Disabled Workers

1
Disabled Workers

• Lena Killingsworth
• Elena Crocker
• Michelle Mapes
• Bethany Ireton
• Lisa Mercado

2
History of Disabled Employees
3
History of Disabled Employees

• 1500s Poor Law required English counties to levy
  taxes to care for disabled, orphans, widows, etc.
• 1834 English law made Bastilles intentionally
  undesirable to save money.
• Early Americans had a similar model with town
  poorhouses providing meager clothing, food,
  shelter, and medical care.

4
History of Disabled Employees

• By 1880 most states had programs for people with
  specific disabilities, mostly institutions.
• At the end of WWI, veterans disabled by war
  returned home began what is now known as the
  Federal-state vocational rehabilitation program.
• In the 1940s state services for the blind were
  separated from this program

5
History of Disabled Employees

• Late 60s and early 70s- laws were passed to
  allow access to buildings and public
  transportation
• Late 70s and 80s - shift in social norms from
  large state institutions toward family
• Late 80s to present Increased integration in
  education and workplace
• Healthy People 2010- goal to reduce the number of
  people under 21 living in institutions to 0 by
  the year 2010

6
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

• Requires integration with able-bodied peers as
  much as possible
• Provides guidelines for alternative education
  placement

7
Federal Laws

• Rehabilitation Act of 1973 including Sections 501
  and 505
• Prohibits discrimination against qualified
  individuals with disabilities who work in the
  federal government

8
Federal Laws

• Americans with Disabilities of 1990
• Prohibits discrimination due to a disability in
  employment for any type of job.

9
Federal Laws

• Civil Rights Act of 1991
• Provides monetary damages in cases of intentional
  employment discrimination

Among disability organizations, American Disabled
for Attendant Programs Today is one of the few to
use civil-rights style street protests.
10
Federal Laws

• Architectural Barriers Act
• All buildings and facilities that have been
  constructed or altered in any way with federal
  funds must comply with federal standards for
  physical accessibility

• Washington State Law against Discrimination
• Prohibits discrimination on the basis of
  physical, mental, or sensory disability, and it
  also prohibits an employer from retaliating
  against an employee.

11
The Americans with Disabilities Actsigned July
26th 1990
12
The ADA says... 

• "No covered entity shall discriminate against a
  qualified individual with a disability because of
  the disability of such individual in regard to
  job application procedures the hiring,
  advancement, or discharge of employees employee
  compensation job training and other terms,
  conditions, and privileges of employment."

13
Some Key Definitions (Provided by the Department
of Labor)

• Disability
• A physical or mental impairment that
  substantially limits one or more of the major
  life activities.
• A record of such an impairment
• Being regarded as having such an impairment even
  when no limitations exist.

14

• Qualified individual with a disability
• An individual with a disability who, with or
  without reasonable accommodation, can perform the
  essential functions of the employment position
  that such individual holds or desires.

15

• Reasonable accommodation
• Making existing facilities used by employees
  readily accessible to and usable by individuals
  with disabilities
• Job restructuring
• part-time or modified work schedules
• reassignment to a vacant position
• Acquisition or modification of equipment or
  devices
• Appropriate adjustments or modifications of
  examinations, training materials or policies

16

• Undue hardship
• An action or accommodation that is excessively
  costly, extensive, substantial or disruptive, or
  would fundamentally alter the nature or operation
  of the business.
• In general, a larger business will be expected to
  make accommodations requiring greater effort than
  a smaller business.

17
Americans with Disabilities Act

• ADA Title I and V of 1990 Employment
• Employees in the private sector and state and
  local governments must provide qualified disabled
  individuals the same opportunities as an
  able-bodied individual.
• Employers are required to make appropriate
  accommodations, if necessary, unless the new
  accommodations cause undue hardship for the
  employer.

18
Americans with Disabilities Act

• ADA Title II Public Transportation
• Public transportation cannot discriminate against
  people with disabilities, regardless of the
  disability.
• ADA Title IV Telecommunications Relay Services
• Addresses telephone and television access for
  people with hearing and speech disabilities

19
Information About Laws

• The same laws that prohibit discrimination due to
  a disability, also prohibit harassment on the
  basis of the characteristics of a disabled person
• Businesses with only 1-3 employees are not
  affected by the afore-mentioned
  anti-discrimination laws, with the exception of
  the federal Equal Pay Act, which applies to every
  employer.
• There may also be state laws- most of these apply
  to employers with five or more employees.

20
Facts about the ADA

• In one study 49 of employers lack money for
  accommodation
• In another study 28 of employers made
  accommodations prior to the ADA whereas 33 made
  the accommodations after ADA.
• Estimated 30 of disabled workers hired before
  ADA and after ADA

21
Myths about the Americans with Disabilities
Act(Provided by the Department of Justice)

• The ADA is rigid and requires businesses to spend
  lots of money to make their existing facilities
  accessible.
• The ADA forces businesses and the government to
  spend lots of money hiring unqualified people.
• Accommodating workers with disabilities costs too
  much.
• The government is no help when it comes to paying
  for accessibility.

