Out of the pits, into the Pit Stop

Out of the pits, into the Pit Stop

Employer has great track record of changing lives

Ritchie Khan, owner of the Canadian Tire Pit Stop and Gas Bar on Queenston Rd. has hired almost all of his staff through Path Employment Services, a community agency that helps find jobs for people with disabilities both visible and invisible.

It’s unusual, but this employer bases his hiring decisions, not on work experience, but on his intuition about the candidates he interviews. His “gut” is usually right. It was right when, through Path, he hired workers with schizophrenia, physical disabilities, and anger management problems… all of whom turned out to be good workers.  Three years ago Khan took a chance on Mike Langille.

A 28-year-old who looks no older than 15, Langille has always had problems getting jobs. He didn’t like people because of how they treated him. He knew cars, though, having learned as a backyard mechanic with his father. So Brenda Silverthorne at Path got him an interview with Khan.

“At first when I walked into the pit,” says Langille, “they were looking at me like, what’s up with the kid?”

Khan, too, gave Langille a puzzled look. Then they talked. Khan listened to Langille’s stories of how he had been mistreated, at previous kitchen and landscaping jobs, because of his physical appearance.

“Here was a guy who wanted to do something about his life and wanted to go somewhere,” says Khan. “And I thought, what have I got to lose by giving the man a chance?”

That same day, Khan phoned to ask Langille when he could start. That was three years ago. Langille has since learned everything there is to know about servicing cars, mastered the computer system, passed every Mystery Shopper test with flying colours for exceptional customer service and scored 100% on his propane licensing test. Today, he is manager of the Pit Stop. To anyone who talks to the smiling, confident man in coveralls, it’s obvious he’s in charge.

Silverthorne encounters people’s job barriers every day and wishes there were more employers like Khan.

Khan demands honesty and dedication from his employees and gets it, along with their hard work and loyalty. “We’ve got an excellent team. I have a problem with these guys…” he laughs. “They arrive early for their shifts and don’t want to leave at the end of the day.”

Langille’s right-hand staffer is Dave, a man with several physical disabilities who does great work. When he started at the Pit Stop, Khan simply explained to his staff that Dave had a bad back and shouldn’t do too much heavy work.

“In between customers, Dave might have to sit down for awhile,” says Silverthorne. “So many employers are afraid to hire someone with a disability because they don’t want to make such very, very small accommodations. If Dave has to sit down, it’s not hurting Ritchie’s business. What Dave gives customers is tenfold.”

She says that when Khan interviews, “he’s not about experience, but more about the core of a person. That’s the difference. And that’s why he doesn’t have the turnover. People tend to stick around because they feel respected. Like part of the family.”

For more information, please contact Kym McCreary-Stewart.