Why hiring people with disabilities is a smart business move is the topic of a free guide for employers published by the S.C. Department of Disabilities and Special Needs.
DDSN is the state agency that provides services to people with the severe, lifelong disabilities of mental retardation and related disabilities, spinal cord injury, autism, and traumatic brain injury.
"Smart Move: An Employer's Legal Guide to Hiring People with Disabilities" outlines to employers why workers with disabilities provide many potential benefits and few significant risks.
"A priority of DDSN," said State Director Dr. Stan Butkus, "is to increase employment of people with disabilities. The time is ripe to bring attention to this issue statewide - we must let S.C. business people know that hiring people with disabilities is smart business."
"Studies have shown that as a group, people with disabilities contribute significantly to an employee," Butkus said.
A 2006 University of Massachusetts Boston survey of attitudes toward companies that hire individuals with disabilities and 87 percent said they would prefer to give their business to such companies.
"Employers are finding that there are many business benefits associated with hiring people with disabilities," Butkus said. "This year Walgreen Co. opened its 12th full-service distribution center in Anderson and became the first facility of its kind to employ a significant number of people with disabilities. More than 42 percent of the facility's work force has a physical or congnitive disability such as autism or mental retardation."
To request free copies of "Smart Move: An Employer's Legal Guide to Hiring People with Disabilities," contact the Office of Community Education, S.C. Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, P.O. Box 4706, Columbia, S.C. 29240 or call 803-898-9743.
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