Useful websites
- Visit Disability Confident New Zealand (external link) and learn about the benefits of becoming a disability confident business.
- Lead Toolkit: A guide for hiring disabled people (external link) contains a range of information and resources for business owners, leadership teams, mangers and human resources teams to help them employ disabled people within their businesses.
- Getting a Job- an A-Z for employers and employees – Pre-employment guidelines (external link)
- Be. Accessible (external link) have joined with the Employers Disability Network to grow greater, more meaningful and accessible employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
- Statistics NZ data on employment of people with disabilities: Disability Survey (external link)
- Workbridge (external link) is a free employment service for disabled people or those with an injury or health condition.
- The New Zealand Disability Support Network has a directory of disability service providers (external link)
- Work and Income (external link)
- ACC (external link)
- Mainstream Employment Programme (external link) on the Work and Income website.
- Job Access Australia (external link) has employment information for employers and people with disability.
- The Blind Foundation has an extensive support (external link) to meet the needs of people who are blind or visually impaired.
- The Office for Disability Issues has useful guides and tools (external link) on disability etiquette.
- The UK Equality and Human Rights Commission (external link)
- The Centre for Inclusive Learning Support resource Employ My Ability (external link) has practical advice for disabled students, employers, and educators to overcome barriers in education. It describes conditions and the strengths a condition may bring to the workplace.
- The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has recognised the business case for employing disabled people. For further information, visit: The price of exclusion (external link) : The economic consequences of excluding people with disabilities from the world of work
- EmployAbility: a resource guide on disability for employers in Asia and the Pacific. (external link)
- Living with disability in New Zealand (external link) - 2004
- Research about disabled people in New Zealand (external link)
- Diversity Works NZ (formerly the EEO Trust) (external link)
Other employers' experiences
One way for employers to increase their ‘disability confidence” is to learn and benefit from success stories of other employers who have employed people with a disability. Websites with examples of New Zealand and Australia employers effectively accommodating disabilities include:
- Diversityworksnz.org.nz (external link) has case studies which include employers who have employed people with disabilities.
- The Australian JobAccess Site (external link) has an extensive collection of accounts from employers who have had positive experiences employing disabled people.
- Point of View Productions (external link) How to make the most of a diverse pool of talent by using the skills of people with disabilities. Successful businesses tell you how they did it and why it worked well for them.
- Employer networks (such as Be.accessible (external link) ) for employers who share the vision of improving utilisation of the resources offered by people with disabilities.
- ‘Works for Me’ (external link) is a YouTube video for employers, chambers of commerce and employment groups showing how employing someone with a disability can have a positive impact on the culture of their business.
- The Think Differently website (external link) has a DVD for employers – “Works for Me”. The people interviewed in this DVD are employers who recognise that disabled people can have a positive impact on the culture and success of their business. It features employees in a range of occupations – from lawyers and IT specialists to car groomers and administration.
Mental health resources
Mindful Employer Line Managers' Resource
One of the areas that employers find difficult is working with people who have mental health issues. It is likely that as an employer, at least one member of your staff may at some point have a long or short term mental health issue because 3 in 10 employees experience mental health issues. This resource provides practical information and advice from managers in organisations in the U.K. covering:
- Mental health conditions & recovery
- Mentally healthy workplaces
- The importance of talking in the workplace
- Keeping in touch during sickness absence
- Planning a return to work & reasonable adjustments
- Sources of other information, help and training
Work related stress perspective and tips
The following information provides some important perspective around work related stress and some tips for more effective management of work related stress.
Work related stress (external link) on the UK Health and Safety Executive website.
The Well-Being Resource Book for New Managers: An Essential Guide to Mental Health and Wellbeing
If you're new to management, you can get ideas from this UK resource to help you promote the well-being of you and others. Topics include:
- What it means to be a Good Manager
- Stress Management
- Managing Sickness Absence
- Useful Sources of Information (UK based)
It is available online. The Well-Being Resource Book for New Managers. (external link)
Supported employment agencies
Supported employment agencies are located across New Zealand and help disabled people to get and keep a job.
Workbridge
As well as administering government funding schemes to support disabled people into open employment, training or self-employment, Workbridge (external link) also places disabled people directly into work.
New Zealand Disability Support Network
On the ASENZ website (external link) you can find more information such as the agencies closest to you, and links to specialist supported employment agencies listed by region, by vacancy or by disability.
Workwise Employment Agency
Workwise Employment Agency (external link) supports people with mental health conditions to return to work and to stay in work.