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The following article was published in the Charleston Post & Courier's Business Major, a featured monthly column in the Business Review Section on July 30, 2001. ADA Makes Positive Impact on Small BusinessBy DOROTHY P. MOORE Special to The Post and Courier Business Major The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against qualified people with disabilities in employment and selection and in physical accommodations in public facilities unless, in the case of private businesses, doing so would impose undue hardship or fundamentally alter the nature of the business. Since 1994, the act has covered all employers with 15 or more employees. What impact has the ADA had on small businesses? What is the downside and upside of compliance? As a small business owner or manager how might you gain from the ADA? Research conducted shortly after the act was passed (1990) suggested that acceptance of ADA in the business community would depend on the breadth and depth of negative stereotypical views of the disabled despite studies showing that people with even severe disabilities were dependable and productive workers when provided with support services. Under the ADA, progress in gaining access to public facilities has been dramatic, and there is now a more favorable environment for people with disabilities. Direct contact on a regular basis with productive workers who have disabilities has altered negative stereotypes. A study of 418 companies in New York found that personal involvement with the disabled brought about a positive employment relationship. A 1999 Harris Poll found massive public support for key ADA provisions. But employment rates for the disabled either held steady or declined over the decade of the '90s, a period of burgeoning economy, low unemployment rates and labor shortages. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census (1999), 54 million non-institutionalized Americans have disabilities, of whom 26 million could be classified as severe. Of the 15.6 million working adults (16-64) with disabilities, 34.6 percent were employed, compared with a rate of 79.8 percent for non-disabled. A 1998 Harris Poll found the educational levels of people with disabilities has risen since 1986, with the proportion of those who have not graduated from high school falling from 39 percent to 20 percent. In addition to the earnings gap, the lack of knowledge on the part of employees, managers and owners about the ADA provisions is somewhat discouraging. A 1997 survey of persons with multiple sclerosis revealed limited knowledge of job or physical accommodations restructuring that could affect them. A recently published study finds that in work environments, even when they understand their rights, people with disabilities are often unwilling to make accommodation requests because they do not feel free to do so in the work climate. An extensive review of a number of studies of attitudes toward the disabled reveals that, while support for the ADA is voiced, there is only "a veneer of employer acceptance of workers with disabilities," because "employers are less likely to endorse the hiring of people with disabilities when compared to those without disabilities." And employers remain concerned with compliance costs. But restaurant owners who first wondered if they would recover renovation costs found that their facilities accommodations had enabled them to identify and expand a new customer base leading to higher profits. With the arrival of Internet communication, a wide variety of discussion groups began linking people with disabilities with products and services. A host of companies, including information technology, now seek markets in the disabilities community. In-depth research across an entrepreneurial spectrum and research from a representative sample of small business restaurant owners suggests strong indirect evidence of the ADA's positive influence, especially in the high-tech fields. Two recent polls highlight the same important implications. The 1998 Harris Poll suggests continuing gaps between people with disabilities and the rest of the population in employment, life outside the home, socializing, income, transportation, access to health care, and life satisfaction, but also found an apparent improvement in educational levels. Coupled with Internet access, the rise in educational levels among the disabled creates an opportunity for the gaps to begin closing. Querying 535 adults with disabilities and 614 without, a recent Harris Poll found that disabled persons, on average, spend twice as much time online as adults without disabilities. People with disabilities report their online time significantly improves the quality of their lives: the Internet keeps them informed about the world, they feel connected and can reach out to people with similar interests. Predictions of a continued diminishing pool of qualified labor highlights the importance of owners and managers to include qualified disabled applicants in their work force. Employing qualified people with disabilities and assisting them in the acclimation and transition into the workforce can alleviate the rising turnover and training costs employers now deal with. There is a highly competent and long-term employee group out there that can add to the bottom line. For Questions/Comments about this site, contact dot.moore@comcast.net. Site designed by Jackye Cocoros. |