Principles for the Inclusion of Employees with Disabilities in the Workplace

JPMorgan Chase has long been committed to maintaining an inclusive environment where all employees—and prospective employees—are treated fairly, equitably and with dignity. This commitment encompasses hiring individuals with disabilities, including those who may require reasonable accommodations to perform their jobs or enhance job performance.

We continually strive to build a work environment that draws on and develops the best talent, and we welcome qualified individuals to apply for positions at the firm and contribute to the success of our clients. Every employee at the firm should be able to aspire to, and compete for, those positions for which they are qualified. Nothing is more vital to the long-term growth of JPMorgan Chase than our ability to attract and retain the best people. We want everyone to thrive here — to bring a range of approaches and perspectives, and their whole selves to work — including people with disabilities.

It’s important to note that disability inclusion practices and policies are threaded into our global platforms, such as technology, communications, real estate and security.

Why these principles and why now?

Our firm has historically relied on the talent of our employees and we remain committed to attracting, developing and retaining the highest quality inclusive workforce possible. This type of environment remains essential to our talent portfolio, which should include people with disabilities.

As the firm continues to seek the most qualified candidates, individuals with disabilities represent an important talent pool. Consider the following facts:

• Employees with disabilities bring exceptional skills, academic qualifications and professional experience to the workplace.
• Not necessarily obvious to the untrained eye, employees with disabilities develop the expertise to perform effectively in their chosen professions because of skills acquired throughout their lives, such as problem solving, leadership abilities, planning and time management. Professionals with disabilities have developed some of these characteristics based on their inherent need to overcome obstacles presented to them by their unique disabilities, whether mobility impaired, blind/visually impaired, deaf/hard of hearing, or due to mental health or cognitive development differences, including autism or other visible and non-visible impairments.
• Individuals with disabilities represent an important part of our customer base, as there are more than one billion people, or about 15% of the world’s population living with disabilities around the world, according to the World Report on Disability.

Managers and executives across the organization are essential to the success of this commitment to recruit and hire qualified candidates with disabilities. Together, we lead by example as we recruit, engage, hire, train, promote and assimilate individuals with disabilities throughout the organization.

The firm’s commitment: The JPMorgan Chase roadmap to disability inclusion

The firm reinforced its commitment in June 2016 when the Office of Disability Inclusion was launched to establish, lead and coordinate policies and practices regarding the hiring and employment of individuals with disabilities. Our Office of Disability Inclusion is positioned to assist executives, managers and colleagues to facilitate the hiring and assimilation of individuals with disabilities on a firmwide basis.

Our management team focuses on four areas – Attitude, Accessibility, Accommodations and Assimilation–to better understand how to hire and manage individuals with disabilities throughout the firm. Together, we provide people with disabilities with opportunities to not only assimilate into the firm’s inclusive culture, but offer strategies to help them aspire to become leaders during their careers. When people with disabilities are seen by management as potential C-suite leaders, accessibility and inclusiveness will further enrich our company’s culture.

Attitude
Create a firmwide corporate environment with the right business strategy and attitude to recruit, hire, retain and advance the careers of people with disabilities.

Accessibility 
Establish firmwide policies and strategies that establish reasonable accessibility standards for all employees with disabilities as it pertains to technology, real estate, and work environments including meetings and conferences.

Accommodations
Continually look for ways to eliminate barriers with processes and systems that enable job candidates and employees to obtain reasonable accommodations they require to perform their essential job roles in accordance with their job functions and business goals.

Assimilation
“Assimilate” qualified people with disabilities into the firm’s culture of merit and inclusiveness, including management and leadership positions.

Individuals with disabilities throughout the organization are treated with respect and dignity as is our practice with all prospective job candidates and employees worldwide.

At JPMorgan Chase, it’s about trust

A common theme articulated by the global Access Ability Business Resource Group, including caregivers, who provided feedback regarding attitudes and culture at the firm, said that “trust” between an employee with a disability and a manager is critical to their performance and how they feel about the firm.

There is no doubt that with or without a disability, trust is critical in all manager-employee relationships. JPMorgan Chase is committed to ensuring our beliefs and values guide how we engage all employees at the firm. And, we must continue to ensure our work environments and culture reflect all employees, including individuals with disabilities.

APPENDIX
Additional Resources and Guidance for Executives, Managers and Employees1
I. Defining disability in the workplace 
II. What is a reasonable job accommodation? 
III. Recruiting People with Disabilities 
IV. Stepping up our commitment to employees with disabilities

1 This Guidance does not reflect legal advice or legal requirements for any particular situation. It is intended to provide general background. Legal standards vary by jurisdiction. For questions about specific situations, please contact the ODI, Human Resource or Legal.