Background
This report focuses on the need to approve new legal policies designed for people with disabilities in the workplace. The proposed innovations take place within a large corporation with offices in several countries. The importance of establishing new legal developments is emphasized by the prominent role of the corporation and its international influence. The modern corporate culture is characterized by a policy of inclusiveness and tolerance, the absence of discrimination. The spectrum of vulnerable segments of the population certainly includes people with physical disabilities. The progressive introduction of new practices more tolerant of the disabled will be carried out at every stage of the work cycle and in every segment of the corporation as a connected infrastructure.
Current State of the Problem
The number of people suffering from disability is usually described by researchers as potentially underestimated. Despite the fact that company managers usually claim that a small number of people with disabilities apply for jobs, in reality the situation is far from this statement. Statistically, nearly one-fifth of America’s working population suffers from some form of deviance (Sakiz, 2022). Disability can be categorized not only as a physical, but also a mental illness, which further complicates the possibility of obtaining a real picture of the situation. Employees with disability who are applying for a job or who are already employees may also hide their illness, considering it a tangible disadvantage for the employer. This leads to the need to be exposed to more stress and not get a sufficiently improved workplace for normal and healthy performance of work duties.
Thus, employers themselves are not sufficiently aware of the problem of getting and keeping a job by people with disabilities. In this regard, in many cases, companies underserve this particular segment of the workforce, in fact unknowingly subjecting it to severe discrimination. That is why the entire institution of hiring people with disabilities within the framework of a given global corporation requires a full-fledged structural rethinking.
In general, it should be noted that it is in large companies that procedures for hiring people with disabilities are carried out with greater regularity. As a rule, the explanation for this lies in the fact that a larger employer more easily covers the costs associated with the employment of a disabled person. However, that is why, within the framework of the proposed corporation with international influence, this policy should be further strengthened. With a large amount of financial resource, it becomes possible to distribute money in such a way as to try to eradicate discrimination against persons with disabilities at every stage of the organization’s work processes. It should be added that, as a rule, people with disabilities find a more comfortable job faster, not only in large companies, but also in high-growth employment sectors such as service and retail. This points to a gap in the more private sectors of labor and production, which people with disabilities lack the skills to fill.
Statistical studies indicate that hiring workers with disability contributes to the company’s profitability, can increase capital turnover, and provide competitive advantages. It is also important that the introduction of such workers into the company can improve work ethics, safety in the workplace. Finally, the positive impact on the team spirit of employees, the increased sense of social connection and sense of shared responsibility should be noted. All this helps to increase loyalty within the company at the hierarchical level, both horizontally and vertically, and improve the quality of its work.
In order to more accurately design improved legal innovations in corporations, it is also necessary to have a more accurate understanding of the possible prejudices that may prevent the employment of persons with disabilities. There are a number of reasons why it is considered inconvenient to hire someone with a congenital or acquired handicap for a job. First of all, the prejudice of the employer is indicated, which is connected with the fact that a person with disability will cope with the task worse or more slowly. Stereotypes in general can have a negative impact on the recruitment of employees with disabilities. Worrying about the material damage that the company will incur when arranging a comfortable and safe workplace for a disabled person also stops many employers. All this creates a negative aura around the disabled in the workplace, which forces them to hide their deviation when applying for a job. At the same time, the late disclosure of one’s disability is also extremely unsatisfactory for managers.
Combined, these reasons lead to a stigma imposed on job seekers from this social group. Such discrimination happens while it is the disabled who need work as even more than a way to earn money for a living. Work can also be an opportunity for a disabled person to expand their limited social circle, perhaps even to find practical meaning in life, realizing that they are needed for society.
Policy Content
It should be noted that for the disabled throughout America’s legal history, laws have been developed to require diversity in the workplace and in particular to support people with disabilities. In general, however, the World Health Organization draws a sad conclusion that, in general, disabled people have less opportunity to get a job than able-bodied (Lindsay et al., 2018). The problem with this unfair disparity in privileges lies in social support in general – people with disabilities initially do not receive the necessary qualification education. Pessimistic prejudices about the abilities of people with disabilities haunt them not only in the workplace, but also in the learning process.