22
Myths about the ADAcontinued

• Restaurants must provide menus in Braille.
• Sign language interpreters are required
  everywhere.
• The ADA protects people who are overweight.
• The ADA is being misused by people with bad
  backs and emotional problems

23

• The challenges disabled people face at work
• What organizations can do to accommodate them.

24
The four general classifications of accommodations

• Communication
• Scheduling
• Job description
• Physical accommodations

25
Barriers to employment

• Lack of related experience
• Lack of required skills/training
• Supervisor knowledge of accommodation
• Attitudes/stereotypes
• Cost of accommodations
• Cost of supervision
• Cost of training

26
Most important accommodations for disabled
individuals

• Accessible parking/public transit stop nearby
• Need for an elevator
• Adaptations to work station
• Special work arrangements
• Handrails or ramps
• Job coach
• Specific office supplies

27
Diversity
28
Diversity

• As a minority in the U.S., this culture is
  extremely diverse. The diversity lies in the
  numerous classifications and diagnoses that the
  professional world categorizes under the terms
  mental retardation and mental handicap. These
  terms represent a wide variety physical and
  mental developmental disorders that often
  overlap, relate and coexist.

29
Diversity

• Throughout the history of the United States,
  these disorders have been discovered and defined,
  studied and fought over, even discarded
  completely. Medical and psychological
  explanations and theories continuously evolve and
  as these changes take place, so does the
  treatment and opportunities for mentally
  handicapped people.

30
U. S Census Bureau

• Total disabilities in U.S as off 2003
  77,429,844.
• Employment disability
  11,834,527
• Data are limited to the household population
• and exclude the population living in
  institutions,
• college dormitories, and other group
  quarters.

31
Attitudes toward individuals with disabilities in
the work place

• Two studies were conducted to develop and test
  measures that assess beliefs about what
  constitutes a disability, affective reactions to
  working with individuals with disabilities, and
  beliefs about the reasonableness of workplace
  accommodations, in general and within context of
  the ADA( Popovich, Scherbaum, Polinko,2003).

32
Attitudes toward individuals with disabilities in
the work place

• The participants in this study were 118
  undergraduate students at a large midwestern
  university(29 men and 89 women). Half of the
  sample had worked with an individual who was
  disabled. The average length of the work
  experience for those who had worked with a
  disable individuals was 5 months.

33
Attitudes toward individuals with disabilities in
the work placeResults

• In general,there was a discrepancy between what
  the participants believed were disabilities and
  what are actually covered by ADA.

34
Attitudes toward individuals with disabilities in
the work placeResults

• Participants considered more of the physical
• or sensory-motor conditions to be
  disabilities
• than the psychological conditions

35
Attitudes toward individuals with disabilities in
the work placeResults

• Participants believed that schizophrenia, mental
  retardation and alcoholism are not disabilities.

Adaptive Sports FoundationFacts Figures
36
Attitudes toward individuals with disabilities in
the work placeResults

• Experience with persons who have disabilities was
  associated with more positive affective reactions
  but not with higher ratings of the reasonableness
  of workplace accommodations. Perhaps greater
  contact with this population had either prevented
  or destroyed the more negative stereotypes
  associated with disabilities.

37
Attitudes toward individuals with disabilities in
the work placeRecommendations

• In both studies were found that the participants
  had little knowledge of what conditions are
  actually covered by the ADA. Luck of knowledge
  may lead to stereotypes that could manifest as
  discrimination in the workplace.

38
Attitudes toward individuals with disabilities in
the work placeRecommendations

• Interventions to correct these misconceptions
  could be as simple as increasing awareness by
  providing employers with informational pamphlets
  and meetings.
• Organizations could also develop more involved
  interventions such as training programs.

39
Disability across the Globe
40
Australia

• Disability Discrimination Act 1992, and the body
  of case law provide the framework for disability
  rights in Australia.

41
Australia

• The basic law affecting the rights of persons
  with disabilities in Australia is the
  Commonwealth (Federal) Disability Discrimination
  Act 1992 (DDA).

42
Australia

• This is a statute of very broad application. It
  prohibits discrimination against people with
  disabilities in employment, education, access to
  premises, provision of goods and services,
  accommodation, membership in clubs and
  associations, sport and administration of
  Commonwealth laws and programs. It is unlawful to
  harass any person who has a disability.

43
Australia

• The DDA establishes victimization of a person who
  makes a complaint under the Act, who provides
  information relevant to a proceeding under the
  Act, or who appears as a witness before the Human
  Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission as an
  offence punishable by six months imprisonment.

