Disability employment in hospitality SMEs

This project aimed to stimulate demand for the employment of people with intellectual disabilities in the Hospitality small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector while also providing the resources and opportunity to foster partnerships that would promote future employment outcomes for people with intellectual disabilities. Using a combination of interventions was more likely to be effective, as there was the potential to build demand, capability, and connection across the entire system.

This aim was achieved through a mixed-method exploratory study: stakeholder interviews followed by a national survey.

A two-part intervention followed this focused on increasing sustainable open employment of people with intellectual disabilities in the Hospitality SME sector.  Part 1 involved an SME sector Roundtable event involving the dissemination and review of the research study and co-designing of the toolkit resource. This event allowed sharing of the best available evidence and practice.

Part two is a Stakeholder Networking Event to facilitate linkages and relationship building between DES Providers and Hospitality SMEs.

Who is this toolkit for?

The toolkit is for owner/managers, venue and event managers, supervisors and general staff in hotels, clubs, venues, cafes, and restaurants.

What is the aim of the toolkit?

The primary aim of the toolkit is to encourage the employment of people with intellectual disabilities in hospitality.

There are two reasons for this. Firstly, people with intellectual disabilities have the right to be included in everyday life, and this includes within the community and in workplaces.

Secondly, employing people with disabilities just makes good business sense.

Our recent research conducted with owners, managers, and supervisory staff in the SA hospitality sector found that people with intellectual disabilities were loyal employees who displayed a good work ethic. Co-workers and customers were positive about working with and being served by employees with intellectual disabilities.

In our conversations with hospitality businesses, we identified some barriers and concerns that businesses who had not yet employed a person with disabilities had. These initial concerns were also shared by businesses that had gone on to successfully employ people with intellectual disabilities. These conversations prompted the development of this short toolkit to help businesses think through and address these concerns by accessing relevant information and available support.

The toolkit aims to:

• build awareness and understanding within the hospitality sector of the benefits of employing people with intellectual disabilities

• assist in identifying employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities, particularly in the light of the ongoing skills and labour shortages in the hospitality sector

• provide information and processes associated with recruitment, selection, and accommodation of people with intellectual disabilities in your workplace with the assistance and advice of disability employment services providers.