Disability in the Workplace: Centering Employee Wellness and Rest — Part 3

I have a strong philosophy on how workplaces should function. They should be centered on those who do the work, and complement human-ness as opposed to control it. I’ve done the research and know that organizations that invest deeply in their workers in meaningful ways create environments that foster sustainable success.

After my experiences as an employee and within leadership, I objectively understood that finding an organization that held these progressive values and would actually align its policy and culture accordingly would be like finding a needle in ten-thousand haystacks.

That was affirmed when I began consulting and discovered that what many organizations really wanted was the window dressing working with me could provide, and not the fundamental shift in mindset and practice that is required. What I couldn’t have anticipated is that the company would find me and enthusiastically share my vision of reimagining the nature of work.

As I mentioned in parts one and two, the balance of power relating to disability rights is obscenely tilted against the individual being employed, and there is a dizzying array of laws, agencies, and processes involved. But here’s the fact: maintaining legal compliance is a fairly straightforward (but long) checklist of do’s and don’ts that can basically be boiled down to ‘keep records’, ‘be humane’, and ‘don’t discriminate’.

If an employer isn’t seeking to push the limits of productivity, maximize the ‘return on investment’ in people, reduce overhead costs, or to use vulnerability to control others there is almost no need to maneuver through the finite details.

It’s the dynamics involved in manipulating people for profit that creates the bulk of the stressful and invasive back and forth typically involved in the “interactive process”.

At Evinco we do things differently. We approach ability, “reasonable accommodations”, and our overall philosophy of work in a way that de-centers capitalism. The only real question considered is this: is there a compelling reason we can’t meet the request?

Foundationally, we are committed to a culture of rest. This goes far beyond the idea of work/life balance — there is an expectation that our team tends to their rest, wellness, and wellbeing first.

Rest extends further than taking a day off when you’re sick or going on vacation once a year or so. It means taking every holiday that is relevant to your spiritual practice; not hesitating to step away when your physical or mental health needs a breather; focusing on deliverables instead of clock watching; and having the flexibility to put your family first (however you define family) — without being required to ‘justify’ the time away or count up leave hours to see if it’s even possible.

With this baseline many of the barriers to employment disabled individuals face evaporate. Time is fluid; doctors appointments, flare ups, capacity limits, intermittent symptoms, and the like are honored by default and the focus is placed on job performance as opposed to performative work.

Additionally, we co-create the workplace experience of each person based on their unique needs so they are able to do their best work. Evinco actively encourages its team to obtain the furnishings, technology, and assistive devices that empower them (at our expense) without requiring an invasive or bureaucratic process.

This also translates into finding creative solutions to specific needs surrounding work styles, schedules, communication, and learning methods. We believe anyone is ‘able’ to do a job they are qualified for with the right tools, support, and circumstances.

The bottom line is we trust our people, we believe them when they tell us what they need, and we aim to meet them where they are at with our full support, mindful consideration, and minimal hassle.

Yes, there are limits to what we can do financially and logistically, however, these are the exception, not the rule. Sure, there’s still some paperwork, documentation, tracking, and guardrails that may be involved — but our practice is to limit this to what’s required to be legally compliant.

How’s that for “reasonable accommodations” and an “interactive process”? I’m here to tell you it’s possible. We’re committed to revolutionizing the experience of being employed, and you can help move the conversation about disability in employment — find out how in part 4, coming soon.

Did you miss the first two parts? Check them out here: Disability in the Workplace: An Insider’s Perspective — Part 1 and Reasonable Accommodations or Red Tape? — Part 2.

Part 4 out now: Bringing Light to the Darkest Intersection of Disability and Work.

Written by Dawn Jimenez, Director of Employment + Culture at Evinco Strategies.