BURWASH LANDING │ BUSINESS F

Working together to Address Underlying 

Community Issues as Barriers to Employment

KEY CONCEPTS: community autonomy, drug and alcohol, FASD

This employer shared the views of other area employers, noting that while there were not many people with what are traditionally thought of as disabilities, such as physical and cognitive disabilities, issues arising as a result of drug and alcohol abuse were the source of a number of community and employment concerns. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) create a number of barriers to employment that include cognitive, social and emotional issues.

This employer indicated that rural Yukon employers are responsive to community needs, working to develop work projects that are adaptable enough to accommodate the various needs arising from the effects of FASD and associated learning and social-emotional-behavioural disabilities.

When asked what a Yukon Disability Employment Strategy might do to support communities and employers when dealing with issues arising from drug and alcohol abuse and the deleterious effects associated with FASD, the suggestions focussed on ensuring communities had the support needed to create jobs and provide the kinds of accommodations, including education and social supports needed by employees to sustain their employment situations.

We find this issue regarding drug and alcohol abuse, and the deleterious effects of FASD is a repeating and concerning theme across our community consultations on the YDES project trail. Employers express a shared interest in expanding business and hiring locally, but face concerns regarding reliability and capability of prospective employees who might suffer from drug and alcohol related disabilities. 

BEAVER CREEK │ BUSINESS Y

Community Development Requires Cooperation of Business, Education, Health and Social Services

KEY CONCEPTS: challenges facing rural northern communities, drug and alcohol abuse, costs of high staff turnover, coordinated community development planning

Employers consistently expressed interest in discussing the barriers to business success, be it disability employment issues or otherwise. This employer extended the social constructivist discourse of disabilities to include drug and alcohol abuse. For this employer, anything that prevents employees from getting the job done is a potential disability.

If we consider drug and alcohol abuse/addiction to be a type of disability, then this employer identified that the barriers to employment start before the employee arrives to work. That is, when it comes to drug and alcohol abuse, the barrier to employment begins with the start of the each new day and getting out the door on time and suitably ready for a full day’s work. This employer suggested that it is much simpler accommodating what one might more traditionally identify as a disability (i.e., the employer gave the example of a friend with a prosthetic limb) than the uncertainty of the day-to-day consequence and longer term affects of drug and alcohol abuse.

Drug and alcohol abuse is a catalyst for a whole host of negative consequences for small business, including the high costs of training staff repeatedly given a high turnover resulting from a termination of employment arising from problem behaviours on the job. For a small seasonally-driven business, the loss of key staff during peak season due to drug and alcohol issues presents a significant problem for ensuring they can deliver a quality and timely product to clients.

Another repeating theme for employers in rural Yukon is the very small pool of available staff. Hiring someone from outside the Yukon is often not a solution, given outsiders don’t fully understand what they are taking on when they live and work in the rural north.

When asked about key issues to include in a Yukon Disability Employment Strategy, this employer stated that core social and employment issues need to be addressed through a wider employment and community development strategy – with disability as the umbrella them for developing the health and welfare of the community and its businesses, sharing the view that strong businesses needs strong communities and vice versa.

The theme underpinning all our consultations/discussions with employers is that that government and the bureaucrats in Whitehorse could do a better job a listening to community needs and sourcing the solutions to the problems in the communities themselves.

Business owners like this one want the government and the communities they serve to recognize their investment in the community for the long term. Employers and rural Yukon are ready to work together. What they need now is a framework around which to rally community momentum, and the resources and supports to ensure core issues are addressed now, over the longer term.  

BURWASH LANDING │ BUSINESS E

Adaptability and Willingness to Change = Sustainable Business in Rural Communities

KEY CONCEPTS: adaptation, motivation, life-long learning, necessity is the mother of invention

This small business employs 10+ people during peak season and provides services ranging from hotel, food, to adventure tourism to guests from travelling along the Alaska Highway as well as destination travellers from overseas.

The employers indicated that the nature of their work required that staff worked independently and were able to be self sufficient over extended periods of time, serving customers but also when they are between shifts in staff housing.  

