Susanne M. Bruy

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Susanne M. Bruyère, smb23_at_cornell.eduJudy
Young, jy335_at_cornell.edu Employment Disability
Institute ILR SchoolCornell University
Employer Perspectives on Retention and
Advancement in the New Economy Bridging Research
and Practice

• National Employment Conference Webinar
• The New Economy Rethink, Realign, Reinvent
• August 22, 2013

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Presentation Overview

• A few facts on the new economy
• Implications for youth and mature workers
• Implications for persons with disabilities
• The impact of workplace culture on disclosure
• Implications for vocational rehabilitation
  practice
• Implications for employers
• What did we leave out? Q A

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Definitions of New Economy

• New Economy frequently used two ways
• Post-industrial economy, reflecting a move from
  manufacturing to a high-tech and/or knowledge
  economy.
• Evolution of current fossil-fueled economy to a
  more green economy focusing on building local
  capacity and prioritizing human and environmental
  well-being.

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The New Economy and the Proliferation of New
Technologies

• These new technologies have meant three things
  for employer practices (especially those under
  the domain of HR)
• More virtual/distance/remote workers and work
  teams/relationships.
• Faster/faster everything ever-increasing
  productivity.
• More emphasis and expectation of employee data
  analysis in HR practices.

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A Few Facts on the New Economy

• What do we know about the new economy?
• Job growth in different industries
• Ongoing changes in technology
• Increased value of higher education
• Mismatch between jobs and workers
• Fewer jobs and more part-time work
• Increased use of flex-place and telecommuting
• Changing workforce demographics
• Increased cost of health care

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Mismatch Between Jobs and Workers

• Employers were asked about specific skills in
  which they find todays workforce deficient for
  high school and four-year college graduates
• Writing in English 72 of high school 26 of
  4-year college grads
• Foreign language 62 41
• Mathematics 54 12
• History/Geography 46 17
• Government/Economics 46 17
• Science 45 13
• Reading comprehension 38 5
• English language 21 4
• Source The Conference Board, Blueprint for Jobs
  in the 21st Century HR Policy Association

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New Economy Increased labor market inequality?

• Post-industrial labor markets increasingly
  flexibilized in developed countries since the
  1980s.
• Result increasing division of the working class
  into labor market insiders and outsiders.
• Insiders hold standard, protected and stable
  jobs.
• Outsiders are marginally or atypically employed,
  and more likely to be unemployed.
• This dualization of the labor market into good
  jobs and bad jobs is a major source of growing
  inequality.
• Access to good jobs depends on education and
  skills acquisition, family stability, poverty
  status, etc.

Hausermann, S., Schwander, H. (2009). Identifying
outsiders among countries Similarities and
differences in patterns of dualization. Working
Papers on the Reconciliation of Work and Welfare
in Europe 09/2009. http//www.mwpweb.eu/1/22/resou
rces/publication_414.pdf
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Impact of Labor Market Inequalities

• Social networks built through education, family,
  neighborhood affect future opportunities.
• The prosperity and future earnings potential of
  American children is highly dependent on the
  prosperity of their parents.
• Children of disadvantaged families attend schools
  with fewer and lower quality resources.
• PWD often experience significant economic
  disparities
• Household poverty rates higher.
• Educational attainment far fewer have high
  school diploma or college degree.
• Access to healthcare while few are uninsured,
  many rely on Medicaid for health coverage.

Source OECD (2010). PISA 2009 Results
Overcoming social background Equity in learning
opportunities and outcomes. Volume II.
http//www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/48852584.pdf
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Young Workers Earnings by Education
Note Full-time, full-year workers, age 25-34.
Source National Center for Education Statistics
(2011). The Condition of Education. Figure 49-1
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Workers over age 55 in the U.S. labor force as a
proportion of all workers, projected 1950 to 2030
Sources U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2009).
Labor Force Projections to 2018 Older Workers
Staying More Active. Monthly Labor Review,
November 2009 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(2006). New Look at Long-term Labor Force
Projections to 2050. Monthly Labor Review,
November 2006
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Labor Force Participation Older Workers
Source Leonesio, M., Bridges, B., Gesumaria,
R., Del Bene, L. (2012). The Increasing labor
force participation of older workers and its
effect on income of the aged. Social Security
Bulletin, 72 (1), 60-77.
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Employer Responses to Aging Workforce

