Dispelling the Myths

1
Dispelling the Myths

• Employment for People
• with Disabilities

2
Dispelling the Myths

• Employment Myths
• Situations and Solutions Assistive Technology
• The Law
• Numbers
• QA

3
Employment Myths
4
Employment Myths

• MYTH Hiring employees with disabilities
  increases workers compensation insurance rates.

FACT Insurance rates are based solely on the
relative hazards of the operation and the
organizations accident experience, not on
whether workers have disabilities.
5
Employment Myths

• MYTH Employees with disabilities have a higher
  absentee rate than employees without
  disabilities.

FACT Studies by firms such as DuPont show that
employees with disabilities are not absent any
more than employees without disabilities.
6
Employment Myths

• MYTH Persons with disabilities are
  inspirational, courageous, and brave for being
  able to overcome their disability.

FACT Persons with disabilities are simply
carrying on normal activities of living when they
drive to work, go grocery shopping, pay their
bills, or compete in athletic events.
7
Employment Myths

• MYTH Persons with disabilities need to be
  protected from failing.

FACT Persons with disabilities have a right to
participate in the full range of human
experiences including success and failure.
Employers should have the same expectations of,
and work requirements for, all employees.
8
Employment Myths

• MYTH Persons with disabilities are unable to
  meet performance standards, thus making them a
  bad employment risk.

FACT In 1990, DuPont conducted a survey of 811
employees with disabilities and found 90 rated
average or better in job performance compared to
95 for employees without disabilities. A similar
1981 DuPont study which involved 2,745 employees
with disabilities found that 92 of employees
with disabilities rated average or better in job
performance compared to 90 of employees without
disabilities. The 1981 study results were
comparable to DuPonts 1973 job performance study.
9
Employment Myths

• MYTH Persons with disabilities have problems
  getting to work.

FACT Persons with disabilities are capable of
supplying their own transportation by choosing to
walk, use a car pool, drive, take public
transportation, or a cab. Their modes of
transportation to work are as varied as those of
other employees.
10
Employment Myths

• MYTH Persons who are deaf make ideal employees
  in noisy work environments

FACT Loud noises of a certain vibratory nature
can cause further harm to the auditory system.
Persons who are deaf should be hired for all jobs
that they have the skills and talents to perform.
No person with a disability should be prejudged
regarding employment opportunities.
11
Employment Myths

• MYTH Considerable expense is necessary to
  accommodate workers with disabilities.

FACT Most workers with disabilities require no
special accommodations and the cost for those who
do is minimal or much lower than many employers
believe.
12
Employment Myths

• MYTH Employees with disabilities are more likely
  to have accidents on the job than employees
  without disabilities.

FACT In the DuPont study, the safety records of
both groups were identical.
13

• Helen Keller
• I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but
  it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as
  though they were great and noble. The world is
  moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its
  heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny
  pushes of each honest worker.

14
Assistive Technology

• Employees with disabilities have physical
  concerns most all employees have
• All employees need the right tools and work
  environment to effectively perform their jobs.
  Similarly, individuals with disabilities may need
  workplace adjustmentsor accommodationsto
  maximize the value they can add to their
  employer.

15
Assistive Technology

• The type of disability is mostly not as important
  as you would think
• When thinking about accommodations, the focus
  should not be on the persons disability but
  rather on essential job tasks and the physical
  functions necessary to complete them.

16
Assistive Technology

• Accommodations can benefit all employees.
• Because accommodations are for individuals, they
  are individual in nature. But by requiring
  employers and employees to think creatively about
  how tasks are accomplished, an accommodation can
  benefit more than a single employeeit can
  benefit business. Devising accommodations can
  uncover strategies that help others, regardless
  of whether they have disabilities.

17
Assistive Technology

• An accommodation is an investment that promises
  an immediate returnan investment in a qualified
  worker who happens to have a disability and is,
  or could become, a valuable asset to a business.

18
Assistive Technology Costs

• Accommodations usually are not expensive.
  According to the Job Accommodation Network (JAN),
  two-thirds of accommodations cost less than 500,
  with nearly a quarter costing nothing at all.
  Yet, more than half of the employers surveyed
  said that each accommodation benefited their
  organization an average of 5,000.

19
The Law
20
The Law

• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a
  landmark federal law (Signed into law by George
  Bush, 1991) that protects the rights of people
  with disabilities by eliminating barriers to
  their participation in many aspects of living and
  working in America. In particular, the ADA
  prohibits covered employers from discriminating
  against people with disabilities in the full
  range of employment-related activities, from
  recruitment to advancement, to pay and benefits.

21
The Law Myths and Facts

• Myth The ADA forces employers to hire
  unqualified individuals with disabilities.
• Fact Applicants who are unqualified for a job
  cannot claim discrimination under the ADA. Under
  the ADA, to be protected from discrimination in
  hiring, an individual with a disability must be
  qualified, which means he or she must meet all
  requirements for a job and be able to perform its
  essential functions with or without reasonable
  accommodations.

