Source: Anastassimorozova/Freepik
Disability in the workplace is a form of diversity, yet it is widely misunderstood and often excluded from diversity considerations. While most organizations have diversity programs, only 4 percent include disability in their diversity efforts. Workers with disabilities face higher unemployment rates, underemployment, job insecurity, and discrimination in the workplace.
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“We see things not as they are, but as we are,” is a quote attributed to the Talmud and to author Anaïs Nin. When something is a barrier to others but not to us, we often fail to notice it.
In the workplace, the barriers faced by employees with disabilities are often ignored or denied altogether – in fact, their very existence is ignored.
Employers significantly underestimate the prevalence of disability. While 25% of employees self-identify as having a disability or medical condition that limits a major life activity, most companies report that only 4-7% of their employees are disabled. This perception is one of the reasons for the lack of investment in disability support. When practical decision-makers don’t understand the true numbers in the disability community, disability advocates have a hard time advocating for the development of support systems.
The majority of disabilities (perhaps up to 80 percent) are invisible. Here are a few from a much longer list: autoimmune diseases, developmental differences, long COVID, migraines, anxiety, depression, diabetes, PTSD, heart disease, IBS, epilepsy, learning disabilities, differences in neurological function and sensory perception. Mental illness is the most common type of disability in the U.S. The struggle of dealing with these illnesses is often exacerbated by a dismissive mindset that “you don’t look like you’re struggling.”
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The current state of disability inclusion in the workplace
The 2023 report, “Your Workplace Includes People with Disabilities: Do You Have a Talent Strategy?”, outlines three troubling workplace realities.
Under-disclosure of disabilities due to fear of stigma and job insecurity Missed opportunities to fully engage a significant portion of the workforce Workforce development and investment decisions are based on inaccurate data that significantly underestimates the prevalence of disabilities.
The study leverages Boston Consulting Group’s BLISS Index (Open-mindedness, Leadership, Inclusion, Safety, Support), which quantitatively measures employees’ feelings of inclusion. Overall, people with disabilities score three points lower on the BLISS Index (on a scale of 1 to 100) than people without disabilities or health conditions. They are also 1.5 times more likely to experience discrimination in the workplace than people without disabilities.
Data shows that organizations can effectively improve disability inclusion, and in the process, improve the workplace experience for all employees, by doing the following:
Employee-centric policies and programs such as flexible work arrangements. Mentorship to improve overall well-being at work. Accommodations.
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An accommodation is an adjustment to a job, work environment, process, or conditions that enables an individual with a disability to do their job effectively. This may include flexible schedules, modifications to physical workspace, or adjustments to responsibilities. Most disability accommodations are free of charge. Accommodations make or break the employee experience. When individuals with disabilities receive appropriate accommodations, their BLISS Index results improve significantly. When requests are denied, their BLISS score plummets and their attrition risk increases significantly.
Providing accommodations provides direct and indirect benefits to organizations and employees, including retention of talented employees, significant cost savings associated with retention, increased diversity, improved morale, improved workplace safety, and improved interactions with coworkers.
Despite the potential benefits, employees face challenges when requesting accommodations: the process is stressful and inefficient, and discrimination from superiors is not uncommon. Even when accommodations are available, employees may become targets of bullying, especially in the case of invisible disabilities, where accommodations are perceived as desirable or enviable.
Without creating a more flexible culture where all individuals are supported, where differences are normalised and stigma is eliminated, and anti-bullying mechanisms are integrated within organisational systems, it is unlikely that individuals with disabilities will receive fair and equal treatment in the workplace.
Towards systemic justice
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However, ensuring justice is not easy.
Developing effective mechanisms for disability inclusion is crucial from a human perspective that seeks full inclusion of all individuals. However, many organizations rely on the business case, which considers the value of talent diversity and the return on investment. However, it is important not to place too much emphasis on the business case.
Research shows that business reasons are unattractive to minority job seekers. They suggest that you view employees from minority groups as a commodity and raise concerns that you will be stereotyped. The best case for diversity may simply be about respecting human dignity without forcing the less fortunate to continually justify their existence to those who are more fortunate. Or, in the case of workers with disabilities, validating their existence.
(1) This article uses identity-centered language, preferred by many in the disability community, unless the report or data collection cited uses person-centered language.