Problems with obtaining higher or vocational education for people with disabilities can be both due to discrimination and due to the lack of technical conditions and equipment at the educational institution (Reinders Folmer et al., 2020). Thus, a vicious circle appears in which it is less likely for a disabled person to get a more privileged job, which can also be due to a history of social discrimination. In order to overcome the problematic aspect of possible insufficient qualifications due to the fault of previous institutions, the corporation should establish a series of trainings with professional tutors. Teaching staff who improve the skills of employees with disabilities should be specially trained to work with vulnerable segments of the population.
Within the framework of the corporation’s activities, this innovation should occur at each stage of the corporate hierarchy. Often, researchers note that the employment of people with disabilities as a necessary legal procedure is carried out by companies at a level similar to discrimination (Agovino et al., 2019). In the case of Italy, for example, it is indicated that companies prefer to circumvent the law requiring diversity in the workplace, believing that sanctions are less unprofitable than hiring people with disabilities.
Another problem is that some companies hire employees with mild physical and mental disabilities to do the most manual jobs like house maintenance and cleaning and mopping. These companies greatly simplify the task of training employees, but take on the ethical responsibility of exploiting the work of people with disabilities without offering opportunities for professional growth. A statistical analysis should be implemented that provides a cross-section of employees with disabilities in each professional segment of the corporation. If possible, the corporation should strive to secure disabled employees not only in low-paid jobs that do not require solving intellectual problems. Being connected, the procedure for increasing qualifications and providing more prestigious jobs can be a step towards actually overcoming the problem of discrimination within the corporation.
In order to neutralize possible communication barriers between disabled employees and their employers, it is also necessary to offer special social trainings. Often, complications with the reception and maintenance of disabled people in the workplace can come from inconvenience in communication caused by insufficient social adaptation of the able-bodied persons. It is not uncommon for a boss to feel embarrassed if they have to criticize the work of an employee with physical disabilities, believing that it can be perceived as discriminatory (Aswegen et al., 2019). The communication difficulties that the work team may experience in relation to the disabled worker are caused by the lack of rhetorical skill and social preparedness required in a tolerant work team. Thus, additional courses on tolerance and rhetoric in the workplace, including practical exercises with visual social situations, could clearly increase the level of internal cohesion in the work collective. Social and professional adaptation may indeed be required not only for a new disabled employee, but also for the team that should normally accept them.
Moreover, in order to make it easier for employees to overcome their physical disabilities and feel part of the team, training should be expanded beyond purely professional ones. Training programs tailored for employees with disabilities can be more comprehensive, including physical activity and coaching on a healthy lifestyle. Potentially, this practice can be extended to all employees – in particular, by providing a gym in each of the corporation’s offices. Concern for the physical health of the disabled implies that the corporation must also consider the health of able-bodied employees. However, it is extremely important to improve not only the professional skills of employees with disabilities, but also improve their physical skills. Such educational and incentive programs can increase the overall motivation and competence of employees, raising the status of working capacity of people with disabilities, increasing their employability.
Spreading awareness about the problem is also an important ethical step to overcome discrimination against persons with disabilities in the workplace. The principle of tolerance should be advertised and actively promoted in order to attract sufficient attention to the problem. Employees must be aware not only of the technical benefits, but also of the enormous ethical responsibility of interacting with people with disabilities at work. It must be remembered that even from a scientific point of view, it is proved how useful it is for marginalized members of society to be able to work (Schomberg & Highby, 2020). This improves not only the quality of life, but also gives the disabled person a sense of unity with the team and, therefore, inclusion in society.
Therefore, in addition to communicative training of employees on correct interaction, an additional campaign is required to ethically highlight the problem. In this way, employees will be provided not only with the practical benefits, but also with the ethical value of tolerance and inclusion in the workplace. It is impossible to carry out reforms that promote comfortable employment for people with disabilities without preparing the organization sufficiently in terms of cultural awareness.
Policy Implementation
As an additional labor market to which close attention should be paid in the framework of the new adaptation-related policies, there is a segment of the workplace that has emerged during the pandemic. While the pandemic has created formidable challenges for many people’s jobs, new jobs and callings have emerged as the economy and society are transforming. The pandemic has triggered an impressive number of work-from-home practices, and remote work has risen in popularity (Holland, 2021). In the context of disabled employees, this change is, in principle, qualitatively positive, since it allows you to be at home, better working conditions. On the one hand, this still does not mean that no resources should be allocated for the creation of an office workspace for the disabled. The pandemic and the lockdown merely create additional options for finding a comfortable job for disabled employees.