Asthma was identified as one type of disability that they have accommodated in the past. Both employers have themselves experienced challenges arising from partial paralysis in recent years, forcing them to both on separate occasions rethink how they themselves conducted their work. This adaptation included learning to write with the opposing hand, and altering the way overhead tasks were completed.

Disability was discussed by the employer in terms of the relationship between the person with disability and the environment in which s/he worked/lived. The suggestion was that a disability was only present when a person encountered a barrier that limited their ability to complete the work as required. This is the social constructivist view of disability. In short, this employers suggested that a person is disabled only if they are unable to do a certain job.

Back to the example of his own personal experience, this employer had to retrain himself to write and do various tasks given paralysis down his right side, given there are tasks he has had to do differently given his condition – but as long as he is ultimately able to do the task, then he does not consider it a disability.  

These employers were open to hiring people with disabilities given the prospective employee both wanted and was able to do the job. This sounds like a given, but the employer went on to discuss the importance of finding work that is enjoyable, given additional impediments encountered over the course of employment arising from a potential disability would only make things difficult for both the employee and employer if there wasn’t an underlying desire to work.

Key to overcoming the barriers that disabilities present is a drive and determination to succeed, rooted in self-determination and aspirations to achieve life goals. This employer cited the old adage that necessity is the mother of invention - similarly, necessity is the key to overcoming barriers in work and life given a disability.

When asked about what they believe an effective Yukon Disability Employment Strategy might include, these employers indicated that that government should not be overly interfering with business, but should offer supports employers through resources, information and potential funding to accommodate people with disabilities.  This employer finished with a warning; warning the government to not make things too easy for employers or employees – ostensibly removing the essential business and community ingredient for innovation and social responsibility, namely, necessity. 

BEAVER CREEK │ AGENCY X

Disability is NOT necessarily a Barrier to Employment │ Success in Rural Yukon requires Flexibility, Adaptability, Independence and Healthy Living

KEY CONCEPTS: multiple jobs = multiple accommodations needed, education, motivation, aspiration, FASD, drug and alcohol abuse

Agencies that support community health, social services, education and community development are tuned-in the comings and goings and needs of the people and communities they serve. We spoke with an agency worker who shared insights regarding the key barriers to employment and establishing healthy communities.

Education, motivation and expectation/aspiration were identified as the big three barriers to employment equity and full access, not disability per se. FASD and drug and alcohol abuse seem to be the primary barriers in terms of disability, with learning disabilities featuring as a key barrier to those affected who might want to pursue employment opportunities through training programs offered by Yukon College or even while still in high school.

This agency representative suggested that there are few opportunities for employment in rural Yukon, and for those who do secure work, jobs are rarely structured as full-time permanent employment.  Rather, opportunities are often casual, seasonal or part-time, resulting in many people having more than one job at any given time – as many as 5 jobs was cited as not overly unusual. This employment context presents significant barriers to people with disabilities who might require accommodations within the workplace in order to successfully perform their work-related duties. Where an employee is required to hold down multiple jobs, the issue of ensuring appropriate accommodations is magnified. This appears to be a unique barrier to rural Yukon – and one that will require specific attention with a Yukon Disability Employment Strategy.

An absence on of in-community education and training opportunities was identified as a key barrier to supporting people with learning difficulties. Yukon College was identified as an excellent source for training and education. The distance education and/or requirement to travel to receive the necessary supports for learning is clearly an important issue for this community.

Barriers to employment are also potential barriers to everyday life in rural Yukon. Travel to Whitehorse (significant distances/time and costs to individuals) to shop for basic needs and household supplies including groceries is itself a significant barrier to those who might be able to make the trip themselves or without the assistance of friends, family or agency support. Significant effort and resources are committed to basic tasks for supporting a household, which are fundamental to providing the foundation for healthy living, readiness for education and work.

A key finding from this consultation is that the employment equity and access for people with disabilities might only be achieved after the foundation for healthy home and community living are enabled. Local area access to basic household supplies, food, education and support services are precursors to motivation, aspiration and readiness for work. Ironically perhaps, this agency representative indicated that the people with identifiable disabilities such as chronic illness or physical disabilities were far more likely to be in full employment than those with invisible disabilities such as learning disabilities and addictions-related problems.