Company Characteristics, Disability Inclusion Practices, and Employment of People with Disabilities in the Post COVID-19 Job Economy: A Cross Sectional Survey Study.
Fong Chan, Timothy N Tansey, Kanako Iwanaga and 5 others
PMID 33136220WHAT IT FOUND
Employers reporting higher disability inclusion scores had more workers with self-identified disabilities.
Large companies, Fortune 500 companies, and Federal contractors reported higher inclusion and employment rates than smaller, non-Fortune 500, or non-Federal-contractor companies.
Key findings
01The total disability inclusion implementation score was positively associated with employment of people with disabilities (r = .32, p < .001).
02Ten disability inclusion practices had correlations between 0.20 and 0.26 with employment rates, including accommodation budgets, job fairs, annual hiring targets, disability management personnel, and recruiter training.
03Mean disability utilization was 3.53% in large companies, 2.81% in mid-size companies, and 1.20% in small companies; 4.04% in Fortune 500 companies versus 2.34% in non-Fortune 500 companies; and 3.57% in Federal contractors versus 2.09% in non-Federal contractors.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The survey is cross-sectional, so it cannot show that disability inclusion practices caused higher employment rates. Data came from self-reported ratings by human resources managers and professionals recruited through an online panel, not from verified company records. The paper notes concerns about reliability and quality of data collected through Amazon Mechanical Turk. The Disability Inclusion Profiler was used for the first time, and further psychometric testing is needed. The participant count is inconsistent: methods say 466 participants, while limitations say N = 446. The paper says additional research with Society for Human Resource Management contact lists and Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs lists is warranted.
Declared interests
National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research funded the study. The supplied text does not state an additional conflict-of-interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these employer-level associations as proof that adding a disability inclusion practice will increase employment. The survey measured companies at one time and used self-reported ratings, so it cannot show cause.