At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the problematic aspect of the fact that it is in the remote work sector that the population of disabled workers is represented rather narrowly. Researchers point out that those areas of labor activity, in which disabled workers are usually massively represented, are going through hard times, and the recession has affected them the most (Brown et al., 2021). Accordingly, adapting to the context of the pandemic, the headquarters of the organization need not only to increase the recruitment of employees with disabilities for remote work, but also to maintain and improve their level of qualification. Thus, it will be possible to expand the number of employees with disabilities working in the company, while maintaining the comfortable aspect of remote cooperation. This decision is able to raise the prestige and financial turnover within the company, however, the proceeds should be used to equip office space for employees with disabilities.
In order to truly provide full support to employees with disabilities at every stage of the functioning of the organization, additional preventive measures are required. In particular, the organization must be prepared to provide support to its employees in case of sudden illness and acquired disability. The situation in which a healthy working cell, having received disability, is turned off from the field of the company’s functioning, is immoral and unacceptable. Disability is part of human life at one time or another, and the vast majority of people have experienced or will experience it in some form (Sakiz, 2022). That is why a full-fledged strategy for supporting and rehabilitating people in case of an illness that makes it difficult for them to work is required. Otherwise the organization can easily be accused of duplicity and manipulation of public opinion.
The company is required to prescribe a special strategy for dealing with the sudden disability of an employee, trying to ensure the recovery process. For example, in the event of a stroke, employees are forced to switch off from the life of the organization for about a year, which is required for recovery (Langhammer et al., 2018). A corporation, especially of international scale and influence, must cover the costs associated with treatment and physical therapy, as well as pay for post-rehabilitation services. By increasing the life satisfaction of employees during this extremely difficult and tragic period, it becomes possible to retain a valuable employee by letting them know that the organization still needs them. Such a strategy of action would really speak of a culture of inclusiveness, in which a person who has been injured or even disabled is not excluded from the work of the organization, but rather seeks to return to it to make their contribution.
The company also needs to consider functioning from a multicultural and international perspective. If it is necessary to apply all of these policies within each individual country, one will have to take into account the cross-national paradigm, which includes the difference in civil law codes and regulation. Social support in different countries can vary dramatically – an example is a cross-cultural comparative analysis of the policies of Norway and India (Chhabra, 2019). It is required to assemble a group of specialists and lawyers who could contribute to achieving convergence in the distribution of corporate services that help employees with disabilities. The search for a balance between privileges, taking into account the likely cultural implications of a particular country, is necessary for the most complete implementation of new support measures.
References
Agovino, M., Marchesano, K., & Garofalo, A. (2019). Policies based on mandatory employment quotas for disabled workers: The case of Italy. Modern Italy, 24(3), 295-315.
Aswegen, J. V., Hyatt, D., & Goodley, D. (2019). A critical discourse problematization framework for (disability) policy analysis: “Good cop/bad cop” strategy. Qualitative Research Journal, 19(2), 185-198.
Brown, N., Nicholson, J., Campbell, F. K., Patel, M., Knight, R., & Moore, S. (2021). COVID-19 Post-lockdown: Perspectives, implications and strategies for disabled staff. Alter, 15(3), 262-269.
Chhabra, G. (2019). Two worlds, too apart to converge? A comparison of social regulation policies aimed at the employment of disabled people in Norway and India. Alter, 13(2), 83-100.
Holland, P. (2021). Will disabled workers be winners or losers in the post-COVID-19 labour market? Disabilities, 1(3), 161-173.
Langhammer, B., Sunnerhagen, K. S., Sällström, S., Becker, F., & Stanghelle, J. K. (2018). Return to work after specialized rehabilitation—An explorative longitudinal study in a cohort of severely disabled persons with stroke in seven countries. Brain and Behavior, 8(8).
Lindsay, S., Cagliostro, E., Albarico, M., Mortaji, N., & Karon L. A. (2018). Systematic review of the benefits of hiring people with disabilities. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation 4(28), 634-655.
Reinders Folmer, C. P., Mascini, P., & Van der Veen, R. J. (2020). Evaluating social investment in disability policy. Social Policy & Administration, 54(5), 792-812.
Sakiz, H. (2022). Organizational-cultural elements for improved workplace performance of disabled individuals. Research Anthology on Physical and Intellectual Disabilities in an Inclusive Society, 1-20.
Schomberg, J., & Highby, W. (2020). Beyond accommodation: Creating an inclusive workplace for disabled library workers. Library Juice Press.