An Introduction to Disability Studies - Term Paper Example

? Productivity of Disabled People at Workplaces The International Labor Organization (ILO) held a special session as part of the International Labor Conference on the 11th day of June 2012 aimed at bringing awareness to its Global Business and Disability Network as well as to the business and or organizational case regarding the hiring of the disabled. The business case posits that hiring of a qualified disabled person not only fills the gap at the workplace, but it also helps the company realize much greater benefits (Newsline, 2012). According to Freedman and Keller (1981), disabled employees add a lot of quality to the competitiveness of the company in general through attracting a greater market share, through increased productivity and lower rates of job turnovers. This document is set to discuss the major benefits associated with the hiring and employment of disabled qualified people in different business organizations. Productivity of Disabled People at Workplaces In Canada, an estimated 13% of the total population has a disability affecting their agility, mobility, vision, hearing, and or learning (Canadians in Context, 2006). This estimate is less other disabilities such as psychological, pain, speech, memory and developmental disabilities; which when included sums up to an estimated 4.4 million Canadians with disabilities, which is about 14.3 % of the population (Canadians in Context, 2006). No matter the number one decides to quote, the basic fact still remains that the fraction of the people living with disabilities across the globe has been on a constant increase down the years. Disability is not age conscious and can come at any stage in life, either being temporary or permanent, mild or severe. Once asked, an Ottawa business executive commented that: “disability is no longer a dirty word. Now we are trying to make the term disability acceptable and another part of business. In the next 10 years, when you say you have a disability, it will just mean that I work differently than you do” (Sobecki, 2007). A 2009 survey commissioned by Advancing the Inclusion of People with Disabilities pointed out that disabled adults are less likely to participate in the labor force. According to the report, only 52.1% of the total disabled women are employed as compared to the 70.1% of the women without disabilities. Furthermore, the ratio is similar in men where the percentage of the disabled men employed was 55.5 while that for men without disabilities stood at 80.2 (Advancing the Inclusion, 2009). Archaic times saw medical conditions such as diabetes and epilepsy perceived or rather viewed as disabilities which hindered the participation and succeeding of people in workplaces (Brightman, 2006). However, Brightman (2006) asserts that much has been done to eliminate this notion via awareness campaigns, accommodation and accessibility, individuals with various different disabilities have emerged to form an integral part of the contemporary business world. The major reason behind this scenario is that major organizations, governments, employers and co-workers have come to look past such illnesses and are working together with disabled personalities helping them much in their quest for success (Sobecki, 2007). In the USA, the 1990’s Americans with Disability Act (ADA) presents employers with numerous opportunities to tap people with disabilities into their workforce (Barlow and Hane, 1992). According to the ADA, people with disabilities have the same and equal access to employment opportunities and their related benefits just as everyone else is. Other than prohibiting discrimination in employment of the disabled, it also covers other services like public transportation, state and local government activities, and telecommunications relay services as well (Barlow and Hane, 1992). In essence, the meaning of the ADA is that every person seeking employment is totally free to forward their applications to any job they feel qualified enough to carry on with. The ADA defines a disabled individual as “a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such impairment.” (Barlow and Hane, 1992).The two affirm that the act prohibits discriminating employees based on their disabilities in hiring, recruitment, promotions, social activities, training, salaries and other employment benefits. In addition, the Act prevents asking disabilities’ related questions in job requirements and interviews as well as reasonably accommodate them fully regardless of their disabled nature. This Act covers employment entities with 15 or more workers. Reasonable Accommodation This involves any notable adjustments and or changes to the workplace environment that ensures the efficient and effective working and or performance of an employee with disabilities (U.S. Department of Justice, 2012). According to Barlow and Hane (1992), these changes and or adjustments aid the disabled employee in eased participation in the process of job applications, carry out vital functionalities of a given task as well as enjoy the privileges and benefits associated with employment in a similar fashion to that enjoyed by non disabled individuals. Examples of reasonable accommodations. Providing employees with disabilities with reasonable accommodation is not usually guaranteed in a host of organizations and or companies. However, there are several ways in which an employer can accommodate his/her disabled employees reasonably to ensure maximum effectiveness and capacity of the employees is realized. Barlow and Hane (1992) identify these changes and or adjustments as: i. Modifying or providing job equipment and or devices to ease their jobs. ii. Restructuring of jobs in order to accommodate the disabled, for instance assigning a disabled person a data entry task rather than a task involving frequent physical movements. iii. Creation of part-time employment and or modification of the work schedules to accommodate them. iv. Availing