A common reasonable accommodation is to provide a support person to help an employee with certain tasks and to assist a candidate during the recruitment stage. In the case of a candidate, this can be a low-cost solution to ensure that they are given the best opportunity to demonstrate their suitability for the role.

Some employees and candidates may already have a support person in place who is able to help with certain tasks or attend interviews with them and to provide appropriate support. At the recruitment stage, help will most often come from friends or family – but this may not always be the case.

If the individual does not have a support worker in place then you can provide one through an agency. Here is information on state vocational rehabilitation agencies from the Job Accommodations Network.

Support workers can provide assistance in a range of areas including:

• Reading
• Note taking
• Conducting administrative tasks
• Accompanying (while travelling, at interview or at work)
• Counselling/mental health mentoring
• Specialist tutoring – this could be covering dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dyspraxia

When providing a support worker, be sure to source them from a recognized agency that conducts the appropriate checks and training. Imagine being dependent on someone else at an important event such as an interview and not being able to understand or trust that person – a potentially huge barrier.