Inclusive Hiring FAQs | ESG, Accessibility & More
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Use our services to make your workplaces disability inclusive
Why use a PwD-focused platform for hiring?
Traditional platforms often lack the necessary accessibility features – for example, how can someone with a hearing impairment effectively engage with visual content, or how can a person with low vision easily navigate a complex form? The sheer scale of the challenge, coupled with the diverse needs of individuals across 21 different disability types, demands a more holistic approach.
SwarajAbility addresses these critical gaps, offering a customised, accessible, and technologically advanced, platform that connects PwD candidates directly with multinational, national, and local employers.
What are the governmental policies regarding disability inclusion in India?
Right to Persons with Disabilities(PwD) Act, 2016 gives persons with disabilities the right to education and employment. This act recognizes 21 disabilities. In addition, the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) mandate in India refers to a requirement imposed on companies by regulators and investors to disclose and actively manage their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, essentially forcing them to prioritize sustainability and inclusion practices in their operations.
What this means for employers in the context of PwDs is that companies are required to report their efforts towards inclusive practices for people with disabilities, including workplace accessibility, equal employment opportunities, and ensuring their products and services are accessible to a diverse range of users, which is considered a key aspect of the “Social” pillar within ESG reporting, particularly under the SEBI guidelines for listed companies.
SwarajAbility is a single platform that can help you meet these ESG requirements.
What accessibility features does SwarajAbility offer disabled candidates?
SwarajAbility incorporates a range of accessibility features for needs across all 21 disabilities recognized in the Right to PwD Act, 2016, including screen reader compatibility, high-contrast text, and easy navigation, making it easier for PwDs to use and navigate the platform. The portal is also available in 11 Indian Languages, which allows the employer to post the job in the local languages to reach a larger geographical audience.
The platform also focuses on showcasing job listings that are explicitly open to PwDs, ensuring equal opportunities for this community. In addition, SwarajAbility provides dedicated support for PwDs throughout the job search process, offering guidance and assistance as needed.
What if no matching candidates can be found for my job’s requirements?
If no candidate meeting your requirements can be easily found through the job search portal, our team will help you find candidates through our off-platform network: Youth4Jobs has over 50 training centers across India and is also very well connected to a large number of NGO’s and Government Organizations where PwD’s are available and looking for jobs.
Until now, we have always been able to supply our employers with high quality candidates.
Does my employer have the right to ask for medical documentation?
Yes, if your disability and/or need for accommodation is not obvious, your employer can request medical documentation to confirm that you have a disability and that you need a reasonable
accommodation.
- Your employer should not ask for a complete medical history. Requests should be narrowly tailored to your accommodation request.
- If your employer asks you to sign a release for all of your medical records, offer to provide a note from your doctor instead and/or narrow the scope of the release to information required to assess your accommodation request.
- Some employees find it helpful to provide documentation from a doctor with the initial request.
There is nothing wrong with this, but your employer may have specific questions, so you may want to consider waiting to provide medical documentation so that you do not need to ask your doctor for additional letters.
What support does SwarajAbility offer after a disabled candidate has been hired?
We proactively track progress post-placement at the 3,6,9 and 12 month milestones with the candidate as well as the employer. These activities happen through Youth4Jobs and are not tracked within the platform. We also track the candidates who are active and inactive on the platform and keep in touch with them via SMS.
We are committed to making your employer-employee relationship successful and are here to help you at every step.
What is a reasonable accommodation?
A reasonable accommodation is any change in the work environment or in the way things are customarily done that enables you, as a person with a disability, to enjoy equal employment opportunities.
Reasonable accommodations generally fall within three categories:
- Changes to the application or interview process
- Changes to the work environment that enable you to perform the essential functions of your job
- Changes that enable you to access the benefits and privileges of employment
There are endless examples of potential workplace accommodations. Common examples include:
- Making an existing workplace accessible (installing a ramp, widening a doorway)
- Providing qualified readers or interpreters (ASL interpreters for important meetings)
- Job restructuring (removing marginal tasks)
- Part‐time or modified work schedules (permitting a flexible schedule)
- Leave (providing unpaid leave in addition to FMLA or sick leave)
- Providing or changing equipment (installing computer software, such as JAWS)
- Modifying testing requirements, training materials, or policies (providing additional training)
- Reassignment (transferring to a vacant position for which you are qualified)
- Working from home
Do I have to provide the reasonable accommodation requested?
It depends. Here are a few important concepts to keep in mind:
- Preferred v. effective accommodation: You are required to provide your disabled employee with an effective accommodation, not necessarily their preferred accommodation. If there are many possible ways to accommodate the employee, you can choose the cheapest or easiest, so long as it is effective. As you negotiate with your employee, be open to understanding their point of view.
- Undue hardship: You are not required to provide an accommodation that would pose an undue. hardship, which is defined as a significant difficulty or expense. There is no specific standard for what constitutes an undue hardship; instead, this determination is made based on an individualised basis. Some factors to consider are: (1) the cost of the accommodation needed (2) your financial resources; and (3) the impact of the accommodation on your organization.
- Personal services or devices: Your employer does not need to provide personal services or devices. For instance, if your employee needs a hearing aid for use both in and out of the workplace, that hearing. aid is a personal device and you (the employer) are not required to provide it. However, some devices may seem personal but are still considered accommodations, such as a specialized phone to help the employee hear in the workplace. This is not a personal device because they only need it in the workplace.
- Removing essential functions: You do not need to remove any particular task or duty from your disabled employee’s role, if that task or duty is an essential function of their position.