Provision of Infrastructure to Create Structured Work Environments and Work Processes to Support Persons with Disabilities
Ministry of Social and Family DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Mr Christopher de Souza’s inquiry regarding SG Enable’s efforts to help employers create structured work environments for persons with disabilities. Minister Masagos Zulkifli B M M explained that the Open Door Programme provides job coach support and Job Redesign Grants for workplace modifications like calm rooms and assistive technology. Between 2020 and 2022, an average of 500 persons with disabilities were placed annually, while training workshops such as the HIRE series help firms integrate employees. Furthermore, SG Enable will launch the first Enabling Business Hub in Jurong this year to showcase inclusive hiring practices, starting with the logistics sector.
Transcript
32 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Social and Family Development whether the Ministry tracks how SG Enable is working together with employers to provide the necessary infrastructure to create structured work environments and clear work processes to support persons with disabilities.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: SG Enable administers the Open Door Programme (ODP) which provides support to employers to hire persons with disabilities through grants and employment support services. The ODP provides customised job placement and job support from trained job coaches, who advise employers on how they can create accessible work environments and make reasonable job accommodations to enable employees with disabilities to perform their roles effectively and work well with co-workers. Between 2020 and 2022, SG Enable and its partners placed an average of 500 persons with disabilities into jobs each year.
Employers can also tap on the Job Redesign Grant under ODP to modify workplaces and provide the infrastructure needed, such as the inclusion of calm rooms and assistive technology. ODP also provides subsidies for employers and their employees without disabilities to attend workshops that prepare them to interact with, hire, integrate and retain employees with disabilities. For example, SG Enable offers a range of courses under its High Impact Retention and Employment (HIRE) Workshop Series that help employers learn how to create safe work environments and modify work processes to suit the unique needs of their employees with disabilities. Over the past five years, on average, 65 organisations have sent over 1,420 employees without disabilities to attend these courses each year, to learn how to recruit and integrate persons with disabilities at their workplaces.
Later this year, SG Enable will also launch the first Enabling Business Hub (EBH) in Jurong to showcase inclusive hiring practices and support employers, starting with the logistics industry, to implement such practices at their workplaces.