44
Australia

• The DDA and implementing regulations apply to all
  employers, with the exception of the Armed Forces
  and other defense-related employers to all
  private and public employees and to all public
  and private service providers. The DDA prohibits
  all forms of discrimination and mandates national
  standards to guarantee

45
Australia

• The right to be accommodated
• Barrier-free access to transportation
• Barrier-free access to telecommunication
• Barrier-free access to public buildings and
  services, and regarding access to membership in
  private organizations

46
India

• The 1995 Act of India,292 on rights of persons
  with disabilities, spells out the states
  responsibility towards prevention of impairments
  and protection of disabled persons rights in
  health, education, vocational training,
  employment, and rehabilitation..

47
India

• The appropriate state government identifies posts
  in every establishment, public or private, that
  can be reserved for disabled persons and reviews
  them periodically, at least every three years,
  taking into consideration the development of
  technology. No less than three percent of posts
  must be provided to disabled persons in every
  establishment of which one percent each shall be
  reserved for individuals who are blind or who
  have low vision, individuals who are hearing
  impaired, and persons with motor disability or
  cerebral palsy.

48
Mexico

• Two government agencies are largely responsible
  for the major policies regarding the rights of
  people with disabilities. The Presidential Office
  for the Advancement and Social Integration of
  Persons with Disabilities and the National
  Advisory Council for the Social Integration of
  Persons with Disabilities. The main objectives of
  above agencies is to promote the integration of
  people with disabilities into social life on an
  equal footing with all others.

49
Mexico

• One private company is working to end disability
  discrimination is FEMSA. It runs a national
  program entitle the Program for the Integration
  of people with Disabilities.

50
Mexico

• The Opening Spaces Program run by the Secretary
  of Labor and Social Security handles training and
  job placement opportunities. In 2002 the program
  served a total of 2,367 people with disabilities,
  433 of whom were placed in a job. Between January
  and September 2003, 2,891 people received
  assistance, and 533 obtained a job.

51
Mexico

• Transportation in Mexico City is largely
  inaccessible to people with disabilities. The
  metro system has 175 operating stations, but only
  5 stations are wheelchair accessible. Guide
  rails, Braille signs, step treads, and large
  print logos have been installed in 30 stations.
  Out of 1400 bases only 50 wheelchair accessible
  and provide a secondary support for people with
  disabilities rather than an inclusive.

52
Mexico

• In general, few communication resources are
  available for persons with disabilities. The
  government does not typically use alternative
  formats such as Braille to provide information on
  its activities.

53
Mexico

• According to the 2000 census, only 25 of the
  total population with disabilities is
  economically active. The remaining 75 are
  economically inactive.
• Children with disabilities continue to be
  deprived of education, even though the necessary
  physical and service infrastructure is already
  partially in place. There is no national policy
  requiring public or private schools to be
  accessible to people with disabilities.

54
Sweden

• Swedens disability policy has political,
  economic, and social goals.

55
Sweden

• The political goal, formulated by the government
  in 1976, is to make society accessible for all,
  to provide disabled persons the opportunity to
  participate in the social community,and to live
  in a manner, to such a degree as possible,
  equivalent to others. Responsibility for
  achieving this objective is shared by society as
  a whole.

56
Sweden

• The labor market policy is based on the principle
  of universal entitlement to work, and an emphasis
  has been placed on young people, minorities, the
  disabled, and the long-term unemployed. Swedens
  emphasis has historically been on a strong work
  ethic and full employment. of differences in
  clientele due to specialized programs. Specific
  occupational training is conducted under the same
  programs for the disabled as the non disabled.

57
Sweden

• The national Accessibility Center in Sweden is
  part of the Swedish Disability Ombudsman, HO. The
  Center was established in 2001. This was shortly
  after the adoption by the Riksdag in spring 2000
  of a new working plan for disability policy,
  "From Patient to Citizen".
• The working plan is a result of Sweden's
  endorsement in 1993 of the standard UN
  regulations according to which people with
  disabilities are to enjoy full participation and
  equality in society.

58
Russia

• Official government statistics claim that
  approximately 1 million people with disabilities
  across Russia are employed. Therefore,
  approximately 12-14 of the total Russian
  disabled population of working age is officially
  majority of these employed persons have
  disabilities that do not require accommodations
  in the workplace or transportation assistance
  getting to their job. Another large percentage of
  these persons are employed at sheltered
  businesses and factories that are owned and
  managed by disability NGOs, at very low wages and
  little hope of future job security.

59
Russia

• The arrangement for "officially employed"
  disabled persons is to be employed for a minimal
  fee, with the understanding that they are not
  required to ever come to work. This arrangement
  used to benefit the employer with tax breaks.
  Moreover, the employer did not have to make any
  changes to the workplace or provide much needed
  transportation. These kinds of schemes and
  sheltered employment opportunities for disabled
  persons have survived the transition from
  socialism to a mixed capitalist economy.

60
Class Discussion

• How do you personally define disability?
• Has the ADA been successful in decreasing
  discrimination against people with disabilities?