Upcoming Training Opportunities for Advocates and Community Workers

Events
clicklaw and lawmatters
LawMatters & Clicklaw are CLBC programs

Courthouse Libraries BC (CLBC) delivers training throughout the year for advocates on various legal topics. Access the training calendar here (includes webinars for BC lawyers). We have two webinars coming up later this year designed for advocates, community workers and public librarians.

Top 5 Employment Law Issues Webinar

Join us on October 14, 2015 (2pm-3pm) for an informative session on
employment law issues. Trevor Thomas of Kent Employment Law will be presenting the webinar. Mr. Thomas’ experience in employment law includes: assisting employee clients with severance reviews, negotiating wrongful dismissal settlements, negotiating employment contracts, addressing workplace harassment and bullying, enforcing the Employment Standards Act, and preparing clients to appear at workplace investigations. This webinar is designed to help community workers to understand the basics of employment law. The main issues that will be covered include: employment contracts; employee vs. independent contractor; the Employment Standards Act; human rights; and dismissal and severance.

Register for this event here.

Family Law e-Resources Webinar

On November 17, 2015 (2pm-3pm), we will be offering a webinar for community workers and advocates on locating free family law resources. The presenters, Audrey Jun, Clicklaw Program Coordinator, and Megan Vis-Dunbar, Liaison Lawyer with CLBC, will highlight some resources for assisting clients with family law issues. Some of the resources that we will be demonstrating include: Clicklaw; the LSS Family Law website; online fillable court forms; the BC Provincial Court website (and specifically the Family Law Act orders Picklist); and my support calculator. We will also provide some information on available services such as: JES workshops, the Mediate BC Family Mediation Program, and bcparentingcoordinators.com.

Register for this event here.

Disability Disclosure in the Workplace

Community posts

By Shelley Hourston
Disability Alliance BC

DABC-logo
DABC invites (1) people with disabilities/chronic illness and (2) employers, to share stories and experiences that illustrate disclosure and accommodation in the workplace.

I’ve been writing about resilience for about 20 years now—most of that time I’ve worked at Disability Alliance BC (DABC). I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to talk to countless people with disabilities or chronic illnesses about their experiences.

Each story is unique but the common thread that intrigues me is the extraordinary creativity, commitment and determination that carries people forward despite their challenges. Our society focuses so exclusively on perceived deficits of disability that problem-solving, creative thinking and tenacity are overlooked. The consequences of disability deficit thinking is especially serious in the employment arena. Our experience at DABC led us to explore the flip-side of disability deficit thinking in the form of a guide to disability disclosure and accommodation in the workplace.

According to the Canadian Survey on Disability, 2012, there were 334,800 individuals aged 15-64 with disabilities in BC (10.8%).* Statistics Canada reports that in 2011, the employment rate of Canadians aged 25-64 with disabilities was 49% compared with 79% for those without a disability.** In BC, the $800/month ($9,600/year) earnings exemption for a single person receiving disability benefits provides an opportunity for people with disability/chronic illness to supplement their income with part-time employment.

Thanks to support from the Law Foundation of BC, DABC is developing a reader-friendly guide on the law relating to disclosing disability in employment settings. Disclosing Your Disability: A Guide for People with Disabilities In BC is intended for people with all types of disabilities (including visible and invisible disabilities and chronic illnesses). Some people are able to work full-time with appropriate accommodation while others may be able to work part-time. Others may be employed but face a need for disclosure due to acquired disability or chronic illness. The guide will address legal rights and responsibilities of disclosure and provide practical activities and worksheets to guide readers through self-assessment and to elicit and document individual strengths. A reference list of sample accommodations and resources will equip potential employees and employers with ideas and a place to begin planning.

We’d like help from you too. The guide will include six experiences of people with disabilities/chronic illness and six stories from employers to illustrate disclosure and accommodation in the workplace. If you know of someone who would be willing to share their experience, please ask them to contact me.

Shelley Hourston is a program director at DABC and can be reached at 604-875-0188 (toll-free 1-877-232-7400) or Shelley@disabilityalliancebc.org.

*Statistics Canada. Canadian Survey on Disability, 2012. Table 1.11: Prevalence of Disability for Adults by Sex and Age Group, British Columbia, 2012. 

**Statistics Canada. Persons with Disabilities and Employment (Insights on Canadian Society) by Martin Turcotte. 2014.