Customized Employment Guide > Job Negotiation

What is Job Negotiation?

Job negotiation does not begin until you know the abilities of the participant and their support needs, and have spent time with potential employers and understand their work site needs. You have been able to identify tasks that can be customized AND are also a good fit for your participant. Then you can begin to prepare a list of skills and benefits that your participant can bring to the employer that will match a need and also either generate additional income or provide a cost saving to the employer. The focus is on real work for real pay.

Six questions to ask to target negotiation

(Virginia Commonwealth University, CE online course 6/09)

1. Do employees have duties that take time away from their main area of expertise?
2. Are there busy times of the day or week when you could use extra help?
3. Do you have any tasks that employees do that could more efficiently be done as a separate job?
4. Do you routinely pay for overtime or temporary work services?
5. Are you able to maintain production or are you behind schedule?
6. Are there tasks that you would like to see done more often or are not being performed at all?

Tips

1. The customized approach considers both  the needs of the individual with a disability AND the employer.
2. Listen when talking to employers to establish unmet needs that your participant might fill.
3. Tour a business, observe the site for unmet needs and possibilities for resource ownership.

Links

Job Restructuring/Job Negotiation Web Cast Jim Meehan, Jeff Hooke, Lee Hockridge from Work Support
http://www.worksupport.com/training/webcastDetails.cfm/56

Job Negotiation and CE, a webcast from T-TAP with Pam Targett
http://www.t-tap.org/strategies/job/jn.html

Employment Negotiations Q&A from T-TAP
http://www.t-tap.org/strategies/factsheet/employnegotiation.htm