How fair are jobs to the disabled?

📌Category: Law, Life, Work
📌Words: 871
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 13 March 2021

How fair are jobs to the disabled?

Should people with disabilities be denied a fair chance at job opening because of their disabilities alone? When individuals who have a disability apply for a job they are often turned down. Many believe that people with disabilities already have a fair chance at jobs because of the ADA laws that have been put in place to protect their chance for work. Though this is somewhat true when an employer goes to hire someone they usually have an unconscious bias. This is because they are usually thinking about all the things that they might have to overtime accommodate for them in the workplace. Disabilities should not play a role in determining if someone is qualified for a job. 

The ADA has put laws in place to try to stop employers from discriminating against people with disabilities. Since these laws are in place many think that they no longer are denied jobs because of their disabilities, this is false. These laws state that no one can 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” (Berry, 1). Even though this is what they want to happen, this is not what actually happens. All employers would like to think of themselves as unbiased, but “in the back of their minds, though, they're thinking that their building and office space is accessible, but what about other accommodations that may come up” (The Disadvantages of Disabled Persons in the Workplace ). These thoughts will make them not want to hire them. 

When employers are considering someone with disabilities to be hired for a job they tend to think about the things that could be bad about hiring them. Such as sick days and the safety of the employee. While they make believe that the disabled person would have to take many sick days because of their disability, but actually “ people with disabilities who are already in the workforce have proven themselves to be very reliable, to take fewer sick days than the general population, and have high job retention” (The Disadvantages of Disabled Persons in the Workplace). Many disabled people try to take really good care of themselves because smaller things can be more damaging to them than the general population. This in turn makes them not need more sick days than the average person. “People with disabilities also have better safety records”(    The Disadvantages of Disabled Persons in the Workplace). This could be because they know their limitations and know when not to push them. This can be beneficial to a company to not have to pay any fees for work-related accidents.

Accommodation influences an employer’s decision on if they should hire a disabled employee or not. Money is usually the reason behind this, the employer does not want to pay for any accommodations that they may need to hire the employee. While some things can be quite expensive, a “survey data collected by JAN for the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities between October 1992 and June 1998 shows that among employers making accommodations, 20% of accommodations were made at no cost, 80% cost $1,000 or less, 17% cost between $1,001 and $5,000, and 3% cost more than $5,000“ (Why Employers Don’t Hire People With Disabilities: A Survey of the Literature). Many accommodations are free and require little effort to have. If it does end up costing money, “many federal and state programs will provide reimbursements for making accommodations for a disability, funding to help with recruiting, training and transitioning new hires to their jobs'' (The Disadvantages of Disabled Persons in the Workplace). This will help to pay for the expenses of their accommodations. 
There are many benefits to hiring people with disabilities. Diversity in the workplace is one of them. Knowing that someone has come from a different situation and faced so many obstacles to get there, can bring motivation to the workplace environment. Another benefit is “hiring disabled workers can create a more positive image”(The Advantages of Hiring Disabled People in a Company). Also, it will “limit the risk of a lawsuit, which could do immeasurable harm” this can be to money loss and even a ruined reputation (The Advantages of Hiring Disabled People in a Company). Since there are disabled people hired, it’s less likely for the business to be sued for discrimination. 
People with disabilities should be hired or denied a job based on their qualifications, not their status as a disabled individual or not. Though there are challenges that can be faced when someone with disabilities gets employed, most of the challenges are very easy to overcome. The benefits of their employment overcome the hardships that may happen. Disabilities can be a challenging thing for an individual to handle, it is only fair for them to get a fair shot at a job they are qualified for. 
Work Cited 
Berry, Mary. “Sharing the Dream: Is the ADA Accommodating All?”, 2000,     https: //www.usccr.gov/pubs/ada/main.htm Accessed 4 December 2020.
Lengnick-Hall, Mark L. “Why Employers Don't Hire People With Disabilities: A Survey of the Literature.” CPRF, www.cprf.org/studies/why-employers-dont-hire-people-with-disabilities-a-survey-of-the-literature/. Accessed 4 December 2020.
Bean-Mellinger, Barbara.”The Disadvantages of Disabled Persons in the Workplace”

Bailey,Victoria.“How to Review Applications for Employment.” Small Business - Chron.com, Chron.com, 26 Oct. 2016, smallbusiness.chron.com/review-applications-employment-16221.html.  Accessed 4 December 2020.
Joseph, Chris. “The Advantages of Hiring Disabled People in a Company.” Small Business - Chron.com, Chron.com, 21 Nov. 2017, smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-hiring-disabled-people-company-11233.html Accessed 4 December 2020.
 

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