp noted that employers she works with are never asked to hinder their productivity with a hire that’s not the right fit.

“If you’re accommodating an employee in a way that is impacting the flow of your environment, then that’s not a reasonable expectation, and you, as an employer, are not expected to meet that expectation,” she said. “But, while that will be a difficult conversation, some difficult conversations yield high rewards — you may say to that person, ‘this is not the right role for you. Let’s examine the other things that are going on in our place of business and needs that we have that you may be able to fill.’”

Continuing the Conversation

To mark not only the 80th year of National Disability Employment Awareness Month and 35 years since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the DDS will present a panel discussion on disability inclusion practices in collaboration with the Springfield Regional Chamber, New England Business Associates, Springfield College, and the ADA National Network.

The event, to be held on Monday, Oct. 27 from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Springfield College Learning Common, will bring together leading employers to share innovative strategies for building inclusive workplaces — including how companies have successfully carved out roles tailored to employees’ strengths and support needs, creating true win-win outcomes. Panelist topics will include ADA recommendations, universal supports, expanding one’s labor pool and cultivating an inclusive culture, and addressing difficult disability-related questions. Email Tina Macy [email protected] with questions and to register.

“I think that individuals with disabilities have long been an overlooked and undervalued and marginalized group of people,” Destromp said. “I think that’s such a shame because these are people who are so eager to prove their worth, to prove their value, and who deserve just the same as anybody — that opportunity to be able to feel the value and the worth that comes along with contributing to your community.”

She said she was excited to meet Michael at the supermarket in Holyoke. “Everybody’s eyes lit up when they saw Mike — he was like the mayor of Stop & Shop.”

That’s gratifying for Lamere, who appreciates what her employees with disabilities have contributed to the store.

“Michael comes in every day, he stays his whole shift, he is reliable. And Chris is the same way. He was hospitalized recently, but he came right back to work. They’re both very reliable. We’re lucky to have them.”

At the same time, an inclusive workplace helps all employees understand differences, and that’s valuable in itself, she added.

“It gets you to open up and see they are people too, and they’re very capable of doing the things we do if they’re just given a shot. [Employees] learn very good lessons — that if you have the right people showing them and the right people giving them the courage or whatever they need, they end up doing it.”

That said, “some customers can be pretty rough,” Lamere went on. “With Michael, he sometimes will struggle with that because his feelings get hurt easily or he feels like he did something wrong. We’ve had customers call him stupid before. And the second I hear that, I’m flying downstairs, because nobody’s doing that. We try to make sure they feel protected.”

Randall said an inclusive workplace, like MGM Springfield, benefits everyone, including the company as a whole.

“Whether it’s a member of the LGBT community, veterans groups, women in the workplace … having an environment that accepts, promotes, and encourages everyone helps from a retention perspective,” he explained. “When employees feel proud about the workforce they are a part of and the company they work for, they become your recruiters. They’re going to tell their friends or family members the experience that they’ve had, and that brings us more candidates coming in the door.”

Destromp agreed. “I think it’s about shining that light and helping local employers see that value and understanding the many unique characteristics and qualities that individuals with disabilities bring to the table as a whole — and that’s even before we take a step closer and get to know each individual better and unpack their unique qualities.”