readers and or interpreters as well as modification or adjustment of training materials, examinations and policies at work. v. Make the workplace easy to access and use by disabled persons. Making employment decisions based on disabilities that are not particularly related to the job performances puts off disabled individuals seeking employment and or training. Furthermore, this process has been proven to be economically wasteful by various researchers who argue that the disabled have relatively the same job effectiveness as the non disabled workers (Stackel, 1986). In addition, research has it that people with disabilities have a lower turnover rate and a higher job attendance as compared to their nondisabled counterparts. According to Peters (1987), this is as a result of the employee with disability having more value for his/her job than the nondisabled worker. This has made them earn descriptions such as safe, hardworking, and dependable ((Stackel, 1986). Research has it that people with disabilities make outstanding employees with little anticipation of costs and problems often associated with nondisabled employees (Freedman and Keller, 1981). The Do’s and Don’ts of Hiring Employees i. Do learn how to communicate with the disabled people. ii. Do recruit and employ disabled people. iii. Do treat a disabled person with dignity and respect in the same way as a nondisabled person. iv. Do ensure that job applications and related company forms ask no questions related to disabilities. v. Don’t ask disability related questions in a job interview. vi. Don’t make the assumption that disabled persons are unemployable. vii. Don’t make the prejudgment that disabled persons are not qualified because they lack the necessary training and or education for the job. Why Hire Disabled People? Disabled persons are actually a diverse group of persons who generally possess finely tuned problem-solving skills, are more patient and can persevere, as well as have the eagerness, enthusiasm and or hunger for success in the workforce. One author, Brightman (2006), once said that: “Disabled folks will tell you…we want to participate as fully and as richly as we can, and we want to contribute no less than anyone else. We want to exercise as many options and choices as we possibly can. You know why? Because we can. We want to laugh often and live our lives out loud. You know why? Because we can. But most of all we want to dream new dreams. And we want to realize as many of our dreams as possible. You know why? Of course you do.” (77). Productivity of the Disabled People: Business Case A clerk at a convenience store has an average turnover of 100% per annum, making the hired clerks find numerous reasons to leave the stores every year (Sobecki, 2007). Excluding compensation, the turnover costs incurred per job and employee are estimated to be around ten thousand dollars. Among the costs incurred include job advertisements, training of new employees, placement agency costs as well as the manager’s time spent on recruitment and training of new staff. Research has it that disabled persons working in the convenience store industry average three years on their jobs (Sobecki, 2007). Based on the costs of turnover incurred when one employee leaves a job, recruitment and hiring of a disabled person in a clerical position in a convenience store would mean the manager saves a minimum of thirty thousand dollars in three years. The situation is even better when all the workforce, say five, in the store hired are disabled persons as this means that the manager saves at least fifty thousand dollars a year and one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in three years. These estimated savings are less the benefits associated with increased work time due to lack of loss or sick time as well as improved productivity in general (Donovan, 2012). This is just a simple example of how disabled persons can be productive and or beneficial to not only a convenience store but also to those organizations that outsource data entry clerks, programmers, telemarketers etc. Numerous reasons exist as to why persons with disabilities should be hired in the United States of America (Donovan, 2012). The US is a country in which the labor force is constantly growing smaller with companies preferring to outsource qualified personnel from outside countries in fields such as telemarketing and data entry. On the contrary, there is a growing pool of labor among the disabled persons aged between eighteen and sixty-five; with 2010 statistics indicating that a massive 70% of this population was unemployed. Other reasons for employing people with disabilities as stated by the U.S. Department of Justice (2012) include: i. The relatively low cost incurred by employers to account for reasonable accommodation; estimated to be around five hundred US dollars per job. ii. Various researches that assert that people with disabilities are more likely to be job satisfied as opposed to the non disabled persons. iii. The proven loyalty of disabled employees as well as their ability to keep jobs for longer durations than the non-handicapped employees. iv. Researches that posit that job productivity of disabled persons is equal or more than that of people with no disabilities. v. The relatively less personal time off and or sick time off taken by disabled employees as compared to their non disabled co-workers. A 2009 report by the US Department of Labor indicated that over one hundred and sixty-eight million jobs will be created in 2010 (Donovan, 2012). The same department revealed that only one hundred and fifty-eight million workers were eligible for the available jobs; a figure which excluded the persons with disabilities. A similar study conducted by Burch (2009) estimated that in 2010, the figure representing the disabled persons in the US will be above ten million, which is the remaining number of employees required to fill the available jobs. Rather than outsourcing at extremely higher costs, Lansing (2009) believes that qualified persons with disabilities can be hired in the same capacities to carry out the desired tasks at a relatively reduced cost, hence creating additional savings to the company. The Disabled Employee Usually, most people find job searching a tiring and cumbersome process (Buzzanell, 2003). Earning a selection in a company means the employee in question has been rewarded for their outstanding ability and the presumed value they can add to the organization. Persons with disabilities find the job searching process even more cumbersome and challenging; but when successful, the result is more valuable not only to the employee but also to the employer (Johnstone, 2001). When employers set out to recruit employees, their sole aim should be to get the best suited person for the task available. Hence, it is their duty to ensure that their procedures are fair and open-ended, as well as hire employees based on their experience, skills, and qualifications as stipulated regardless of their nature of disability (Masala and Petretto, 2008b). It is of much benefit to the employer to have a wider range of talent that includes both the disabled and non disabled persons in which to choose from. In spite of their competitive knowledge, skills, education and experience, persons with disabilities are often under-employed in not only the US but also the rest of the world in general. As earlier noted persons with disabilities are qualified and more often are qualified that their nondisabled counterparts. Despite this, disabled persons have found themselves in positions where they are to adapt to different ways in order to fit in a given workplace environment and or society (Marlow and Marlow, 1992). As a result of the physical and or mental challenges encountered by persons with disabilities on a regular basis, Bynoe, Michael and Cohn (1991) believe that these individuals develop dedicated, innovative, persistent, and outside-the-box thinking in every aspect of life. Hiring such people in an organization brings a new line of competitiveness in the organization as these innovative, persistent, and dedicated minds are brought into the job application processes. In recent years, employers are hiring more and more disabled persons in their workplaces, with most citing many benefits associated with such individuals. According to Cox (1991), disabled persons are much eager to succeed at their workplaces. A national survey conducted in the US by the America?s Strength Foundation in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts regarding the attitudes of consumers with respect to companies and or organizations that employ or hire persons with disabilities estimated that 90% of Americans are of the view that employing persons with disabilities is positive while another 88% of the total sample preferred to deal their business with companies that hire and employ disabled persons (Longmore, 2009). A number of benefits associated with hiring persons with disabilities have been cited by different authors. According to DePoy and Gilson (2004), these benefits include: i. Current studies indicate that attendances as well as the rates of productivity of disabled persons slightly differ irrespective of disability or no disability. A survey carried out by a number of companies including Pizza Hut, Home Depot, Marriott and Walgreen’s revealed that the rates of absenteeism are relatively lower as compared to their rates exhibited by the nondisabled employees (Longmore, 2009). Furthermore, the study revealed that employees with disabilities kept their jobs for longer periods than the nondisabled employees, with Marriot reporting an overall employee turnover rate of 52%; out of which only 6% was accounted for by the persons or employees with disabilities. ii. Disabled employees have by far much proven themselves the experts of persistence in overcoming problems. iii. Research has it that disabled persons are more likely to be job satisfied than nondisabled persons. iv. Disabled employees are more loyal and are less likely to quit and or leave their jobs in favor of another as compared to nondisabled employees. v. It is believed that disabled employees can provide the company and or organization with a significant position market for the products and services produced by their company. This market is constantly growing and it commands a purchasing power worth billions of dollars. The USA reportedly has over fifty four million persons with disabilities; accounting for the country’s third largest market segment. Research estimates that in six US citizens, at least one is a possible customer for business entities and or organizations that have access to disabled persons, with the group at large estimated to command a one trillion dollar flexible income (Masala and Petretto, 2008a). Conclusion Many employers in the contemporary world are still reluctant with the idea of employing disabled persons in their workforce. This can be attributed to the misperceptions that hiring persons with disabilities will eventually be costly to the organization as well as the lack of experience in working with disabled persons (Kaushik, 1999). If you are a disabled individual with a given disability, you should be proud of it. Despite the fact that searching and finding a job can prove to be off-putting, proof exists that an employee, and not a disabled person, is part of a group of individuals who work towards improving the success of the business organization as well as providing valuable and reliable services to the income generation process. In essence, these are the basic traits that interests and are highly valued by all employers. References Advancing the Inclusion of People with Disabilities (2009). Human resources and skills development. Canada. Barlow, W. E., and Hane, E. Z. (1992). ‘A practical guide to the Americans with Disabilities Act.’ Personnel Journal, 71(6): 53-79. Brightman, A. J. (2006). 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