Forum: Keep workplace support for those with disabilities in place when supervisors change

SG Enable’s refreshed Enabling Mark framework, which took effect on Nov 11, puts greater emphasis on sustained employment for persons with disabilities. This is a welcome step.

But keeping someone in a job also means making sure agreed support continues when the people around them change.

Consider an employee who works best with written task instructions. A new supervisor unaware of this may start giving hurried verbal directions instead. The employee thus loses the small adjustment that helped them work well.

SG Enable already guides employers on workplace accommodations, designated responsibility and regular reviews. Employers could build on this by making a change of supervisor a routine checkpoint for agreed support.

With the employee’s agreement, a short handover note could record practical adjustments, preferred ways of communicating, and whom to approach for help. 

The incoming supervisor and the employee could go through it together, with human resources or a job coach involved where useful. If a change is unexpected, this discussion should take place soon afterwards.

The note need not include a diagnosis or unnecessary personal details. Employees should have a meaningful say in what is shared and with whom. A brief follow-up would help both sides see whether the arrangements are working.

Smaller firms may not have dedicated HR teams. SG Enable could work with interested employers to pilot a simple checklist within existing handover procedures, and seek feedback from employees with disabilities on whether it helps and respects their privacy.

An employee’s chance to do good work should outlast any one supervisor.

Pang Chong Liu