Employers’ perceptions and misconceptions

Respondents expressed a number of concerns about employing persons with disabilities, including that persons with disabilities are less productive, reasonable accommodations are too expensive and persons with disabilities are more prone to have accidents and injuries. However, 75 per cent of respondents said that persons with disabilities are not less productive than others, and 60 per cent of respondents that employ persons with disabilities reported that employing persons with disabilities has positive effects. Finally, 60 per cent of respondents that employ employees with disabilities said that none of their workers with disabilities needed accommodations in the workplace at all.

• Workplace accommodations :49.4 per cent of respondents believed that it is costly to hire or employ persons with disabilities because of the accommodations they may need.
• Risk of accidents: 33.8 per cent of respondents believed that persons with disabilities are more likely to have accidents and injuries.
• Productivity: 24.7 per cent of respondents believed that persons with disabilities are not as productive as others.

Employment rate per type of disability

There is a clear discrepancy between the employment rates of persons with disabilities according to the type of disability. Out of all employees with disabilities among the respondents, a full two thirds have physical disabilities, while only small percentages have hearing, visual, mental and psychological disabilities. This may indicate that persons with these latter types face additional obstacles such as negative stereotypes and misconceptions that stop them from being offered employment. However, exploring the causes behind this discrepancy requires a more in-depth study that is beyond the scope of the present survey.

Figure 2. Percentage disability type out of all employees with disabilities

Gender differences

A large discrepancy was recorded between the rate of employment of men with disabilities versus women with disabilities. Three quarters of employees with disabilities were male and one quarter were female, an indication of the complex discrimination that women with disabilities face.