1-What about disability at work?
Like many terms, disability has evolved with humanity and society. If before, it was used to describe militaries whose come from war with injuries, today this term describes a lot of situations. Indeed, disability have different natures, different origins: it may be born or accidental; it may be physical, social, mental, psychic… And this explains what it is so difficult to find a definition of disability whose includes the totality of differences. In France, the 2005 law gives a definition : “Any limitation of activity or restriction of participation in society suffered by a person in his environment by reason of a substantial, lasting or permanent alteration of one or more physical function constitutes a handicap within the meaning of this Act, sensory, mental, cognitive or psychic, multiple disability or disabling health condition”. However, this law and definition have a negative aspect: they do not take in count the role of environment in the disability.
This law appeared because disability became, in 90s, a priority public problematic in France to increase worker with disability and reduce discrimination against them. “Disabled worker” is, however a non-recent term, he appears in the 1957 law and became more important with time. With all of that come some devices like the AGEFIPH (association de gestion des fonds pour l’insertion des personnes handicapées in French) and particular the recognition as a disabled worker (RQTH in French) whose permit to have some help and benefits to find a job.
In 2015, in an AGEFIPH report, 19% of disabled worker are unemployed, compared to 10% for the non-disabled population. In the report, they explain that 7% of companies prefer to pay than hires disabled workers, and 79% have hired at least one disabled worker. However, we can see we are far from the 6% of the workforce required by the law.
The recognition as a disabled worker is an important device to help people, but he carries a lot of issues at different levels. There is an individual issue like, for example, ignorance of his existence, difficulties to begin the process, and non-acceptance of the disability. There are institutional issues like a lot of steps, feeling to need justification, and difficulties to make the difference between disability and non-disability. We can also see societal issues with the need to take into account the professional context, and ethical issues like the risk of exploitation (hire disabled people to do not pay, and not for their skills), the majority economical aspect in the decision, and disabled people mistrust against the law.
2-Disability, work, and discrimination
Beliefs and stereotypes had a negative impact on behaviour, and disability does not escape to this relation. In the work world, specifically in recruitment, the worker is evaluated by their social utility (skill) and social desirability (ability, courage, honesty…). Disabled worker and non-disabled worker are evaluating different depending on these dimensions : a non-disabled worker will be more evaluate positively on social utility than social desirability; and a disabled worker will be more evaluate positively on social desirability than social utility. It can be explained by the cognitive need to balance the judgment: if we evaluate the candidate negatively on his skills, so we evaluate better his social desirability.
When a disabled worker candidate for a job, he will have, according to several studies, less answer and when he has one, they will be more negative than a non-disabled worker with the same qualification. More the worker is qualified and more he is refused. Even if it seems good for a disabled worker whose are less qualified in the majority case, the disability stays a major obstacle to be hired. Moreover, when the disabled worker goes to a job interview, his performance will be subject to negative subjectivity of the recruiter, and he will need to prove more than a non-disabled worker his value for this job. It is also important to note the effect of disability nature on the recruiter: indeed, physical disability is better evaluating than psychical or mental disability. This is due to the impression of mental and psychic disability are unstable and highlight autonomy question.
In conclusion, having a disability when we search for a job mean the risk to know more difficulty than non-disabled worker. These difficulties are individual to the person or group, include in the look of another. Mentality, beliefs, and behaviours change with humanity and societal evolution, but a lot of work is always needed…