Quality through equality: people with disabilities as employees and customers

Policy & Practice, Sept, 2007 by Dale S. Brown

People with disabilities are an important part of your workforce. They are also your customers. They make up 18 percent of the population, according to U.S Census data. Considering disability issues is a part of policy development that can improve quality of practice and responsiveness of programs.

People With Disabilities As Employees

As employees, people with disabilities can help you obtain measurable results in quality and productivity. Part of the reason for this is that a person with a disability who applies for a job would not be looking for work unless he or she had a strong character and work ethic. Today's system of public benefits discourages work. In addition, there is tremendous discrimination against applicants with disabilities.

A recent article by the Associated Press reported the story of Bruce Morgan, a man with cerebral palsy, who had a strong resume and a master's degree in business administration. He was laid off, along with his entire 25-person department, because his company was acquired.

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Some of his coworkers planned to take time off, according to the article. Morgan, a triathlete, piano player and father of three, started looking even before the layoff. Over the next 19 months, he had 125 meetings and sent a monthly e-mail update to 1,600 people. He could not find a job after all that effort, and decided to start his own business.

This story is all too typical.

Most likely, a person with an obvious disability who applies for a job has a deep desire to work. Giving an opportunity to someone who wants it often nets the hiring manager a hardworking person. According to the National Organization on Disability, two out of three people with disability who are not working want to work.

Many employees who have disabilities are staffing your organization right now. They might be subordinates or coworkers. You may or may not know about their disabilities. Some become disabled after being hired. Keeping them at work saves the cost of short-and long-term disability and of recruiting a new employee.

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Others have mild disabilities that are not obvious or visible. However, their challenges make it difficult for them to do their best job. For example, they might have a neck injury that hurts them while they hold the phone to their ear. Then the pain causes them to be less than courteous with a customer. Or they have slight arthritis in their fingers, and they type more slowly on the computer keyboard.

If they work at an agency with a disability-friendly work culture, they might let their needs be known, have them filled, and serve the public with a higher degree of excellence. But the true advantage of accommodation goes beyond the productivity of the individuals. A culture of accommodation helps all people.

How Reasonable Accommodation Helps Improve Quality

When managers give people what they need to do their jobs despite an aspect of their disability, it is usually called "reasonable accommodation." This term refers to changes in communication, tasks and environment that allow the person with a disability to produce to their full capacity. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accommodations might include:

* providing or modifying equipment or devices,

* job restructuring,

* part-time or modified work schedules,

* reassignment to a vacant position,

* adjusting or modifying examinations, training materials, or policies,

* providing readers and interpreters, and

* making the workplace readily accessible to and usable by people with disabilities

Reasonable accommodation is not an advantage. Instead, it brings the person with a disability to the starting line with the other workers.

Most employers report minimal cost to accommodate their employees with disabilities. A recent study of more than 1,000 employers by the University of Iowa's Law, Health Policy and Disability Center found that:

* 46 percent said the accommodations cost nothing;

* 45 percent experienced a one-time cost averaging $200.00 above hiring a non-disabled employee;

* 7 percent said that the accommodation resulted in an ongoing cost.

The small cost of accommodation could be seen as an investment. It makes the employee more productive. And, making accommodations can improve the entire organization in three areas: efficiency, innovation, and safety. Let's take each of these in turn:

Efficiency. Frequently, accommodations made for one person assist everyone. For example, a man with one arm worked in a company that produced micro-fiche. A paper cutter was designed for him. When he was absent, others used the paper cutter because it was easier for them. To assist a person with quadriplegia, a government agency bought software that allows an individual to use his or her voice to talk to a computer. This made this person's productivity higher than his co-workers. The agency bought voice-activated computers for everyone. Over half of the employers (56 percent) surveyed by the LHPDC reported that accommodations made for one employee increased overall company productivity.