Singapore launches national-level accreditation to recognise disability-inclusive employment

SG Enable yesterday launched the Enabling Mark, a national-level accreditation framework that benchmarks and recognises organisations for their practices and outcomes in disability-inclusive employment.

The virtual launch event was graced by President Halimah Yacob, the Guest of Honour and Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for Social and Family Development. The event was also attended by representatives from various sectors of the business community.

President Halimah said: "It has not been an easy year for many businesses against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we recognise that inclusive hiring may not naturally be top of mind for most businesses right now. However, it is precisely in such times that we must not lose sight of the benefit of inclusive hiring.

"When companies and businesses recruit and hire persons with disabilities, they are tapping on a wider talent pool. And employees with disabilities are in turn provided with gainful employment which helps them to live more independently."

According to a media release, the Enabling Mark seeks to accomplish three key things: 

1. Incentivise organisations to build a positive corporate image with disability-inclusive hiring.
2. Inspire them to adopt the best practices with leading organisations serving as role models.
3. Inform and support them as they improve their inclusive hiring practices.

The Enabling Mark has three tiers of accreditation – Silver, Gold, and Platinum. 

The Silver and Gold tiers are valid for one and two years respectively, giving recipients the opportunity to attain a higher level of accreditation after improving their inclusive-hiring practices.

While platinum recipients, who would have comprehensive and supportive disability employment practices in place, maintain the accreditation for three years.

An organisation's overall maturity level across six categories determines the tier it receives. The six categories are: 

1. Leadership, culture and climate
2. Recruitment practices
3. Workplace accessibility and accommodations
4. Employment practices
5. Community engagement and promotion
6. The extent of inclusive hiring

Ku Geok Boon, Chief Executive Officer of SG Enable, said: “As a national-level accreditation framework, the Enabling Mark recognises inclusive employers of persons with disabilities. Such committed employers are deserving of recognition, and we hope this would inspire others to start disability inclusion in the workplace too."

In his speech at the event, Minister Masagos pointed out that being an inclusive employer that hires PWDs not only allows businesses to tap on a wider pool of talent, it also signals the organisation's progressiveness and commitment towards building a more inclusive society in Singapore. 

He added: "The Enabling Mark will further reinforce this signal by recognising your organisation as a disability-inclusive business. It also provides a framework for your company to systematically identify and build on areas important to disability inclusion."

The Enabling Mark is supported by SBF Foundation, National Council of Social Service and President’s Challenge 2020 Empowering for Life Fund.

Employment empowers persons with disabilities to lead fulfilling lives. To this end, SG Enable supports the full employment ecosystem, comprising persons with disabilities, employers, training partners and disability employment professionals.

Ku said: "Organisations keen to hire persons with disabilities will not be alone – besides having advisory and consultancy support from SG Enable, they will soon join many other like-minded Enabling Mark recipients who have walked this journey and continued to do well in business.”

Photo / provided