Why are employers not hiring people with disabilities in the United States?

Why are employers not hiring people with disabilities in the United States?

 

Employers throughout the United States tend to not hire people with disabilities due to a combination of workplace discrimination, misconception in productivity, lack of knowledge and experience and the fear of legality in the workplace, all of which create an unfair advantage to those who are disabled to get an employment opportunity. 

 

In most instanced, many qualified job candidates with disabilities never make it past the hiring stage. Not because they lack skill or effort, but because it’s easy for employers to filter them off their hiring list. Most times its obvious, but when an employer has many choices, it’s easier to funnel out people with disabilities. Even though it is illegal to not hire someone based on a disability, many employers disregard that fact and still choose to overlook those who are disabled.According to the. United States Department of Labor “The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities and guarantees equal opportunities for individuals with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodations, state and local government services, and telecommunications.”  

As the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states, people with disabilities are still getting discriminated while trying to get hired by an employer, despite legal protections they have. Unfortunately, many employers and hiring managers look past many qualified candidates for the job, which is all happens because workers have a disability, and that is not only unfair, but sad. Discrimination today often is hidden by polite encounters and negative assumptions that aren’t talked about out loud. 

 

Work Place Discrimination

 

One of the most common, and very untrue myths is that people that are disabled are less productive than those who are not. Even though there is tons of evidence and real-world examples proving that this all untrue. As stated by writers at The Arc “An unfortunately common stereotype for people with disabilities is that they are only able to do menial tasks. This is often equated to them only being able to do jobs like food service, cleaning, or other physical work. This couldn’t be further from the truth. People with disabilities are more than able to do meaningful work. While they may require some reasonable accommodations to be able to do the job, once they have those they are as capable as any other employee.” With reasonable accommodations, most adjustments that a business must make to for someone that is disabled are often very minor and not expensive at all. Even though many employers no this, they still often doubt their decisions on hiring someone with a disability. These misconceptions not only hurt the feelings of the people trying to get the job, but they also affect the workers who wouldn’t hire them, these workers don’t realize they could have just as good as workers. They do not give them the chance to work, and it lowers their chances of getting someone who is a good worker or may be more productive than someone that does not have a disability. 

 

Most of all, when it comes to hiring someone with a disability fear is a big reason in most big companies. Hiring managers and employers also simply do not know what to expect from people with disabilities. It can feel very difficult for an employer to answer questions like, “what accommodations are needed,” and “are we going to be able to support this employee”. All these questions go through these employers’ heads, and instead of trying to work with the employee they find it easier to totally avoid the situation and move entirely onto a new candidate

 

When someone comes into a job interview, no matter if they are disabled or not, employers have no idea what they are getting. The workers can be hardworking, not hardworking, or someone that will be a good asset to the business. Being that it is already hard for employers to choose who the best candidate is for the job, someone with a disability has it even harder to get chosen for the job. In an  article by Bob Peck and Lynn Trew Kirkbride they state that “businesses rarely admit the real reasons that keep them from hiring people with disabilities. But looking behind the excuses given, it will be evident that the primary reason is fear.” It simply is fear and lack of knowledge. Instead of giving someone with a disability who may be a great worker a chance, they skip right over them and go onto the next applicant simply because they fear what someone with a disability may do or not do for the company. This is simply unfair to the disabled job applicant; they have no real fair shot at the job. 

 

                                                 Disabled worker happily working                   

Another major issue we see employers facing is the fear of legal issues coming upon them. Normally, owners and employers make sure their employees are taken care of, with employees that are disabled they must take extra care. Laws are put in to prevent discrimination and ensure fairness to all employees. Even though employers are likely to follow these laws, they fear that they may violate them and face a potential lawsuit. Giving them another reason to not hire some with a disability.

These issues tend to turn employers off from wanting to hire someone that is disabled. Not for any reason right now, but what they fear may occur in the future.  As stated in an article by HireAbility “the first thing that comes up for employers is some level of fear. That may be fear that someone with a disability can’t do the job, fear of offending your employee, or fear that your team won’t respond well to a new employee with a disability. Unfortunately, all these can lead to a disabled person taking legal action on a business because they think they were not getting treated right.”

 

In the end, the issue is not the lack of abilities among people that are disabled, it’s the lack of willingness and confidence in employers to move pass all the negatives and give someone with a disability a chance. Despite protections, many hiring decisions are still shaped by beliefs about productivity, discomfort with accommodations, and concern over legal risks. These barriers unfortunately prevent qualified candidates from getting a fair chance at a job.