• Among the 522 employer respondents, 85.6
  indicated that their organization was either very
  concerned (41.0) or somewhat concerned (44.6)
  about the aging workforce issues, although this
  varied by industry.
• When asked how has your organization
  incorporated aging workforce considerations into
  the design of Absence and Disability Management
  program(s)?, respondents reported these as key
  actions
• flexibility
• maintaining and enhancing benefits
• wellness programming
• safety checks
• accommodation
• stay-at-work and return-to-work programs
• communication and recognition

Von Schrader, S., Bruyere, Malzer, V.,
Erickson, W. (2013). State of the Field Absence
and Disability Management Practices for an Aging
Workforce. Ithaca, NY Cornell University, ILR
School, Employment and Disability Institute.
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Employer Healthcare Burden
Source Axeen, S. Carpenter, E. (2008). The
Employer Health care burden. New American
Foundation health Policy Program Issue Brief.
Retrieved from www.newamerica.net/health_policy
and
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Health Benefits and Employment Outcomes Recent
Research

• Our research, utilizing panels nine through
  eleven of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
  (MEPS) data, examines factors related to
  job-mobility among employed individuals with
  disabilities in the United States. Specifically,
  the study documents the key role of access to
  employer-paid health insurance in job-mobility
  patterns.
• Our study estimated that employed people with
  disabilities who did not have access to
  employer-paid health insurance were 2.5 times
  more likely to change jobs compared to their
  non-disabled peers.
• These findings have important implications in the
  contexts of the current economic environment and
  key provisions of Patient Protection and
  Affordable Care Act. Further, our findings also
  have implications for addressing health
  disparities among people with disabilities.

Karpur, A. Bruyère , S. (2012). Healthcare
expenditure among people with disabilities
Potential role of workplace health promotion and
implications for rehabilitation counseling.
Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 56(1), 7-22.
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Implications for Employer/Business Functioning?

• Hiring practices?
• Productivity expectations?
• Performance management and metrics?
• Retention/advancement strategies?
• Workplace culture?
• Supply chains and globalization?

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Implications of New Economy Workplaces for PWD?

• Remote/virtual work how do we insure people
  with disabilities are not marginalized when they
  are not present at the worksite?
• Productivity as productivity demands are
  increasing and productivity layoffs are
  happening all around us, how do we debunk myths
  about people with disabilities being less
  productive?
• HR Metrics how do we expand public data sets
  and encourage employers in their company-specific
  data to more fully include disability status?

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Implications of New Economy Workplaces for PWD?

• Few other thoughts on PWD and EITHER new
  economy
• Availability of health insurance in low wage and
  part time economy?
• Transportation needs When putting together
  patchwork of part-time jobs, transportation
  becomes increasingly important.
• Those NYT quotes above about literacy becoming
  tied to family income disability and poverty go
  hand in hand, thus literacy and technical
  literacy may be harder to achieve.
• Access to education to be better prepared for
  this new economy.

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Workplace Climate

• Successful companies make it a priority to create
  a workplace climate that embraces and encourages
  diversity.
• Organizations with climates of trust and
  inclusion allow for open dialogue, permitting
  employees to better plan and control their
  outcomes.
• Movement toward eliminating disability and also
  age-based discrimination in the workplace.
• Internal (DM) and external resources (VR and
  CRPs) can contribute positively to a workplace
  culture that succeeds in retaining workers with
  disabilities and older workers.

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Benefits of Inclusive Climates

• Across multiple study samples, data show members
  of historically marginalized groups (e.g., women,
  ethnic minorities, people with disabilities,
  aging workers) experience less discrimination and
  overall better work experiences in inclusive
  units.
• Demographic-based differences in experiences of
  fit, perceived fairness, harassment, and
  perceived organizational support commonly seen in
  inclusive units enable better group functioning
• Higher cohesion, better information exchange.
• Less conflict and miscommunication.
• More creativity, higher financial performance.

