Speak Loud, Speak Proud - Learning to Advocate for You: Your Job

By Lindsay Hutton

Speak Loud, Speak Proud

When 17-year-old Ada of Hamilton, Ontario (who is hard of hearing, and requires hearing aids in both ears) sought and won her first job two years ago, she was more than a little nervous. “I had never worked, not even babysat. My parents were probably sheltered me a little more than they should have,” says Ada. “But I wanted a bit of freedom and I thought I was bit too old to get an allowance, so I started looking.”

Initially, her parents wanted Ada to use a specialized employment counselor, but she decided instead to go it alone, and started submitting resumes in local stores, grocers and shops. “I didn’t put on my résumé that I was severely hard of hearing – it didn’t occur to me to put it on there,” says Ada. “I mean, I figured I’d talk about it in the interview if I needed to.” (Note: By law, you don’t have to put anything in relation to disability issues on your résumé!)

After a couple of weeks, she got a few phone calls from prospective employers and took an interview at a local grocery store to train as a cashier. Her and the manager didn’t talk much about some of the accommodations Ada would need to be able to do the job properly. “I sort of blame myself about that – I should have been more open about needing some amplification with a telephone, or the trouble I had hearing people with a lot of background noise,” says Ada. “To be honest, I was scared if I did, I wouldn’t get the job in the first place.”

Long story short, after two frustrating months working for the grocery store, Ada quit. “Frankly, I think they were pretty happy to see me leave,” says Ada. “There were only a couple of things in my job that I had trouble with, but I could tell they didn’t like it. I didn’t feel very comfortable in calling them on it, so I left.”

Sure, there are a lot of employers who don’t feel it a requirement to make even the smallest of adjustments to assist deaf and hard of hearing people be successful at their jobs. But these days, not only is it in everyone’s best interests not to discriminate all types of workers in various settings, according to the Employment Equity Act, it’s also the law (within reason).

What happened with Ada was unfortunate – the employer should have made attempts to better work with her abilities, but this is a far from a perfect world. Often the initiative required to make situations work the best for you needs to come from both ends. The best way to ensure your rights are being respected is to know what they are, how to advocate for yourself and who has your back when required.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when you’re looking for work:

Know Your Rights – Learn the basic ins and outs of labour law, and who can help when your rights are not being respected. Your guidance department at school will have a lot of information, but here’s a good start online. And here! Even better, talk about your job with your friends and share information about your rights as workers – you’ll be surprised at what passes for fair and legit working environments.

Trust Your Gut – If you’re ever in a situation and you get that funny feeling in your stomach like something isn’t quite right, it very likely isn’t. This goes for situations at work - be it inappropriate comments from a co-worker, or your employer forcing you to work on a statutory holiday – both are not okay. Says Ada: “I knew that I wasn’t being treated fairly at the store, but I didn’t have enough information to deal with it properly.”

Keep Your Friends Close – Lots of agencies and organizations exist to not only help you find work, but to help advise you when required. Check out NEADS and Linkup. Also, your local deaf/hard of hearing advocacy office always has someone on staff in the know about the employment issues you may face. These services exist to help you succeed – take them up on it!

Be Your Own Boss – There’s nothing wrong with a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit. Love kids? Like to garden? Handy with web design? Take on a like-minded friend as a “business partner,” print off some flyers indicating your email address and get the word out that you’re starting a babysitting/yard work/web design empire. Just remember to keep your parents in the loop to make sure you’re being safe.