Inglis Community Employment Services helps prepare people with disabilities go to work!
Submitted by: Inglis Community Employment Services
An estimated 54 million Americans have a disability. Most are unemployed. According to the National Organization on Disability, only 35% of Americans with disabilities of working age are employed full or part-time. That number is less than half of the 78% employment rate of working-age Americans without disabilities. Yet two out of three of those with disabilities say they would prefer to be working.
Inglis Community Employment Services is part of Inglis Foundation, whose mission is to create and provide practical solutions so people with physical disabilities may pursue their life goals. To do this, we build a profile of the person’s work skills and interests, identify employment opportunities and design an individual employment plan. We provide coaching for job interviews, support and guidance while the person is looking for work and a variety of follow-up services and training after the person is employed.
We have found that many employers believe they cannot afford to hire a worker with a disability because of the extra costs to accommodate that worker. The truth is that nationally the average cost of an accommodation was $35, according to a January 2002 study. In fact, 20% of accommodations cost nothing at all and 50% of accommodations on the job can be made for $500 or less.
Employers may also hesitate to hire a person with a disability because they believe workers with disabilities are less productive than workers that have no disabilities. The reality is that a1990 DuPont study found 90% of employees with a disability were rated by their supervisor as “Average” or “Better then Average.” Their most commonly cited strengths were attendance, punctuality and accepting authority.
Employers may be concerned that a disabled worker is somehow less safe than a worker without a disability. That same DuPont study also reported that disabled workers actually had fewer accidents than other workers.
Many employers ask, “If I hire a worker with a disability will my Workers’ Compensation premiums increase?” Worker’s Compensation premiums are actually based on the number of claims made and not the make-up of your workforce. Since workers with disabilities tend to have fewer accidents, Worker’s Compensation rates should remain unchanged.
Hiring individuals with disabilities is good for the public image of a company. According to a January 2006 study by the Center for Social Development and Education, 92% of consumers felt more favorably toward companies that hired individuals with a disability and 87% prefer to do business with these companies. Hiring people with disabilities ranked third as an indicator of a company’s commitment to social justice behind protecting the environment and offering health insurance to all employees.
Jobseekers with disabilities are an underutilized source of workers that employers simply cannot afford to ignore. Please call Inglis Community Employment Services at 1-866-2-INGLIS and let us help you explore your options.
“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”
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Theodore Roosevelt, September 7, 1903
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