Protecting employees with disabilities from
discrimination on the job The role of unit
managers. By Nishii, L., Bruyère, S. (2009).
Paper presented at panel Workplace policies and
practices minimizing disability discrimination
Implications for psychology. 117th Annual
Convention of the American Psychological
Association, Toronto, Canada.
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People with Disabilities

• Employees with disabilities experience
• Less fit between their skills and demands of
  the job.
• Less empowerment on the job.
• Less (perceived) organizational support.
• Lower levels of procedural and interactional
  justice during the accommodation process.
• Work arrangements that are less fair (especially
  fairness of job responsibilities and access to
  mentors).
• Lower quality relationships with their managers.
• Coworkers and managers behaviors to be less
  inclusive.
• Perhaps therefore
• Lower organizational commitment and job
  satisfaction.
• But turnover intentions are not any higher.

Protecting employees with disabilities from
discrimination on the job The role of unit
managers. By Nishii, L., Bruyère, S. (2009).
Paper presented at panel Workplace policies and
practices minimizing disability discrimination
Implications for psychology. 117th Annual
Convention of the American Psychological
Association, Toronto, Canada.
22
Experiences are Better in Inclusive Units

• Individuals with disabilities who work in
  inclusive climates report significantly
• Greater success at having their accommodation
  requests granted.
• Greater coworker support of their accommodations.
• Better experiences of procedural and
  interactional justice during accommodations.
• Lower levels of disability harassment/discriminati
  on.
• Higher organizational commitment and
  satisfaction.
• Lower turnover intentions.

Protecting employees with disabilities from
discrimination on the job The role of unit
managers. By Nishii, L., Bruyère, S. (2009).
Paper presented at panel Workplace policies and
practices minimizing disability discrimination
Implications for psychology. 117th Annual
Convention of the American Psychological
Association, Toronto, Canada.
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Importance of Disclosure for Employers

• Increase awareness of where accommodations may
  improve employee productivity.
• Indicator of employee comfort level with sharing
  personal information.
• Federal Executive Order 13548 -- Increasing
  Federal Employment of Individuals with
  Disabilities.
• Proposed rule to revise Section 503 of the
  Rehabilitation Act.

Emerging Employment Issues for People with
Disabilities Disability Disclosure, Leave as a
Reasonable Accommodation, Use of Job Applicant
Screeners by Sarah von Schrader, Valerie Malzer,
William Erickson, Susanne Bruyère.
http//digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/edicollect/1
288
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Very important factors, when deciding to
disclose a disability to an employer
  Persons with a disability (N598)
Need for accommodation 68.2
Supportive supervisor relationship 63.5
Disability friendly workplace 56.8
Active disability recruiting 50.5
Knowing of other successes 49.9
Disability in diversity statement 48.9
Belief in new opportunities 40.7
Emerging Employment Issues for People with
Disabilities Disability Disclosure, Leave as a
Reasonable Accommodation, Use of Job Applicant
Screeners by Sarah von Schrader, Valerie Malzer,
William Erickson, Susanne Bruyère.
http//digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/edicollect/1
288
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Choosing to Disclose Other Factors

• Company offers flexible work opportunities.
• Disability awareness/anti-stigma training offered
  to all employees.
• HR personnel who are familiar with disabilities,
  accommodations and understand it is a goal for
  companies.
• Knowing the employer has a fair system in place
  to resolve complaints.
• Disability-related Corporate Social
  Responsibility.

