Make Accommodations Easy and Cost Effective
Employers have stated that the perceived cost and difficulty of providing accommodations is a barrier to recruiting and hiring qualified job candidates with disabilities. However, research shows that almost half of the accommodations needed by employees and job applicants with disabilities cost absolutely nothing.
Accommodating people with disabilities is not very different from what employers do every day with their employees who do not have disabilities. Employers give their employees the tools and environment they need to get the job done. For example, employees that spend time on work travel may be given a PDA for access when away from the office; working parents may be given a flexible work schedule to accommodate their childcare needs; offices located in high traffic areas may offer their employees telecommuting in order to increase their productivity.
Similarly, employees with disabilities may be given certain tools and flexibilities to get the job done. For example, an employee who is deaf may be given a PDA to communicate back and forth with hearing co-workers; a person with mental illness taking medications may be given flexibility in his schedule by working a later schedule if his medications cause him to feel sleepy in the morning; a person who cannot drive and is without access to transportation might telecommute from home, meeting all productivity standards.
In the case of people with disabilities, there may be some accommodations employers are unfamiliar with, but there are resources available to make it quite easy for them to explore the possibilities.
One resource is the Job Accommodation Network (JAN). Funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, JAN is a free consulting service that provides individualized accommodation solutions for the workplace, technical assistance on the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other disability-related legislation, education about self-employment options for people with disabilities, and research findings on workplace accommodations.
JAN has partnered with University of Iowa’s Law, Health Policy, and Disability Center to survey employers contacting EARN between 2004 and 2006. The employers represented a range of industry sectors and sizes.
According to JAN, the average cost of accommodations is typically $500 (MS Word).
Of the employers who gave cost information related to accommodations they had provided, 46% said the accommodations needed by employees and job applicants with disabilities cost absolutely nothing and 45% experienced a one-time cost. Of those accommodations that did have a cost, the typical one-time expenditure by employers was $500. When asked how much they paid for an accommodation beyond what they would have paid for an employee without a disability who was in the same position, employers typically answered around $300.
Employers who had made accommodations for employees with disabilities reported multiple benefits as a result. The most frequently mentioned direct benefits were (1) the accommodation allowed the company to retain a qualified employee, (2) the accommodation increased the worker’s productivity, and (3) the accommodation eliminated the costs of training a new employee.
The most widely mentioned indirect benefits employers received were (1) providing the accommodation ultimately improved interactions with co-workers, (2) the accommodation increased overall company morale, and (3) the accommodation increased overall company productivity. In addition, a significant number of employers said the accommodation helped improve workplace safety.1
Centralized Funding and Resources Available for Federal Agencies Accommodating People with Disabilities
The federal government has a unique free resource available to them, the award-winning Department of Defense Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP). Established as a centrally funded reasonable accommodations program, CAP provides free assistive technology, devices and services to employees within the Department of Defense and CAP’s 65 federal partnering agencies.
As CAP Director Dinah Cohen succinctly puts it,
“We buy it, we pay for it, we get it to the users, it’s just that simple.”2
Since its inception as a centrally funded accommodations program, CAP has filled over 57,000 requests for accommodations with an average delivery time of 10 business days from the date of the request.
Although there are many resources available to employers, perhaps the easiest strategy for determining and acquiring reasonable accommodations for an employee is to simply start by asking the person what they need. Many workers with disabilities are aware of what they require and how to efficiently attain the necessary accommodations.
According to Sheri Denkensohn, Senior Counsel, Office of Inspector General Department of Health and Human Services3:
Beginning with my very first Federal job as a summer intern in 1991… management has provided me with the reasonable accommodations necessary to be successful and productive in my work. I attribute this success to one basic fact – effective communication between management and myself.
This technology [Voice Recognition Software received as a reasonable accommodation], which was no more difficult to load onto the computer than a standard software program, enables me to work faster and smarter, goals that all agencies are looking for employees to achieve.
A few more examples of accommodations include:
- Using email and instant messaging to facilitate communication with employees who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
- Software that reads computer screens and gives people who are blind full access to the computer.
- Software that allows people to control the computer with their voice when they have difficulty using a keyboard or mouse.
- Adjustable chairs, desks, keyboards and monitors for people with cumulative trauma disorders.
- Telecommuting for employees with transportation difficulties.
Read more examples of real life accommodation examples, many of which are low or no cost.
1 JAN fact sheet Workplace Accommodations: Low Cost High Impact (MS Word)
2 Computer/Electronics Accommodations Program.
3 Employer Assistance & Recruiting Network (EARN), “Communication is Key to Successful Accommodation” (PDF) June 2006.
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