People With Disabilities in the Workplace
People with Disabilities PWD make up one fifth of the US population and it is anticipated that 30% of those without disabilities will become disabled during their working years . People with disabilities often struggle to find employment.
Why is this? Employers may be concerned about the following:-
- may not have the skills and abilities needed to perform their work
2) increase the demands placed on supervisors
3) create inequity in the workplace because of needed accommodations
4) increase health care costs
5) have low levels of emotional adjustment such as bitterness, nervousness and depression.
Research shows that PWD have a lot to contribute to the workplace and they have relatively low turnover and absenteeism rates. Although training time may be greater for PWD the long term benefits of hiring them outweigh this. (Pooley & Bump 1993). Health care costs do not normally rise and the cost of providing accommodation averages 50 only. A lot of the research relating to disability has focused on unfair discrimination and reactions to requests for accommodation.
PWD often suffer because their coworkers think that they are unable to do their fair share of the work, they are dependent on others and they may be incapable of meeting performance standards unless granted special accommodation. Coworkers may also experience anxiety when they come into contact with PWD and as a result tend to avoid them. This has the effect of excluding the disabled person.
Culture also has a bearing on this. Japanese children are more likely to show sympathy to a child in a wheelchair than American children (Crystal 1999), Chinese are less likely to stigmatise those with Alzheimers than Anglo- Americans, (Hinton 2000), people in Islamic societies are less likely to view mental disorders as a stigma than Westerners and alcoholics are more likely to be ostracised in Middle Eastern than in Western countries (Bush 2003).
Organisations tend to predict behaviour by reference to “scripts”. A person who starts a new job is expected to “learn the script” for work behaviour — this is about knowing what is expected of you in your work. For example a restaurant manager does not have to tell a waiter to take a customer’s food and drinks order in a restaurant. The waiter has learned this in his script and he is expected to act accordingly. The efficiency and effectiveness of organisations depends on their members exhibiting dependable role behaviour.
As a result of differences in their life experiences and socialisation processes PWD often enter work organisations with different work-related scripts and expectations than people without disabilities (PWOD). PWD may try and cover up their disability by not telling others about it, they may downplay the relevance of the disability or eg. get plastic surgery to cover up a facial disfigurement. You can take support services for people with disabilities in NJ.
To date there is not much research on how the work related scripts for PWD and PWOD differ; there is little assessment of how both PWD and PWOD are affected by their respective cultures. Is it necessary that all people in an organization perform their duties in a standardized fashion? Employers need to develop an understanding of the worldwide views of PWD to avoid unecessary misunderstandings. PWD need to accept that differences in their worldwide views may have an influence on how they are accepted in the workplace and employers need to be clearer in explaining their expectations to PWD.
