Employment Options for Disabled
The employment equality law has made discrimination against people with any kind of disabilities illegal and employer must not refuse a job applicant on the basis of his or her disability. The employer has the right to deny employment to disabled people only if their disability prevents them from meeting the requirements of the job. Unfortunately, disability discrimination is very common and many disabled people face difficulties in finding a job even if meeting all the requirements, especially when competing with non-disabled applicants.
There are many reasons for disability discrimination. Many employers refuse to hire disabled people because of lack of understanding and because they mistakenly believe that people with disabilities are less productive than non-disabled employees. Another common reason for disability discrimination are the costs that are associated with hiring a disabled person. According to the law, the employer is obliged to make the workplace disability-friendly which may require installation of elevators, ramps, machines modification, etc. The government is aware of higher costs for the employers who hire disabled people and offers financial stimulation, however, the statistics show that employers rather hire non-disabled people if having the opportunity to choose.
Unemployment among disabled people is higher than among non-disabled population which clearly shows that disability discrimination is a reality despite the employment equality law and financial stimulation for hiring a disabled person. People with disabilities have the right to compete for any type of job for which they have the necessary skills, knowledge and qualifications, however, they are more likely to be rejected. Disabled people who are educated have better chances of finding a job than uneducated ones but the chances of being hired are lower for both groups when competing with non-disabled applicants.
Generally, people with disabilities have the best chances of finding an employment in types of work which do not require a personal contact between the employer and employee such as online jobs. The demand for online jobs is enormous and so is the competition but unlike in traditional jobs, the disabled people have more options to be chosen over non-disabled applicants because the “online employers“ often do not require any personal information other than references and the actual qualifications for the job. In fact, an “online employer“ often does not even know that the employee is disabled and does not care about it as long as the job is done well and on time. Another advantage of online jobs is the fact that most of them are home-based and eliminate commuting. Public transportation has become much friendlier to people with disabilities but most of them still face a number of obstacles on their way from home to workplace.
Mentally disabled people face even greater problems in finding an employment than individuals with other types of disability. Things are improving and many companies started hiring mentally disabled people but in most cases, people with developmental delays or mental illness find jobs only in companies that exclusively hire mentally disabled people.