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Video Training Resources

JAN Role Play and Other Video Training Resources

Training Videos and Accompanying Presentations

The following training videos depict situations that are frequently experienced in the workplace. Role play videos include scenarios in multiple industries with people of varying disabilities during all phases of the employment life cycle. Some videos are accompanied by a slide presentation that includes salient learning points, or a learning guide.

 

"Mental Health and the Federal Workplace: What Can I Do"

Produced by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), "Mental Health and the Federal Workplace: What Can I Do" is a training video that outlines ways federal employees at all levels can help promote a mental health-friendly workplace, for the benefit of themselves and their colleagues. Agency leaders, employee resource groups (ERGs) and others are encouraged to use the video, along with its accompanying Guide for Federal Managers, Supervisors and Employees, to raise awareness about this important topic and/or facilitate discussions about collaborative approaches to workplace mental health.

 

"Telework as an Accommodation"

This JAN video demonstrates that when an employee with a disability realizes benefits from teleworking that enable them to be productive, they may request this as an accommodation, even when a workplace policy or practice usually limits telework for employees without disabilities. Due to associated benefits to health, safety, and/or productivity from their experience teleworking, employees with various disabilities are now more willing to disclose a disability and to request to work at home as a reasonable accommodation.

The video shows that, when an exception to a telework policy/practice is requested due to a disability-related reason as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an employer may ask for personal health information to provide a flexible work arrangement that may not be available to others.

  • Points made:
    • Employees with disabilities who never requested accommodations prior to teleworking may realize benefits from working at home that enhance productivity.
    • A policy/practice exception may need to be considered as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA.
    • This request necessitates a collaborative interactive process.
    • Telework is a form of accommodation under the ADA.
    • Medical/personal health information may be requested to support an ADA reasonable accommodation request, when appropriate.
    • There are ADA confidentiality rules that restrict sharing disability-related information with coworkers.
  • PowerPoint Slides
  • Download High Definition (58.5 MB)

"Medical Information and the Interactive Process"

This JAN video demonstrates that employees are sometimes hesitant to disclose a disability and request an accommodation because they may not understand their rights. The first part of the video shows a supervisor discussing job performance problems with a defensive employee who does not want to share private medical information. After meeting with human resources, the employee understands that he might be entitled to reasonable accommodations if he provides sufficient medical information and that the information will be kept confidential. The video ends with a meeting involving the employee, the supervisor, and HR discussing effective accommodations that can be provided to improve the employee’s performance while he manages his medical conditions.

  • Points made:
    • Follow up with an employee who mentions a medical condition during a performance discussion even if the employee is initially hesitant to provide information.
    • Involve the appropriate individual or department, such as human resources.
    • Educate the employee about reasonable accommodations and confidentiality rules under the ADA.
    • Inform the employee why medical information is needed.
  • PowerPoint Slides
  • Download High Definition (235 MB)

"Interview Challenges"

This JAN video demonstrates how different a job interview can go when accommodations are in place. The first part of the video shows an unprepared hiring manager interviewing and having an awkward conversation with an applicant on the autism spectrum. The latter part of the video shows the same hiring manager interviewing the same applicant after accommodations are in place. The conversation goes much smoother and the applicant ends up getting the job.

  • Points made:
    • Inform all applicants how to request accommodations.
    • Make the interview process as accessible as possible and in a quiet room without distractions.
    • Consider giving applicants a second chance interview if accommodations were not available for the first interview.
    • Mentions confidentiality rules related to hiring manager and employment agency. 
  • PowerPoint Slides
  • Download High Definition (948 MB)
  • Download Standard Definition (489 MB)

"Applicant Requesting Alternative Interview Approach"

This JAN video demonstrates that accommodations can be easily made and beneficial to others. The first part of the video shows an applicant with stuttering disorder asking an employer to modify the application process. The employer discusses the request internally and ends up making the changes requested by the applicant. The employer ultimately decides to change the process for all applicants, not just for the applicant who requested the changes, because the employer thinks the new approach is better.

“Negotiating Reasonable Accommodations”

This JAN video demonstrates how not to conduct the interactive process and then how to do it right. In the first part of the video, an employee tries to talk with his supervisor about some problems he’s having after the employer implemented an open office environment. The employee is having trouble hearing and his PTSD symptoms have been triggered. The supervisor is dismissive and does not follow through. The employee is frustrated. In the second part of the video, the same employee and supervisor have a much different conversation in which the supervisor is attentive and responsive, and the employee feels understood and supported.   

  • Points made:
    • The accommodation process should be collaborative.
    • Employers should not make employees with disabilities feel like they’re bothering or burdening the employer when making accommodation requests by being dismissive, saying that no one else has any problems with a change that’s been made, saying the accommodation wouldn’t be fair to others, or not following through.
    • Employers should be responsive and helpful during the accommodation process.
    • Mentions confidentiality rules related to coworkers.
  • PowerPoint Slides
  • Download High Definition (630 MB)
  • Download Standard Definition (324 MB)

"Performance Management"

This JAN video demonstrates how important accommodations can be in enabling an employee with a disability to successfully perform the job. In the first part of the video, a long-time, successful employee has a new supervisor who is reprimanding the employee for attendance and tardiness. When the employee mentions the flexibility her previous supervisor gave her, the new supervisor responds negatively. Once the new supervisor talks with HR and understands that the employee has a mental health impairment and needs accommodations, he agrees to the flexibility the employee needs.

