Disability and Regulatory Approaches to Employer Engagement: Cross-National Challenges in Bridging the Gap between Motivation and Hiring Practice

Abstract

This article examines why employers struggle to include disability as part of their active diversity approach. Drawing on cross-national interview data from Norway and the USA, we point to the common finding of employers – who are the target of regulatory disability employment policies – typically falling into the passive employer category of employer engagement, with positive attitudes but negative hiring behaviour. As a partial explanation, we demonstrate the difficulty of identifying and demographically monitoring disabled people among job seekers and employees. We argue that these problems are linked to unique aspects of disability as a diversity category, and tie these to the significance of disability heterogeneity, lack of disclosure and the difficulty of acquiring information related to health. We conclude that organisations need to go beyond mere legislative compliance and be more proactive towards disability as a distinct diversity category.

The Impact of Employer Characteristics on Sustaining Employment for Workers with Reduced Capacity: Evidence from Norwegian Register Data

“…The agreement was voluntary until 2019, after which participation in the agreement became mandatory for both public and private employers. In 2017, government launched a new policy agenda, the 'Joint Inclusion Effort' (Inkluderingsdugnaden), that introduced a soft quota for state employers, requiring 5 per cent of all new recruitments to be made from vulnerable groups (Østerud, 2020;Østerud and Vedeler, 2022). Non-compliance is, however, not sanctioned, and no regulations were imposed on private employers.…”

“…Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Poland) (Vornholt et al, 2018). Governments in Scandinavia have tried to facilitate and incentivise recruitment and sustained employment for people from vulnerable groups by offering wage subsidies, training programs and support at the workplace (Gustafsson et al, 2013;Bredgaard and Halkjaer, 2016;Castillo, 2019;Østerud, 2020;Østerud and Vedeler, 2022). Additionally, Norway has implemented a soft quota for state employers to increase the labour market participation of people from vulnerable groups (Østerud, 2020;Østerud and Vedeler, 2022).…”

“…Governments in Scandinavia have tried to facilitate and incentivise recruitment and sustained employment for people from vulnerable groups by offering wage subsidies, training programs and support at the workplace (Gustafsson et al, 2013;Bredgaard and Halkjaer, 2016;Castillo, 2019;Østerud, 2020;Østerud and Vedeler, 2022). Additionally, Norway has implemented a soft quota for state employers to increase the labour market participation of people from vulnerable groups (Østerud, 2020;Østerud and Vedeler, 2022). The Netherlands has combined direct regulation and incentives through requirements of job creation earmarked for people with disabilities, the implementation of quota, and by offering wage subsidies (Borghouts-van de Pas and Freese, 2017; van Berkel, 2021).…”

“…Studies on the effect of demand-side policies on employment opportunities for people remote from the labour market show that the policies have had low uptake with employers (Bredgaard and Halkjaer, 2016;Bredgaard, 2018;Østerud, 2020;Østerud and Vedeler, 2022); found no association between implemented policies and probability of employment for people with disabilities (Reinders Folmer et al, 2020); or have been challenging to implement and realise in workplaces (Castillo, 2019; van Berkel, 2021). This opens a discussion about the barriers to implementation, not only in terms of policy characteristics (Gustafsson et al, 2013;Bredgaard and Halkjaer, 2016;Borghouts-van de Pas and Freese, 2017;Vornholt et al, 2018;Castillo, 2019;Østerud, 2020; van Berkel, 2021;Østerud and Vedeler, 2022) but in terms of characteristics of employers that are relevant for effective implementation. More knowledge is needed on how demand-side policies can be implemented effectively to allow for a more targeted focus for where and how the policy impact and position of workers with reduced capacity can be improved.…”

Do Large Employers Discriminate Less? An Exploration of Company Size Variation in Disability Discrimination Based on Data from two Field Experiments

“…Large organizations may therefore be more likely to make deliberate organizational efforts to prevent discrimination and apply policies and practices in support of workforce diversity to sustain a legitimate public image that is sensitive to the social and legal environment. However, the extent to which disability and people with various types of impairment are targeted in such diversity efforts relative to other underrepresented groups, such as women and ethnic minorities, is less clear (Østerud and Vedeler, 2022).…”