Celebrating The Americans with Disabilities Act: 31th Anniversary
written by Karen Ricci
I remember that day very well as I was a young adult and I had already had several challenges around employment due to my disabilities. I was extremely excited for what this day held for myself and many others with disabilities of all kinds. Here we are today 30 years later having made much progress in many areas, but with still much progress to be made in others.
Today I want to highlight some of the things that you may not be aware of as it pertains to the ADA and employment.
Did you know that...President George H.W. Bush was the one who signed the ADA into law on July 26, 1990?
Did you know...that the ADA was one of the biggest pieces of Civil Rights Legislation passed since the 1964 Civil Rights Act at that time. Giving freedoms to many millions of Americans and breaking down barriers of unprecedented types and opening doors that had never been opened for many individuals with disabilities. For the first time in history putting the emphasis on our abilities instead of our disabilities!
Did you know...That when the ADA first came out that many employers did not want it to be enacted.
These are the Ten Employment Myths employers had regarding the ADA*:
It is just too much trouble to hire people with disabilities.
The truth is it is no more trouble to hire an individual with a disability than it is to hire an individual w/o a disability. The ADA has made it extremely easy for employers and I will explain in further points.
I might have to hire unqualified workers.
The fact is that the ADA states that a person must meet the basic job requirements and must be able to perform the core tasks of the job with or without accommodations. The ADA also states that a person with a disability must obtain all the same licenses and /or credentials as any other employee if they are pertinent to the core functions of the job.
Nobody with a disability can do this job. (Often referring to high level jobs such as pharmacist, Dr, manager etc...)
People with disabilities can do ALL kinds of jobs! The sky is the limit as to what we can do with the right accommodations and a great and understanding team around us. We are like anyone else, as the saying goes “No man is an island.” We all need help from someone at some time even the president of the United States has a cabinet of people to help him!
Once I hire them, I cannot fire them.
As I stated in my prior point in Myth #2, employees must be held to the same workplace policy and production standards. They still must be held accountable like any other employee, and must be evaluated in the same/or equivalent way as other employees.
My other employees will complain if we provide special treatment for employees with disabilities.
We are not asking that employers give special treatment, only that they provide the needed accommodations for individuals with disabilities so that they can do the core tasks of their job to the best of their abilities. Those can be things as simple as a special keyboard, lighting, and ergonomic chairs, or other such things.
People with disabilities are unreliable.
Marriott Hotels did a study “Between 1999 and 2003, they had a 6% turnover rate among people with disabilities verses a 52% overall turnover rate among those without disabilities.” Proving that employees with disabilities are in fact extremely reliable in most cases.
My insurance will go through the roof.
The ADA does not require employers to provide any more healthcare coverage to their employees with disabilities than they are required to provide for any of their other employees. Its only requirement is that employees with disabilities be allowed to participate in their group health insurance benefit program offered to all their other employees.
I do not want to say anything wrong in an interview.
This one is extremely simple; employers should treat everyone the same in an interview and focus on asking questions related to how well a person can do the core tasks of a job and their abilities. If a person has a visible disability an employer is NOT allowed to ask directly about the individual’s disability but they may ask how they plan to manage the core tasks of the job on a day-to-day basis. As with all employees the focus of every job interview should be on a person’s ABILITIES not their disabilities.
People with disabilities make my customers uncomfortable.
As with any new change in our environment, everything takes some getting used to. The bottom line is that individuals with disabilities are people just like everyone else who lives, works, and plays in our communities daily. Once people get to know us as individuals, for more than our disabilities, they will learn that we are just liken them in more ways than we are different from them.
The accommodations they need will bankrupt me.
The truth of the matter is that most accommodations cost less than $600 and a lot of individuals can get them paid for through such programs as Vocational Rehabilitation Services. Then there are others that do not cost the employer anything out of their pocket, for example: Modifying a schedule for an employee who uses para-transit to make it easier for them to get to and from work. Another example would be an employee who is diabetic to take breaks throughout the day to have snacks. Then there would be the example of an employer raising a desk to accommodate an employee who uses a wheelchair. Allowing changes in company policy to allow for a service dog for an employee who needs one. All of these are examples of things that would cost the employer nothing out of their budget.
In Conclusion
We still have quite a bit of work to do to educate employers on the benefits of people with disabilities in the workplace, but that is why we have great organizations such as Work to Include and APSE (Associations for Persons in Supported Employment), the Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities and many of our other collaborating organizations out here increasing the awareness about the ADA and Employment First for individuals with disabilities.
About the writer
Karen Ricci has been a Regional Coordinator for Work to Include since Mid May 2021. Before coming to Work to Include Karen worked in disability advocacy in Louisville, KY where she worked with self-advocates. She learned a great deal regarding legislative advocacy by being involved on stakeholder committees that helped pass the KY ABLE Act and an Adult Abuse Registry to protect vulnerable adults, as well as serving on multiple boards, including KY Protection and Advocacy for Developmental Disabilities.
She has experienced her own disabilities throughout her life with their challenges, as well as having parented a child with multiple challenges too. Karen is very excited about the opportunity to be involved in advocacy in her own state and look forward to seeing all that can be accomplished together on the Work to Include team.
Karen Ricci, Regional Coordinator, Work to Include