People with Disabilities – To Hire or Not to Hire

posted on May 19 by Brian in the Disability Discrimination, Disability Law, Disability News, Employment category

Studies Repeatedly Show: Hiring People With Disabilities is a Good Investment for Companies

Many companies wonder whether it is a good or bad idea to hire people with disabilities. The fact is that persons with disabilities can work just as efficiently as regular employees.

At IBM, workers with disabilities contribute millions of dollars to the bottom line, and provide a crucial point of view for a company that makes and sells technology for people with disabilities. “We consider diversity strategic to our organization,” says Jim Sinocchi, director of diversity communications at IBM, who himself is a paraplegic. “We don’t hire people who are disabled just because it’s a nice thing to do. We do it because it’s the right thing to do from a business standpoint.”

Workers with disabilities have long been an untapped source of talent, and are expected to play an increasingly vital role in the workplace in the years to come. With an aging workforce, companies will need to start making accommodations for conditions such as hearing and mobility loss, and vision problems.

Why Hire a Person with a Disability?

PERCEIVED CONS These items are usually stereotypes or myths about those with disabilities.	PROS
1. The person may not be able to handle the job when the going gets tough.	1. People with disabilitiles are better equipped for acute problem solving because they are experts in finding ways to perform tasks that others take for granted.
2. Hiring people with disabilities will increase worker compensation rates.	2. Disabilities among workers are not a factor in insurers’ formulas. Safety records for those with and those without disabilities are identical.
3. Hiring people with disabilities will increase the use of sick time and push more work on non-disabled employees.	3. A study by DuPont showed that absentee rates are equal between those with and those without disability.
4. Hiring people with disabilities will lead to higher employment costs.	4. Studies by the President’s Job Accommodation Network Committee have shown that most workers with disabilities require no special accommodation. Among those who do, 15% cost the employer nothing, 50% cost the employer $500 or less, and 12% cost from $501 to $1000. 22% exceed $1000.

It has been proven over and over again that people with disabilities not only want to work, but that they can perform just as well, and in some cases, even better than those who are not facing the same challenges. These employees also bring to the table new skills that others do not have. With the improvement of assistive technology, those with disabilities are rapidly becoming a larger force in the workplace. New technology allows employees with disabilities to function as efficiently in the workplace as their counterparts without disabilities.