Introduction
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) refers to a policy that was drafted and passed by legislators in the congress to become part and parcel of US laws in the year 1990. This policy was meant to protect individuals with disabilities from being denied equal opportunities in various areas, including employment and access to public amenities and other public places.
After the law was passed there were so many people who felt disappointed because they knew they had to embrace change which is not what they were expecting. This paper will focus on the above mentioned policy and how it defends the rights of the disabled people in the workforce with regard to corporate and employee perspectives.
The first title of this policy focuses on employment because this is one of the main areas that tend to be biased. This is because there were, and are, many cases of people who have been denied equal opportunities at their work places just because they are disabled.
Perhaps what most employers do not know is that disability is not inability since there are many people who are disabled and yet they have outstanding abilities in other areas, sometimes even much better and advanced than their counterparts who are not disabled.
Acemoglu and Angrist (2001) argue that in as much as the disabled have been given equal opportunities such as education, leaving them out of the workforce may sound and look like an insult because the skills that they posses will be wasted while they would have been put into good use.
The ADA states that employers must allow all job seekers including the disabled an equal opportunity to apply for jobs without setting limits that are based on their disabilities.
Why the Act Was Introduced
The state recognizes every one who is disabled and that is why it demands for equal treatment. According to issues raised by ADA, during the process of bringing new employees on board in any company, the person in charge of hiring should evaluate job candidates equally because their looks are not as important as the skills they have.
Before this policy came into being, employers used to judge people from their looks and thus the persons involved felt deserted because there was no one to defend them. Job seekers with disabilities were simply barred from even securing an interview because most employers dismissed them by simply referring to their disability to mean that they cannot be productive.
ADA clearly states that employees with disabilities are entitled to promotions just like the other employees in the workforce. This is because there are some employers who offer these people jobs and are not willing to upgrade their ranks even after they have worked for them for so long. Employers should gauge employees by their performance which is reflected by the results they deliver (DeLeire, 2000).
When ADA was first implemented employers especially medium sized organizations were finding it difficult to comply with it because they knew they had to restructure some of their facilities for them to warmly accommodate employees with disabilities.
Difficulties during Implementation
Prior to the implementation of this act, human resources managers were under strict instructions not to hire people with disabilities. This puzzled them because some of the job applicants were actually qualified for the positions they had applied for.
But then they had to stick to their employers’ rules lest they would also loose their jobs. Most employers think that by bringing a disabled employee on board they would be adding more liabilities, but this is not the case because these people apply for jobs that they are sure they can perform without any difficulties.
Moreover, the government of the US was spending a lot of cash on catering for the needs of the persons with disabilities.
Prior to the introduction of ADA, the government was looking for a way to minimize its expenditures on these people because investigations revealed that quite a number of them possessed some skills that would earn them a decent living if only they were given a chance to demonstrate their skills and abilities.
According to Fielder (2004), helping these people access the job market became a priority because the government felt that it could be relieved once these people were absorbed into the work force. This would leave the government with fewer people to take care of, just like the famous English saying that states that if you give a man fish you will feed him forever but if you show him how to fish he will feed himself.
Furthermore, if the government did not look for a way of helping people with disabilities to sustain themselves the situation would have become a crisis because every other day there are people who become disabled through accidents and some are born like that and their number would have accumulated so much.
It is certain that the government would not be capable of handling such huge number of people and it would have to borrow more funds in order to take care of these people while some of them can actively engage in income generating activities.
By implementing ADA the government had empowered the people with disabilities because they could now look for jobs with confidence when they knew that they would not be turned away because of their disability. In fact the act states that any employer who denies any of his or her employees equal opportunities based on their disability can be sued in a court of law.
The government itself set the best example as far as this act was concerned by designating some positions in the congress for people with special needs. In fact all government corporations and agencies including parastatals are under obligation to reserve some positions for people with special needs.
Switzer and Vaughn (2003) state this act has really helped people with special needs because more enhancements have been put in place especially with the introduction of technology which helps people with disabilities to perform their tasks just like anybody else.
For instance, there are hearing aids which are quite essential to people who have hearing problems hence such people can be involved in important issues at their work places such as decision making because they can clearly hear what the others are saying.
The only exceptional jobs that people with disabilities cannot actively engage in are manual jobs, such as in the construction sites and the military.
But then the people with disabilities have proved us wrong because of late they engage actively in sports such as basketball and athletics and that is why we have Paralympics that are meant to show case the talents of the disabled. Surely, some of them earn their daily bread from these sporting activities.
The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission
There is a commission in the US that fights for the rights of people with disabilities when it comes to employment. This commission is called Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) and it acts as the watch dog for people with special needs in the job market by ensuring that they are viewed equally competent like their counterparts.
The commission represents persons with disabilities in legal cases and negotiates for their equal treatment where it feels that its member has been offended (Acemoglu & Angrist, 2001). There have been so many cases involving employees who have been sacked by their employers just because they have developed a physical disability. The commission has won in most of these cases.
I personally advocate for equal opportunities in employment for people with disabilities. This is because I have been to many government offices and non governmental organizations and have been served by employees with disabilities and surprisingly their services were quite satisfactory and that is why I do not see the reason for denying them equal chances.
For those employers who argue that employees with disabilities may do their work with lots of errors, they should look at themselves first and figure out the number of mistakes they have made considering that they are not disabled.
This implies that we all make errors regardless of whether we are disabled or not. Furthermore, these people are our brothers and sisters and at times parents. Therefore, we should give them an opportunity to earn a living because that way we will not have to give them money to pay their bills and take care of their families.
Conclusion
ADA is an important law that strives to protect the rights of disabled people in the employment sector. On the other hand, it gives companies the guidelines that are to be followed in the realization of equal treatment of both disabled employees and consumers.
It is necessary for employers to incorporate disabled people in their workforces like they would expect their own children to be absorbed because one does not have to be born disabled.
Disability can come later in life and thus we should treat others the way we would want them to treat us because at the end of the day what goes round comes around. In essence, when such people do a mistake employers should not blame their disability because mistakes are not made from disabilities.
References
Acemoglu, D. & Angrist, D.J. (2001). Consequences of Employment Protection? The Case of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Journal of Political Economy,109, 915-957.
DeLeire, T. (2000). The Wage and Employment Effects of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Journal of Human Resources, 35(4), 693-715.
Fielder, J.F. (2004). Mental Disabilities and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.
Switzer, J.V. & Vaughn, J. (2003). Disabled Rights: American Disability Policy and the Fight for Equality. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.