Due to the expected decline in the working-age population, especially in European countries, people with disabilities are now more often recognized as a valuable resource in the workforce and resea...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1359432X.2017.1387536

Disability and employment – overview and highlights

Introduction Traditional vocational services ignore variables related to employer demands and the interaction of employer demand and the environment) as predictors of employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Recently, rehabilitation researchers have begun to advocate for the use of demand-side employment models to help people with disabilities obtain and retain employment. Aim To examine demand-side employment factors that may influence hiring and retention of people with physical disabilities. Method One hundred and thirty two human resources (HR) managers and line managers were surveyed and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression and correlation analysis. Results Managers rated people with disabilities’ productivity and reliability between the neutral and agree range. Managers were neutral about their own knowledge of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and job accommodation and were similarly neutral about their company’s effort to include disability in the company’s diversity efforts. Hiring efforts were associated with the company’s diversity climate and inclusion of disability in diversity efforts. A hierarchical regression was conducted with results indicating that the demand side factors accounted for a significant portion of the variance in commitment to hire; knowledge of ADA and job accommodation and inclusion of disability in diversity efforts were found to be significantly associated with commitment of the company to hire people with disabilities. Conclusions HR and hiring managers in the current study were not overly enthusiastic about people with disabilities as reliable and productive employees. ADA and job accommodations training might improve these managers’ attitudes toward people with disabilities. Intervention at the senior management level should focus on changing company policies to include disability as part of the company’s diversity efforts.

Demand-Side Factors Related to Employment of People with Disabilities: A Survey of Employers in the Midwest Region of the United States

This selective review provides an overview of salient research findings related to employers' attitudes towards disability and prospective influences on employers to improve employment outcomes of people with disabilities. Research studies included for review are mainly those which investigated employer attitudes towards disability as predispositions to hiring people with disability. Selected studies were classified into three categories including hiring and accommodating employees with disabilities, work performance, and affective reactions and behavioural intentions of employers. Excluded from the review were studies that investigated other factors influencing employer attitudes toward disability. Altogether 34 research studies from the period of 1987 until 2012 were included in the review. Primary databases for the review included ProQuest, Ebscohost, Lexus Nexus, ERICK Database and the Sage Sociology Collection. This review of the demand-side employment literature suggests employers hold relatively positive attitudes regarding individuals with disabilities. However, employer affective reactions and behavioural intentions of employers towards disability in the work setting were less positive and negatively impact hiring decisions, provision of accommodations and work performance appraisals. Employer attitudes represent an important demand-side factor impacting full participation in competitive employment for individuals with disabilities. While employers report generally positive attitudes toward disability, hiring practices may still be discriminatory. Use by rehabilitation professionals of demand-side strategies with employers would likely result in higher rates of work participation by people with disabilities.

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Employers' Attitudes Towards Hiring and Retaining People with Disabilities: A Review of the Literature

The aim of this study is to holistically synthesise the extent and range of literature relating to the employment of individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Database searches of Medline, CINAHL, PsychINFO, Scopus, ERIC, Web of Science and EMBASE were conducted. Studies describing adults with autism spectrum disorder employed in competitive, supported or sheltered employment were included. Content analysis was used to identify the strengths and abilities in the workplace of employees with autism spectrum disorder. Finally, meaningful concepts relating to employment interventions were extracted and linked to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core Sets for autism spectrum disorder. The search identified 134 studies for inclusion with methodological quality ranging from limited to strong. Of these studies, only 36 evaluated employment interventions that were coded and linked to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, primarily focusing on modifying autism spectrum disorder characteristics for improved job performance, with little consideration of the impact of contextual factors on work participation. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core Sets for autism spectrum disorder are a useful tool in holistically examining the employment literature for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. This review highlighted the key role that environmental factors play as barriers and facilitators in the employment of people with autism spectrum disorder and the critical need for interventions which target contextual factors if employment outcomes are to be improved.

/pdf/factors-impacting-employment-for-people-with-autism-spectrum-jtobnhyyu8.pdf

Factors impacting employment for people with autism spectrum disorder: A scoping review:

Introduction Demand-side employment research can play an important role in advancing the knowledge base of occupational rehabilitation. Research contributes to theory building and provides the foundation for empirically supported interventions that can improve the return-to-work success of injured workers and/or the overall labor force participation rate of people with disabilities. Methods In this article, we present our rationale for developing this special section on demand-side factors related to employment of people with chronic illness and disability. We discuss the important relationship between employer practice factors and hiring and retention of people with chronic illness and disability. We highlight in this paper some of the exciting new findings reported in the articles contained in this special section as well as some recent demand-side employment and disability research. Conclusion We intend for this special section to stimulate thinking and discussion about Incorporating demand-side strategies in vocational rehabilitation and return-to-work interventions for people with disabilities and work injuries.

/pdf/introduction-to-demand-side-factors-related-to-employment-of-2ekdot7pme.pdf

Introduction to Demand-Side Factors Related to Employment of People with Disabilities

Introduction As part of the planning process for a larger survey study to examine factors affecting employers’ intention to hire and hiring of people with disabilities, a series of three semi-structured focus groups were held with key hiring decision makers, such as Human Resources directors, Chief Operating Officers (COOs), or Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of small, medium, and large Seattle area companies. Aim The chief goals of the focus groups were to elicit and refine the participants’ beliefs, normative influences, and perceived control relative to hiring workers with disabilities. Method Narrative data obtained from the focus group discussion were examined using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to identify themes expressed by the focus group participants within the context of company size. Results Themes did vary by company size, but a prevailing concern across all companies related to questions about the efficiency/effectiveness of contact with vocational rehabilitation agencies. For both small- and mid-sized companies, there was a belief that people with disabilities could not do the work or were somehow less qualified. For large companies, convincing departmental and team managers that outreaching workers with disabilities would be a worthwhile hiring practice remained a challenge. Conclusion The themes derived from this study can be used to help occupational rehabilitation professionals develop educational and marketing interventions to improve employers’ attitudes toward hiring and retaining individuals with disabilities.

Understanding employers' hiring intentions in relation to qualified workers with disabilities: preliminary findings.

The present study focused on the intentions of employers to reach out toward qualified workers with disabilities as part of their hiring pool recruitment activity. An employer survey was developed in accord with the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 2005). According to the tenets of the model, it was hypothesized that through multiple regression, it would be demonstrated that employer attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived control variables predict the intention to engage in hiring behavior toward qualified workers with disabilities in the next six months. Overall, the model accounted for 67% of the variance in the survey of Northwest employers (n = 92) in relation to hiring intentions with normative influences (CEOs, CFOs, etc.) accounting for the greater proportion of the variance, beta coefficient 0.48, p < 0.01. Attitudes toward the hiring behavior and perceived control had lesser beta weights, 0.24 and 0.22, p < 0.05. Implications of these findings and those from the focus groups used to develop the survey are reviewed in detail relative to more effective vocational rehabilitation marketing efforts.

James Hebert

Papers

Understanding employers' hiring intentions in relation to qualified workers with disabilities: preliminary findings.

Understanding employers' hiring intention in relation to qualified workers with disabilities