Why disabled workers struggle to get proper accommodations

Disabled workers hesitate to ask for accommodations, fear retaliation from employers

What you might already know: It can be difficult for people to speak up for themselves in the workplace. For people with disabilities, though, self advocacy for accommodations can be even harder. A new survey from Deloitte of 10,000 disabled workers found that 75% of respondents had reported having a disability to their employer — but refrained from asking for accommodations. That can be due to fear of retribution or negative backlash from supervisors. Of those who did request accommodations, 74% said they had at least one request rejected.

Why? This gap of accommodation comes from ingrained stigma, both organizationally and societally, said Maria DeLorenzis Reyes, executive and leadership coach and founder of consultancy Training Innovations. Often, inaccessible practices are “baked into the business,” requiring employers to confront and deconstruct long held biases. “It starts really at the foundational level,” said Reyes. “It has to come from the culture … from leadership down and through all levels.”

What it means: There are a few steps involved in taking accountability, said Reyes, and recognizing that a problem exists is the first one. Though it’s often difficult for organizations to admit when they’re in the wrong, taking responsibility is vital to fixing the issue. “I think it's hard for companies to fess up to that, but I think it can be done,” said Reyes. “I think it also can be as simple as asking, ‘What does the company stand for? What are the values? What are the behaviors that we think are good and not good?’”

What happens now: The next step is creating a plan of action and actually following through with it, said Reyes. Company leadership should also take a hard look at unfair and potentially ableist parts of the business. Build a rapport with employees to “make them feel comfortable and feel confident to ask for what they need,” she said. As for employees themselves, communication is a two-way street, she said. It’s “a journey” for people to be able to accept and ask for help when they need it, but it’s important to “have the confidence to advocate for yourself, because you are worth it.”