Emerging Employment Issues for People with
Disabilities Disability Disclosure, Leave as a
Reasonable Accommodation, Use of Job Applicant
Screeners by Sarah von Schrader, Valerie Malzer,
William Erickson, Susanne Bruyère.
http//digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/edicollect/1
288
26
Very important factors when deciding to NOT
disclose a disability to an employer
  Persons with a disability (N598)
Risk of being fired/not hired 73.0
Employer may focus on disability 62.0
Risk of losing health care 61.5
Fear of limited opportunities 61.1
Supervisor may not be supportive 60.1
Risk being treated differently 57.8
Risk being viewed differently 53.8
No impact on job ability 44.0
Desire for privacy 27.9
Emerging Employment Issues for People with
Disabilities Disability Disclosure, Leave as a
Reasonable Accommodation, Use of Job Applicant
Screeners by Sarah von Schrader, Valerie Malzer,
William Erickson, Susanne Bruyère.
http//digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/edicollect/1
288
27
Implications for Vocational Rehabilitation
Practice

• Understanding of emerging workforce trends
  imperative to educate employers.
• Guide clients toward viable contemporary career
  choices.
• Counsel clients about disclosure issues.
• Strengthen knowledge about accommodations for
  aging workforce.
• Provide career advancement supports.

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Implications for Employers

• Incorporate metrics for self-assessment regarding
  disability non-discrimination.
• Review impact of HR policies and practices on
  aging workforce and identify ways to increase
  retention.
• Put in place a proactive accommodation process
  for all workers.
• Adopt flexible workplace policies that facilitate
  productivity for all employees.

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Related Resources

• Employer Assistance and Resource network
  (AskEARN) www.askearn.org
• Job Accommodation Network - http//askjan.org/
• Disability Management Employers Coalition
  (www.dmec.org)
• HR (human resources) Tips www.hrtips.org
• Disability statistics www.disabilitystatistics.o
  rg
• Employment and Disability Institute at Cornell -
  www.ilr.cornell.edu/edi/

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References

• Axeen, S. Carpenter, E. (2008). The Employer
  Health care burden. New American Foundation
  health Policy Program Issue Brief. Washington
  DC New America Foundation. Retrieved from
  http//www.newamerica.net/files/Employer20Burden
  20-20issue20brief.pdf
• Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of
  Labor.
• Hausermann, S., Schwander, H. (2009). Identifying
  outsiders among countries Similarities and
  differences in patterns of dualization. Working
  Papers on the Reconciliation of Work and Welfare
  in Europe 09/2009. http//www.mwpweb.eu/1/22/resou
  rces/publication_414.pdf
• Karpur, A. Bruyère , S. (2012). Healthcare
  expenditure among people with disabilities
  Potential role of workplace health promotion and
  implications for rehabilitation counseling.
  Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 56(1), 7-22.
• Leonesio, M., Bridges, B., Gesumaria, R., Del
  Bene, L. (2012). The Increasing labor force
  participation of older workers and its effect on
  income of the aged. Social Security Bulletin, 72
  (1), 60-77.
• National Center for Education Statistics (2011).
  The Condition of Education. Figure 49-1
• Nishii, L., Bruyère, S. Protecting employees
  with disabilities from discrimination on the job
  The role of unit managers. By (2009). Paper
  presented at panel Workplace policies and
  practices minimizing disability discrimination
  Implications for psychology. 117th Annual
  Convention of the American Psychological
  Association, Toronto, Canada.
• OECD (2010). PISA 2009 Results Overcoming
  social background Equity in learning
  opportunities and outcomes. Volume II.
  http//www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/48852584.pdf
  
• The Conference Board, Blueprint for Jobs in the
  21st Century HR Policy Association. NY, NY The
  Conference Board.
• Von Schrader, S., Bruyere, Malzer, V.,
  Erickson, W. (2013). State of the Field Absence
  and Disability Management Practices for an Aging
  Workforce. Ithaca, NY Cornell University, ILR
  School, Employment and Disability Institute.
• Von Schrader, S., Malzer, V., Erickson, W.
  Bruyère, S. (2013). Emerging Employment Issues
  for People with Disabilities Disability
  Disclosure, Leave as a Reasonable Accommodation,
  Use of Job Applicant Screeners. Ithaca, NY
  Cornell University, ILR School, Employment and
  Disability Institute, at http//digitalcommons.ilr
  .cornell.edu/edicollect/1288