Hiring People With Disabilities: Employer Benefits

Service providers and professionals in the field of rehabilitation understand the benefits to organizations of hiring people with disabilities. So why don’t employers hire people with disabilities, especially those with cognitive disabilities? There are different ways to get educated by exploring the different reasons, and there are also effective methods for initiating change. In this brief article, let’s review some of the research regarding the benefits of hiring the disabled.

The organizational benefits (including economic profit) of hiring individuals with disabilities are sizeable (Graffam, Smith, Shinkfield, & Polzin, 2002 Paton, 2003). However, research by Crampton and Hodge (2003) finds that individuals with disabilities are not being hired or promoted at a rate comparable with individuals in the non-disabled population. Despite the research stating there are many organizational benefits to be derived from hiring individuals with disabilities and the findings that employers continue not to hire these applicants, research on employer perceptions of the costs and benefits of hiring the disabled has received minimal attention in the field of organizational psychology. No published researcher has comprehensively explored the perceptions of employers specific to the costs and benefits of hiring individuals with disabilities.

Within the U.S. society, many psychosocial and economic benefits have been attributed to meaningful work these include increased economic status, self-esteem, a sense of belonging, and self-actualization (Sandys, 1999). Currently, individuals with disabilities are the largest untapped labor pool in the U.S. Schur (2002) says that, in addition to providing the benefits described above, employment of people with disabilities helps to improve their skill levels and “integrate them more fully into society" (p. 339). The results of this study may lead to future research that will increase the likelihood of a greater percentage of the disabled population being gainfully employed.

In the U.S., 40% of the people who have disabilities live below the Federal poverty level, compared to 18% of all U.S. residents (Kennedy & Olney, 2001 Kitchin, Shirlow, & Shuttleworth, 1998). Many of these disabled individuals receive state and Federal assistance in order to support themselves. The gainful employment of individuals with disabilities will relieve some of their financial burdens and also will reduce the amounts that Social Security and other public-assistance systems are now paying to such individuals.

In recent research, employers repeatedly have indicated that employing people with disabilities is critical to the success of their organizations. Gilbride, Stensrud, Vandergoot, and Golden (2003) reported the following statement by an employer: “Diversity is important to us as a company. Our customer base is getting more diverse. Our employees are getting more diverse. If we can’t handle the differences and handle them really well, it will cost us money" (p. 133). Through additional research that may lead to the employment of more individuals with disabilities, organizations will benefit in two primary ways:

1. Increased employee productivity and organizational performance through a more diversified employee base (Parvis, 2003 Walters, Strohm-Gottfried, & Sullivan, 1998)

2. Lower economic costs because of lower absenteeism, decreased employee turnover, and better-than-average safety records (Paton, 2003 Raphael, 2002).

The potential positive impact that hiring people with disabilities can have has been identified. Not only are companies who hire individuals with disabilities better able to serve customers with disabilities, they also indicate that they will treat their current employees fairly if they become disabled. Increased productivity, efficiency, and positive community involvement and perceptions also are benefits to organizations that hire the disabled.

The U.S. Census for 1997 reported that 1 in 5 Americans has a disability (Tomko, 2002). Information from the latest Census has not significantly changed. Younes (2001) states that disability affects nearly 1 in 3 people. Because of improved medical technology and knowledge regarding health, people in the U.S. are living longer, and workers with disabilities and functional limitations will make up a larger percentage of the workforce. Vocational rehabilitation experts already have reported dramatic increases in the number of individuals with age-related disabilities, such as cancer, diabetes, hearing impairments, heart disease, and arthritis (Koch & Rumrill, 2003). Gouvier and Coon (2002) claim that, because of these issues, “ Discrimination in the workplace is a problem of potentially huge magnitude, affecting millions of Americans" (p.48).

Every day, millions of people are affected by disability, and disability either has or will touch most of us at some point in time. It’s clear for that the majority of people with disabilities, a healthy life includes some type of productive work. Unfortunately, because of ignorance and attitudinal barriers, gainful employment is still a struggle for many disabled individuals – especially those with significant impairments. To initiate change within our communities, ongoing education and opportunities for interaction need to occur.

References

Crampton, S., & Hodge, J. (2003). The ADA and disability accommodations. Public Personnel Management, 32(1), 143-154.

Gilbride, D., Stensrud, R., Vandergoot, D., & Golden, K. (2003). Identification of the characteristics of work environments and employers open to hiring and accommodating people with disabilities. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 46(3), 130-137.



Gouvier, E., & Coon, R. (2002). Misconceptions, discrimination, and disabling language: Synthesis and review. Applied Neuropsychology, 9(1), 48-57.



Graffam, J., Smith, K., Shinkfield, A., & Polzin, U. (2002). Employer benefits and costs of employing a person with a disability. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 17, 251-263.



Kennedy, J., & Olney, M. (2001). Job discrimination in the post-ADA era: Estimates from the 1994 and 1995 national health interview surveys. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 45(1), 24-31.



Kitchin, R., Shirlow, P., & Shuttleworth, I. (1998). On the margins: Disabled people’s experience of employment. Disability & Society, 13(5), 785-806.

Koch, L., & Rumrill, P. (2003). New directions in vocational rehabilitation: Challenges and opportunities for researchers, practitioners, and consumers. Work, 21, 1-3.



Parvis, L. (2003). Diversity and effective leadership in multicultural workplaces. Journal of Environmental Health, 65(7), 37-39.



Paton, N. (2003). Access all areas? Occupational Health, 55(6), 14-19.



Raphael, T. (2002). Disabling some old stereotypes. Workforce, 81(8), 88.



Sandys, J. (1999). “It does my heart good": How employers perceive supported employees. In: R. Flynn & R. Lemay (Eds.), A quarter century of normalization and social role valorization: Evolution and impact (pp. 305-316). Ottowa, Canada: University of Ottowa Press.

Schur, L. (2002). The difference a job makes: The effects of employment among people with disabilities. Journal of Economic Issues, 36(2), 339-347.

Tomko, C. (2002). The economically disadvantaged and the ADA: Why economic needs should factor into the mitigating measures disability analysis. Case Western Reserve Law Review, 52, 1033-1065.

Walters, G., Strohm-Gottfried, K., & Sullivan, M. (1998). Assembling pieces in the diversity puzzle: A field model. Journal of Social Work Education, 34(3), 353-363.



Younes, N. (2001). Getting corporations ready to recruit workers with disabilities. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 16, 89-91.