In early October 2020, SG Enable, an agency dedicated to enabling persons with disabilities, launched the Enabling Mark – to encourage businesses to be more inclusive in hiring employees with disabilities.
In progressing Singapore to be a more inclusive society, businesses here must similarly offer more inclusive employment opportunities. Ultimately, being employed allows people with disabilities lead fulfilling lives.
Hiring employees with disabilities may not always be easy. Besides considering productivity and ensuring a disability-friendly work environment, many businesses may not be confident and typically do not have the experience hiring and managing employees with disabilities.
SG Enable and its Enabling Mark provides a stepping stone for employers to progress in their inclusive hiring decisions. For businesses that hire Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), you also stand to receive the Special Employment Credit (SEC) and the Additional SEC (ASEC), for employees above 55, of 16% and 22% of the employee’s monthly income respective, up to $240 and $330 respectively.
What Is The Enabling Mark?
A first-of-its-kind in Singapore, the Enabling Mark is a national-level accreditation framework by SG Enable that benchmarks and recognises organisations for their practices and outcomes in disability-inclusive employment.
The Enabling Mark points businesses towards building a positive corporate image through disability-inclusive hiring. The Enabling Mark also encourages employers to adopt the best practices in this effort. Lastly, the accreditation framework will inform and support companies towards improving their inclusive employment practices.
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Ms Ku Geok Boon, Chief Executive Officer of SG Enable, emphasises that “organisations keen to hire persons with disabilities will not be alone – besides having advisory and consultancy support from SG Enable, they will soon join many other like-minded Enabling Mark recipients who have walked this journey and continued to do well in business.”
How The Enabling Mark Is Structured?
The Enabling Mark has 3 tiers of accreditation – Silver, Gold and Platinum.
The tier awarded is determined by an organisation’s overall maturity in 6 categories:
- Leadership, Culture and Climate
- Recruitment Practices
- Workplace Accessibility and Accommodations
- Employment Practices
- Community Engagement and Promotion
- Extent of Inclusive Hiring
Validity of the accreditation lasts for 1 year (Silver tier), 2 years (Gold tier) and 3 years (Platinum tier). A progressively longer validity is meant to encourage recipients to strive for a higher level of accreditation after improving their inclusive-hiring practices.
The Enabling Mark is supported by SBF Foundation (SBF: Singapore Business Federation), National Council of Social Service and President’s Challenge 2020 Empowering for Life Fund.
What The Enabling Mark Says About Your Business
Organisations with the Enabling Mark are committed to inclusive hiring. Presence of the mark signals that the organisation is:
Empowering: The organisation is open to hiring people with different abilities. It treats people with respect, and builds strong teams that leverage on different strengths. It values each individual and enables them to fulfil their potential.
Innovative: The organisation adapts jobs and services to provide reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. This allows for the development of greater flexibility, new insights and an innovative mindset.
Collaborative: The organisation is open to different perspectives, and seeks to make people feel integrated, included and valued. Its focus is on achieving more through teamwork, not individual effort alone. It embraces mutually beneficial relationships with employees, stakeholders and partners.
How To Apply For The Enabling Mark
You can apply for the Enabling Mark on its website.
Eligibility Criteria
An organisation must:
- Be a Singapore-registered company or organisation
- Currently hire persons with disabilities
- Be a registered employer with SG Enable
Application Process
1. Application
Eligible organisations are to submit their application via the Enabling Mark portal. The application form includes a self-assessment of an organisation’s practices and outcomes in disability inclusion over 6 categories listed above.
The Enabling Mark application should take up to 2 hours to complete, or about 30 minutes if you have all the information on hand.
2. Assessment Session
The Enabling Mark self-assessed (Gold/ Platinum) recipients will need to apply for assessment in order to receive the Enabling Mark.
The assessment session will require organisations to elaborate, clarify and share on the organisation’s practices in disability inclusion. Employers will need to prepare documentary evidences and includes documentary reviews and on-site visits.
The Enabling Mark (Gold/Platinum) recipients will receive a report on their disability practices and outcomes, with recommendations to support their disability inclusion journey. The Enabling Mark self-assessed (Silver) recipients do not need to go through assessment.
3. Consultancy Services
Organisations who receive the Enabling Mark (Silver) may apply for consultancy services to gain a better understanding of the Enabling Mark criteria and how to progress in their disability-inclusive journey.
During the consultancy session, consultants from SG Enable will review the organisation’s existing policies and practices in disability inclusion and run through their current report. After the session, the organisation will receive a report with recommendations to help the organisation progress in their disability inclusion journey.
The assessment and consultancy services costs $535, which is currently waived for the first session.
4. Verification
All applications will be verified by SG Enable. The results and decision made by SG Enable will be final.
5. Certification
A certificate of recognition will be issued to the Enabling Mark recipients.
The Enabling Mark logo will also be made available for recipients to use for their marketing and promotional purposes. The Enabling Mark recipients may be invited to a platform or event to recognise their achievements.
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Application Period
| Date of Application (2020-2021) | Closing Date |
| 8 Oct 2020 to 31 Dec 2020 | 31 Dec 2020 |
| 1 Jan 2021 to 31 Mar 2021 | 31 Mar 2021 |
| 1 Apr 2021 to 30 Jun 2021 | 30 Jun 2021 |
| 1 Jul 2021 to 30 Sep 2021 | 30 Sep 2021 |
| 1 Oct 2021 to 31 Dec 2021 | 31 Dec 2021 |
Applications are open throughout the year, starting from October 2020. Applications may take up to 12 weeks from the closing date to be processed.
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