22
The Law Myths and Facts

• Myth When there are several qualified applicants
  for a job and one has a disability, the ADA
  requires the employer to hire that person.
• Fact An employer is always free to hire the
  applicant of its choosing as long as the decision
  is not based on disability. If two people apply
  for a data entry position for which both speed
  and accuracy are required, the employer may hire
  the person with the higher speed and level of
  accuracy, because he or she is the most
  qualified.

23
The Law Myths and Facts

• Myth The ADA gives job applicants with
  disabilities advantages over job applicants
  without disabilities.
• Fact The ADA does not give hiring preference to
  persons with disabilities.

24
The Law Myths and Facts

• Myth Under the ADA, employers must give people
  with disabilities special privileges, known as
  accommodations.
• Fact Reasonable accommodations are intended to
  ensure that qualified individuals with
  disabilities have rights in employment equalnot
  superiorto those of individuals without
  disabilities. A reasonable accommodation is a
  modification to a job, work environment or the
  way work is performed that allows an individual
  with a disability to apply for a job, perform the
  essential functions of the job, and enjoy equal
  access to benefits available to other individuals
  in the workplace.

25
The Law Myths and Facts

• Myth Providing accommodations for people with
  disabilities is expensive.
• Fact The majority of workers with disabilities
  do not need accommodations to perform their jobs,
  and for those who do, the cost is usually
  minimal. Moreover, tax incentives are available
  to help employers cover the costs of
  accommodations, as well as modifications required
  to make their businesses accessible to persons
  with disabilities.

26
The Law Myths and Facts

• Myth The ADA places a financial burden on small
  businesses that cannot afford to make
  accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
  
• Fact Businesses with fewer than 15 employees are
  not covered by the employment provisions of the
  ADA. Moreover, a covered employer does not have
  to provide a reasonable accommodation that would
  cause an undue hardship. Undue hardship is
  defined as an action requiring significant
  difficulty or expense when considered in light of
  factors such as an organizations size, financial
  resources and the nature and structure of its
  operation.

27
The Law Myths and Facts

• The Big One

28
The Law Myths and Facts

• Myth Under the ADA, an employer cannot fire an
  employee who has a disability.

29
The Law Myths and Facts

• Fact Employers can fire workers with
  disabilities under three conditions
• The termination is unrelated to the disability
• The employee does not meet legitimate
  requirements for the job, such as performance or
  production standards, with or without a
  reasonable accommodation
• Because of the employees disability, he or she
  poses a direct threat to health or safety in the
  workplace.

30

• METRIX

31
Population

• US population 281.4 million
• 172,961,000 - Working age (21-64)
• 22,382,000 With a Disability (21-64)

32
Race

• In the US in 2006, the prevalence of disability
  was
• 12.7 percent among Whites
• 17.5 percent among Black / African Americans
• 6.3 percent among Asians
• 21.7 percent among Native Americans
• 11.9 percent among persons of some other race

33
Employment

• In 2006, the employment rate of working-age
  people (ages 21 to 64) with disabilities in the
  US was 37.7 percent.
• In 2006, the employment rate of working-age
  people without disabilities in the US was 79.7
  percent.

34

• The gap between the employment rates of
  working-age people with and without disabilities
  was 42.0 percentage points.

35
Employment

• 8.2 million employed
• 14 million unemployed

36
Annual Labor Earnings

• In 2006, the median annual labor earnings of
  working-age people with disabilities working
  full-time/full-year in the US was 30,000.
• Kentucky - non-disabled- 33,490

37
Annual Household Income

• In the US in 2006, the median annual household
  income of working-age people with disabilities
  was 36,300.

38
High School Diploma or Equivalent

• In 2006, the percentage of working-age people
  with disabilities with only a high school diploma
  or equivalent in the US was 35.0 percent.
• The percentage of working-age people without
  disabilities with only a high school diploma or
  equivalent in the US was 28.3 percent.

39
Some College or Associates Degree

• In the US in 2006, the percentage of working-age
  people with disabilities with only some college
  or Associates degree was 27.7 percent.
• The percentage of working-age people without
  disabilities with only some college or an
  Associates degree in the US was 30.2 percent.

40
Bachelors Degree or More

• In 2006, the percentage of working-age people
  with disabilities with a Bachelors degree or more
  in the US was 12.5 percent.
• The percentage of working-age people without
  disabilities with a Bachelors degree or more in
  the US was 30.3 percent.

41

• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Don't waste life in doubts and fears spend
  yourself on the work before you, well assured
  that the right performance of this hour's duties
  will be the best preparation for the hours and
  ages that will follow it.