Employment and People with Disabilities
Most Americans face many struggles when looking for job opportunities. The struggle becomes even harder for people with disabilities since being hired or also getting a response of an inquiry, much less getting a face-to-face interview, is significantly harder. The rate of unemployment for people with disabilities is double the rate of unemployment of people without disability (Vornholt et al., 2017). Most employers have discomfort with people with disabilities and a lot of uncertainty on whether people with disabilities can perform as per the job description. Therefore, this paper talks about the issue of unemployment of people with disabilities. Employers should give equal opportunities to everyone as long as the individuals are qualified for the job, and they can undertake the tasks of the job efficiently.
The major reason for unemployment of people with disabilities is that majority of the employers hold pessimist opinions concerning the work capabilities of individuals with disabilities. In cases where an employer hires a person with disabilities more often than not, the employer is reluctant to provide amenities and necessities that will aid the employee with disabilities to navigate swiftly with work. Even though employers hold the opinion that it is more expensive to hire persons with disabilities because of fear of the unknown, for example, absenteeism, injuries, and many other factors, research has proven otherwise. Research done at DuPont’s cooperation suggested that the attendance of individuals with disabilities at work is above average compared to their non-disabled counterparts. Therefore, the perception of employers that the sick leave and absenteeism will cost their organization is uncalled for. The research further shows that in cases where employees with disabilities skipped work, it was majorly because of either family or personal issues (Guimarães, Barkokébas Junior & Martins, 2018).
There is a need for the law to protect individuals with disabilities who are seeking employment. For those who are already in employment, the law prevents employees from discriminating against these individuals. The federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protect people with disabilities who are looking for jobs. The ADA protects people with disabilities against discrimination by employers. The ADA states that anyone is qualified for a job if the person has met all the job requirements and can perform the job essentials. The person seeking to be covered by ADA should meet the needs of what the ADA defines to be a disability (Sutton et al. v. United Air Lines, 1999). The ADA has helped many people with disabilities to get justice in cases where they faced discrimination from any employer. However, the ADA has not significantly aided people living with disabilities to secure jobs. The employment rate of people living with disabilities is still deteriorating because employers still hold a biased opinion about individuals with disabilities.
The labor laws of the United States of America need to address the issues of discrimination of people with disabilities. The ADA, in liaison with the labor laws, should implement a law that makes it mandatory for employees to have at least a third of their employees to be persons with disabilities. Any employer that fails to comply with the rules provided should either be prosecuted for discrimination or have their business licenses revoked. This will help in boosting the confidence of people with disabilities to look for jobs and also feel confident about the possibilities of securing the job. The employers, in turn, will learn that even people with disabilities can perform even better than non-disabled colleagues.
In conclusion, employers are the reason why people with disabilities are not able to secure jobs quickly because of their untrue opinions. The laws that are put in place help in handling discrimination, but they do not help in securing jobs. Therefore, employers should give equal opportunities to anyone who can perform the work