Business benefits of employing people with disabilities
There are four good reasons why your business should employ people with disabilities:
- It works for your company
- It works for your customers
- It works for your bottom line
- It works for the community
It works for your company
Develop a culture of inclusion
Increasingly, it is a company's workforce and culture that sets it apart from its competitors. Businesses operating in today's market must seize every opportunity to develop their workforce and increase their competitive advantage.
Around 20% of the Australian population, or nearly one in five people, has some form of disability.[1] This figure represents around 3.5 million potential customers.
A culture of inclusion in your workplace leaves your organisation well placed to respond innovatively to the demands of Australia's diverse market.
Does your company include people with a disability as an EEO target group? A disability employment program allows you to recruit from the biggest pool of skills and talent.
11% of Australians of working age have a disability. This represents over 2,000,000 people, yet only half of these are working.
Is your company accessing the full range of skilled candidates available? In Victoria and NSW around 14,000 people with disabilities will obtain work over the next twelve months. This is a considerable resource of skilled and keen people ready and willing to work.
It works for your customers
Employing people with disabilities allows your business to reflect its customer base.
3.5 million Australians have a disability. World wide there are about 860 million people with a disability. In the USA, people with disabilities have an aggregate income in excess of $1 Trillion.[2]
Research has shown that 52% of Households pay more attention to advertising messages featuring people with disabilities.[3]
Businesses that do not respond positively to the needs of people with a disability will inevitably lose market share while those that respond to the needs of this market will increase their share and opportunities.
Benefit from improvements in the workplace
Staff members with disabilities can improve the efficiency of your workplace. When making adjustments in the workplace for a person with a disability, you are most likely making it safer and more comfortable for all staff, customers and the general community.
For example, providing clear simple signage for a staff member with an intellectual disability will also mean you are getting your message across to customers and staff with low English literacy skills.
Improved lighting to assist people with a visual impairment can make your premises more welcoming, increase overall employee performance, improve efficiency and reduce workplace accidents.
Widening entranceways and removing physical barriers for people with a mobility disability will make it easier for customers with baby pushers.
It works for your bottom line
People with disabilities often make better employees.
Employers have found that
98% of employees with disabilities rate average or better in work safety.[4]
90% of people with disabilities rated average or better on job performance.[5]
86% of people with disabilities rated average or better on attendance.[6]
90% of employers had no change in their insurance costs to employ people with a disability.[7]
Staff retention rates for employees with disabilities are 72% higher, saving millions of dollars each year in recruitment and training costs.[8]
Employing people with disabilities has a distinct, positive effect on staff morale.[9]
1 in 10 customers in Australia has a family member with a disability. Being seen as a business that is disability friendly can lead to increased sales. Pizza Hut recorded measurable sale increases after hiring over 14,000 people with disabilities.
Minimise exposure under the Disability Discrimination Act
Infringing the Disability Discrimination Act can lead to heavy penalties, compensation claims and bad publicity. Major Australian companies have incurred costs of up to $35 million.
Employing people with disabilities is living proof that you are taking active steps towards implementing your Equal Employment Opportunity policy.
Disability discrimination cases lead to bad publicity and have an adverse effect on sales and staff morale. Employers seen as discriminatory can earn a reputation of "last choice" amongst jobseekers and have trouble recruiting the best people.
HR professionals who do not adequately understand issues surrounding the employment of people with disabilities place the organisations they represent at risk. People with a disability are increasingly better informed about their rights. Discrimination claims by people with disabilities are now more numerous than either Gender Discrimination or Sexual Harassment claims.
There are already over 500,000 people with disabilities in the workforce and there are powerful established lobby groups representing all major disability types. Direct or indirect discrimination by an employer or a Personnel Consultancy is illegal and is likely to involve both parties being jointly liable in a discrimination claim.
It works for the community
Analysts have estimated the under-utilisation of people with a disability in the workforce is Australia's greatest social problem, costing the community $18.8 billion, or $5000 for each taxpayer.[10]
People with disabilities on the Disability Support Pension now number approximately 600,000 and this number will increase as the population ages. This figure is quickly approaching the number of people on unemployment benefits.
People with a disability participate in the workforce at half the rate of the non-disabled population. Governments increasingly expect the corporate sector to demonstrate their social obligations.