  • Points made:
    • The problem that can be created by new supervisors who aren’t informed about existing accommodations and make changes that negatively impact the performance of an employee with a disability.
    • That new supervisors sometimes don’t respond well to employees saying what the old supervisor did.
    • Setting aside a PIP while an accommodation request is processed and implemented.
    • The importance of not using language like “special treatment” when referring to accommodations.
    • Mentions confidentiality rules related to coworkers.
  • PowerPoint Slides
  • Download High Definition (1.03 GB)
  • Download Standard Definition (540 MB)

"Retaining an Individual with Chronic Health Conditions"

This JAN video demonstrates that the interactive process should be a collaboration between the employer and employee as the employee often has good accommodation solutions. In the first part of the video, an employee with a vision impairment is talking with her manager about being diagnosed with cancer and needing leave for surgery and flexibility for follow up treatment. The manager is concerned about meeting upcoming deadlines. After the manager talks with HR, he meets with the employee again to ask her if she has thoughts about how she will get her work done. She shares ideas that will not only help her, but also benefit the company.

"Returning a Back-Injured Employee to Work"

This JAN video demonstrates the importance of returning injured employees to work and using JAN as a resource to explore accommodations. In the first part of the video, an employee with a back injury is talking with his supervisor about returning to work. After reviewing the employee’s restrictions, the supervisor does not think the employee can be accommodated in his job in manufacturing. The supervisor talks with HR and HR contacts JAN. The initial ideas JAN suggests are not successful, so in a second call JAN suggests reassignment as an option to explore. The employee is successfully accommodated with a new position.

"Advancing an Individual who is Deaf"

This JAN video demonstrates the concerns some employers may have about promoting an employee who is deaf into a management position that involves a lot of communication. In the first part of the video, a manager is talking to a company VP about promoting an engineer who is deaf to a managerial position. After discussing communication, safety, and the cost of accommodation, the VP decides to allow the promotion. Later in the video we see the new manager communicating successfully with his team through a sign language interpreter.

  • Points made:
    • Employers may have concerns but should get accurate information before acting on them. Don’t make assumptions.
    • There are many possible ways an employee who is deaf can communicate, depending on the situation. Discuss options with the employee.
    • Accommodations may have a cost, but they’re not that different than other productivity enhancements an employer might pay for.
    • If an employer has valid safety concerns, consider whether accommodations will overcome them.
  • PowerPoint Slides
  • Download High Definition (238 MB)
  • Download Standard Definition (82.4 MB)

"Retaining an Individual with an Intellectual Disability After Supervisor Change"

This JAN video demonstrates how changes in the work environment can negatively impact some employees with disabilities and trigger the need for new accommodations. In the beginning of the video, a new supervisor is talking with an employee with an intellectual disability, explaining the changes he plans to make. The employee began having performance and attendance problems due to her inability to adjust to changes, including the loss of accommodations that had been helping her work effectively. At the end of the video we see the employee has worked with both her supervisor and job coach to find solutions to help meet the challenges of successfully performing her job tasks and eliminating attendance problems. 

"Accommodating Opioid Use Disorder"

This JAN video demonstrates that untrained supervisors can miss accommodation requests and the importance of separating discipline for performance and conduct problems from an accommodation request. The first part of the video shows a heated conversation between an employer and an employee who has been having performance problems and missing a lot of work. The employee mentions problems with pain medication used to treat a back problem, but the supervisor does not recognize the potential accommodation request. HR gets involved and the employee is accommodated. She is also reprimanded for her prior conduct and performance problems before she mentioned her disability.

"Deciding Whether to Disclose a Disability During an Interview" (video only)

This JAN video demonstrates how an applicant decides whether to disclose a disability during the application process and when to ask a potential employer about accommodations that are needed on the job. In the first part of the video, the individual with a disability is talking to her vocational rehabilitation counselor about disclosing her mental health impairment during the job interview and the counselor discusses the pros and cons of disclosure with her. The video then shows the job interview and how the applicant decided to handle disclosure.     

"Disclosing a Disability to Obtain an Accommodation" (video only)

This JAN video demonstrates what an employee with a disability might do when a direct supervisor reacts negatively to a disclosure and request for accommodation. In the first part of the video, the employee discloses that she has multiple sclerosis and is concerned about dispensing medication to patients. After a negative reaction from her supervisor, she contacts JAN and gets ideas about making a written accommodation request and copying human resources. Later in the video she has a successful meeting with her supervisor and human resources.         

  • Download High Definition (149 MB)
  • Download Standard Definition (57 MB)
  • JAN's Disclosing a Disability in the Workplace (Module)
    • Knowing when and how to disclose a disability to an employer can be confusing. This module and accompanying material provide information and ideas to help individuals make educated decisions about disclosure. The module provides a brief overview of applicable ADA rules and ideas for dealing with illegal medical questions, gaps in employment, and disclosure in general. The videos depict a job applicant’s decision about disclosing during a job interview and an employee’s decision to disclose and request accommodations because her medical condition has flared up. Service providers such as vocational rehabilitation counselors can use the module and videos to educate their clients or individuals can view them on their own.
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