Navigating Disability Disclosure and Accommodations with Lia Seth

Oh, hey there! No - you’re not imagining it. I did disappear from your stream for quite a stretch without any notice or explanation. More on that to come soon, I promise. For now, I’m thrilled to be dropping a new episode filled with ahas from the brilliant Lia Seth. Enjoy and I’ll see you back here with another new episode in two short weeks!  - Your host, Jill Felska

----------

Would you be nervous if an employee came to you with a disability accommodation request? Many People Ops professionals and managers would say yes - and it makes sense! 

Discussions about workplace inclusion are widespread when related to groups like people of color and women, but not as common around how to be inclusive or provide accommodations to those with disabilities. It’s also unfamiliar legal territory for most, which makes a lot of folks nervous.

The good news is that you don’t need to be a compliance expert in order to support someone with a disability. You (mostly) just need empathy. This is just one of many takeaways from this episode’s conversation with Lia Seth, HR Operations leader and self-proclaimed accessibility queen. 

In this episode you’ll learn:

• What accommodations are and aren’t
• What someone with a disability might think through before requesting an accommodation
• How managers should and should not respond to a disability request 
• Best practices for managers and People Ops professionals to prepare for these conversations
• What a disability accommodation actually looks like 

MENTIONED RESOURCES/LINKS

• Check out the Want To Work There guide to creating your own personal “read me” document. 
• Lia recommends learning from these leaders in the accessibility space by following them on LinkedIn: Tim Reitsma, Julie Harris, Greer Procich, and Marion Anderson. 

CONNECT WITH LIA SETH

• Visit Lia’s website
• Connect with her on LinkedIn
• Follow her on X (Twitter)

MORE FROM WANT TO WORK THERE

• Signup For the Weekly Newsletter
• Training for the Modern Manager
• Free Tools and Templates
• Connect on LinkedIn or Instagram

DID YOU LOVE THE EPISODE?

If so, I’d love for you to share it with a friend or colleague who shares your passion for building a better world of work! They can find us at wanttoworkthere.com/podcast or by searching Want To Work There wherever they listen to podcasts.