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People who received a job accommodation from their employer for a physical disability were able to stay employed for significant periods of time and reported high levels of job satisfaction. Those were some of the key findings from a large-scale national survey of people with physical disabilities conducted by the Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research (CROR) at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Their findings were published in the Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation.
Since 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act has given people with disabilities the legal right to ask their employers for a “reasonable accommodation” so that they continue to do their jobs. The U.S. Department of Labor has reported that nearly half of job modifications cost employers nothing and among those that do, the median cost is $300.
The researchers, led by Deborah Crown, MS, CRC, LCPC, research manager, CROR, included a list of 28 job accommodations in the survey that ran the gamut from the ability to work from home or take unpaid leave to receiving special equipment or having their workplace physically modified in some way.
Of the 1,265 people surveyed, 96% reported needing at least one job accommodation after they acquired a physical disability and 88% reported receiving one. Among the latter group, 82% thought their job accommodation was moderately or very helpful. “We now have some very robust data that shows strong associations between longer job tenure and the use of job accommodations,” says Crown. “There is also an association with increased or improved job satisfaction with the use of job accommodations.”
The survey was conducted over a four-month period in 2022 after the country had just emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. During the viral outbreak many companies changed their employment policies and pivoted to virtual or hybrid work, which increased the employment opportunities for people with physical disabilities, Crown noted. Indeed, employment data collated by the Kessler Institute in New Jersey found that employment levels for people with disabilities hit historic highs in the wake of the pandemic even though the employment ratios remained much lower than those for people without disabilities.
The CROR researchers wanted a survey that represented the demographics of the U.S. population. They used a market research firm with a proprietary online research panel of 500,000 people to identify a diverse sample of people who fit their criteria in terms of geography, demographics and type of work. Respondents had to be 18 or older and have a physical disability as a primary condition. To approximate the makeup of the U.S., nearly 40% of respondents came from the South while nearly 25% came from the West. Slightly more than 20% of survey takers lived in the Midwest and 17% were from the Northeast.
More than three-quarters were white and 62% had at least some education beyond high school. The majority of the respondents were male and they worked an average of 36 hours a week. Three-quarters were able to walk without any mobility aids. Most people worked in the service industry and almost 70% had a skilled or highly skilled job. About half had jobs with light physical demands. People with mental health issues or sensory disabilities were not included nor were those who were self-employed.
The researchers pilot-tested the survey questions in the Midwest and then made modifications before rolling out the questionnaire nationally. The survey was also vetted by an advisory committee made up of former vocational rehabilitation clients, employers and representatives from disability advocacy organizations.
People taking the survey reported that their biggest problem at work was pain (35%), followed by physical demands (32%) and fatigue (18%). The top accommodations that people requested and received were a modified work schedule, being allowed to share a job with someone, changes in requirements for sitting or standing, and unpaid leave. Only 4% of respondents said they had not used any of the 28 job accommodations listed. Among the respondents, 79% said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs.
Using a regression model, the researchers found an association between using a job accommodation and staying in a job for four years or longer. That’s about the same average job tenure for all U.S. workers, according to 2024 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Despite the widespread use of accommodations, almost three-quarters of respondents said they had unmet needs when it came to workplace changes. Many of those applied to people in jobs that required physical labor. "It may be more challenging to make accommodations for a physically demanding job,” Crown noted. “But exploring options and using creativity about how to complete job tasks can result in important benefits for both the employee and employer.”
Among the changes respondents needed but did not receive were limitations in lifting things, pushing or pulling and being able to ask co-workers for assistance. They also reported needing modified or newer equipment to do their jobs but not receiving it. The ability to work virtually also came up as something some people needed but weren’t allowed to do.
“I hope this will be important information for people with disabilities, for employers and for rehabilitation professionals,” Crown said. “We now have more evidence that job accommodations really do work and are very impactful in supporting employment of people with disabilities.”
The research is funded by a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research.