The Big Read in short: Breaking barriers at the workplace for people with disabilities

While there is still room for improvement, disability organisations and advocates for PWDs agreed that Singapore has made strides in trying to level the playing field for PWDs at the workplace.Each week, TODAY’s long-running Big Read series delves into the trends and issues that matter. This week, we look at how far Singapore has come in boosting employment for persons with disabilities.

Beyond boosting employment rate, the PWDs and advocates also speak of the importance of career mobility and progression When it comes to speaking about disabilities, especially invisible ones like hers, Ms Reena, now 41, has noticed a marked difference in attitudes over the years since she started working.

“This is the first time in a tuition centre that I can openly share with my students about my dyslexia,” she said. “Lifts and ramps are good, but they are not enough,” said Mr Tang. He added that if an employer wants to hire a PWD, everyone from managers to employees has to support this person as part of the company’s culture.Singapore has come a long way in increasing accessibility and making Singapore more inclusive for persons with disabilities.

While some disability advocates TODAY spoke to said that this goal is both “ambitious” and “achievable”, they agreed that more needs to be done to increase employers' and businesses' awareness of disability to integrate PWDs into the working world. The EEC offsets up to 20 per cent of wages and is capped at S$400 per month for each employee. The ODP encourages employers to hire, train and integrate persons with disabilities through recruitment, job placement and job support services.

Ms Chiu remembers graduating with a Masters in Counselling in 2011 and how difficult it was to get a job as a school counsellor in public schools. When she finally got a job with a private firm counselling inmates at Changi Prison, she discovered that her salary was half that of her peers, at S$1,800 before Central Provident Fund deductions.

Ms Emily Ong, senior director of employment and lifelong learning at SG Enable, said: “In the workplace, some misconceptions about persons with disabilities are that they require more effort to integrate into the work environment or are less productive.”seeks to help persons with disabilities to live and work in an inclusive society.

“People are not aware and not accepting, and there is no avenue for PWDs to go through if we are discriminated against.”

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