Workplace discrimination against disabled people and earnings gaps

Disadvantages in employment opportunities and discrimination in the workplace are significant issues for Canadians with disabilities.  Perceived discrimination in the workplace can encompass the following situations and experiences:

• ·      refused an interview
• ·      refused a job
• ·      refused a promotion
• ·      given less responsibility
• ·      paid less than co-workers
• ·      denied accommodation  
• ·      denied work-related benefits.

The level of apparent discrimination varies by type and severity of disability. People with learning, psychiatric and cognitive disabilities and people with mental health issues are more likely than people with disabilities in general to express feelings and experiences of unfair treatment in employment because of their condition. “Regardless of the nature of the discrimination, the finding is that the extent of the discrimination increases as level of limitation increases” (Furie 2010, 29).

In a troubling trend, research indicates that “between 2001 and 2006, there was a decline in provision of some workplace accommodations by employers: in 2006, 65 percent of workers with disabilities who felt they required a job redesign had received one, down from 80 percent in 2001; [and] provision of human support declined from 83 percent in 2001 to 55 percent in 2006” (HRSDC 2010, 11).

Workers with disabilities are more likely to receive lower pay, even after adjusting for full or part time and full or part year employment, and are more likely to have fewer promotions (Garlarneau and Radulescu 2009, 12). It is important to point out that when people have a disability that limits them other than at work, there is no apparent earnings gap.

When the annual employment income for people with disabilities and people without disabilities are divided into quintiles, as Furie (2010) did, results show that 27% of employees with disabilities are in the lowest quintile compared to 19% of employees without disabilities. Only 15% of employees with disabilities are in the highest quintile, compared to 20% of employees without disabilities. In terms of total household income in quintiles for 2005, 33% of people with disabilities were in the lowest quintile compared to 18% of people without disabilities, while in the highest income quintile were 11% of people with disabilities contrasted by 21% of people without disabilities.

References

Furie, A. 2010. “Towards a better understanding of the dynamics of disability and its impact on employment: Final Report,” Ottawa:  Adele Furrie Consulting Inc.

Galarneau, D., and M. Radulescu. 2009. “Employment among the disabled.” Perspectives on Labour and Income 10 (5) 5-15.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. 2010. “Labour Market Participation of Persons with Disabilities in Canada: an overview.”