FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 3, 2023                             

(COLUMBUS, OH) - Today, Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD) announced the first half of its 2023 webinar topics to help employers support disability inclusion in the workplace.

“Ohio is home to approximately 870,000 working-age individuals who identify as having a disability,” said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. “Providing an inclusive workplace for employees with disabilities isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s a matter of attracting and retaining a talented workforce.”

“We support employer partners in creating an inclusive workplace where people feel welcome and where they are recognized and appreciated for the knowledge and skills they bring with them,” said OOD Director Kevin Miller.

These webinars correspond with Governor DeWine’s Executive Order 2019-03D which established Ohio as a Disability Inclusion State and Model Employer of Individuals with Disabilities, OOD’s Inclusive Employer Toolkit and the Governor's Inclusive Employer Award criteria.

The first webinar of the year, Employers’ Reasonable Accommodation Toolkit, will take place on February 15, 2023. This webinar, which is an accompaniment to 2022’s The Employers’ Reasonable Accommodation Handbook webinar series, is designed to help employers recognize resources and tools to include in a reasonable accommodation (RA) toolkit. Employers will identify ways to create an effective RA statement, generate ideas for RA solutions, use external resources to support the process, and implement and fund RAs efficiently.

Other webinars are as follows:

• March 22, 2023: How Simple Can Accessibility Be at Work?
• April 20, 2023: Artificial Intelligence in Hiring and Employment
• May 18, 2023: Retaining a Qualified Workforce Part I: Aging into a Disability
• June 21, 2023: Retaining a Qualified Workforce Part II: Acquiring a Disability 

All webinars begin at 10 a.m. and will be Microsoft Teams Live events. Each webinar will be recorded and archived for future viewing. Each webinar has been approved for 1.00 HR (General) re-certification credit hour toward aPHR™, aPHRi™, PHR^®, PHRca^®, SPHR^®, GPHR^®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ re-certification through HR Certification Institute^® (HRCI^®) and 1.00 SHRM Professional Development Credit (PDC) hour toward SHRM-CP^® or SHRM-SCP^®. While this training is not pre-approved for CESP Continuing Education (CE) credit, it aligns with CESP content, and verification of attendance will be provided upon request. These credits are available for attendees of the live broadcast. More information about all upcoming webinars, including the links to join, can be found here.

OOD is the state agency responsible for empowering Ohioans with disabilities through employment, disability determinations, and independence. Employers looking to diversify and strengthen their workforce by including people with disabilities can learn more about partnering with OOD's Business Relations Team.