“A job coach from the employment services for people with a partial disability contacted us. When they first got in touch, we were so busy in the shop that we couldn’t respond. We were in the process of expanding our store.
After the rush had died down, the job coach contacted us again. After some explanation about the hiring process for their jobseekers, we decided to start a
selection procedure to hire a part-time employee. I am very happy that this job coach contacted us about our possibilities of hiring someone with partial workability. Without them, it might not have occurred to me to employ a part-timer”.

‘We interviewed three candidates, and the choice was clear from the outset. We chose Mikael because he was the best match. He started with an internship, and after a few months, we agreed that he was capable of doing the work.
We then offered him a paid job. Mikael is now responsible for stocking the shelves and keeping the stockroom organised. He also makes sure that the products in the store are well organised on the shelves. Mikael works 15 hours per week.

“He did not require any special adaptations. Minor modifications to the tasks were made in advance in close cooperation with the job coach. Gradually, we
increased the number of tasks, as well as broadening his work area to include different departments of the shop. Mikael had worked in a similar shop before and was familiar with these tasks. This made his induction period quite straightforward. The job coach’s support was rather limited, as we provided the on-the-job guidance ourselves. The job coach informed
us about a wage subsidy and helped us to obtain it.
subsidy. His job coach now only comes occasionally to check that everything is going well, which it is”.

Mikael fits in well with the rest of the employees and has a similar sense of humour to them. All my employees are open-minded. He has integrated very well, working well with colleagues and doing his work
carefully and responsibly. The team is not so
concerned with Mikael’s limitations; they accept him as an individual and as a full member of their team. Mikael is supported by his supervisor. However, my supervisor mentioned to me that there is no difference in the support he gives Mikael compared to any other employee.

‘Mikael has been working with us for just over a year now. He is happy in his role, and we are happy with him. We both want to extend his contract. It is an absolute win for us. There was no need for a full-time employee since shelving does not take all day, and now we have someone working part-time doing
the job. It is also a win for Mikael: he has a part-time job that matches his capabilities and skills. We would certainly do it again. Another advantage for us is that our sellers now have more time to spend on customer service, sales and marketing. We can already see this reflected in our revenues. Last, but not least, ever since Mikael started working here, I have noticed an increase in tolerance and positivity — an obvious advantage of a diverse workforce.