About

Disability Works is a free service for all Yukoners. We work with employers, agencies, and people with disabilities every day to support improved productivity and accessibility in workplaces in every Yukon community.

How are we a free service? We are a networking service, connecting people with existing resources and expertise. If your needs are unique and an existing service is not available, then we will work on your behalf to help identify a solution that meets your specific needs.

Disability Works is the active wing of the Yukon Disability Employment Strategy, and a feature of the wider Yukon labour market development initiative.

Our organizational body is the Disability Employment Strategy Task Force (DESTF), a committee comprised of key stakeholders from government, private enterprise and the non-profit sector, and selected individuals from the business and disabilities communities. 

Disability Works' mandate is to increase the recruitment and retention of people with disabilities in the Yukon. We do this by engaging the people that matter most, namely, employers, agencies, and people with disabilities. 

We are committed to streamlining access to disability employment information and services throughout the Yukon: 

1. We help connect people, opportunities, and resources to support employment.
2. We ensure employers and people with disabilities have the right workplace and job accommodation supports.
3.  We  work with agencies to help increase access to their services by employers and people with disabilities across the whole of the Yukon.

We are here to serve you. Get in touch today and find out how you can get Disability Works working for you.

 

Background

In July 2009 the Disability Employment Strategy Task Force (DESTF) was struck and charged with the task of delivering the Six Steps to Success Conference and a Yukon Disabilities Employment Strategy (YDES) via a three-phased project to redress the inequity of employment for people with disabilities in Yukon. The project is guided by the mandate to increase the representation of people with disabilities in the workplace; a singular vision that has instructed all activities and outcomes.

The project is structured across three phases (Figure 1).  Phase 1, completed August 31^st 2011, was punctuated by the delivery of an international conference on disability and employment called the Six Steps to Success conference (www.sixsteps.ca.) Phase 1 included  original research and stakeholder engagement activities sufficiently robust to inform the progression to Phase 2, including the development of a Yukon Disability Employment Strategy.

A Phase 1 research and strategy report was completed and widely distributed to key stakeholders within Yukon Government departments and associated agencies.  The Yukon Territory is presently without a unified disability employment strategy encompassing both the public and private sectors, making Phase 2 a trailblazer project with employment and community development benefits for all people of Yukon.

purpose and structure of each phase are summarized in Figure 1. 

Figure 1        Disability Employment Strategy Task Force (DESTF) project phases

 

Purpose

The Yukon Disability Employment Strategy (YDES) project is a territory-wide initiative to increase the representation of people with disabilities in the workplace.  

Provider

The YDES project is funded by Advanced Education, YG and administered by the Yukon Council on Disability.

Scope

Yukon-wide. All employers. All employees and job-seekers. All government departments, agencies and programs with a vested interest in maximizing workplace productivity, access, and employment equity.

 Operational Objectives

The following operational objectives support the singular goal of increasing the representation of people with disabilities in the workplace.

1. Establish contact with key stakeholders in government, business, education, health, and social services.
2. Identify Human Resources best practices in private and public sectors that support workplace productivity, access and employment equity.
3. Streamline access to information, resources, and services for employers, employees, and job-seekers.
4. Deliver a Yukon Disability Employment Strategy that implements employment equity legislation.

YDES will support improved Yukon community and economic development through increased workplace productivity, access, and employment equity.