Factors that influence employer decisions in hiring and retaining an employee with a disability

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Graffam, Joe | Shinkfield, Alison | Smith, Kaye | Polzin, Udo

Affiliations: Institute of Disability Studies, and | School of Psychology, Deakin University, Australia

Note: [] Address for correspondence: Associate Professor Joe Graffam, Institute of Disability Studies, Deakin University, Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Hwy, Burwood, 3125 Victoria, Australia. Tel.: +61 3 9244 6377; Fax: +61 3 9244 6594; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: This paper is based on results of a national study in Australia. Questionnaires were completed by 643 employers, each of whom had employed a person with a disability between 1996--1998. Employers rated the importance of several factors relevant to decisions to hire and retain a person with a disability. Individual factors were rated most important, with grooming/hygiene and work-performance factors rated highest. Management factors and cost factors were rated moderately important. Social factors were rated least important. Analyses of variance were conducted, identifying several employer differences in ratings. The paper discusses employer values as well as the need to include employers in a partnership approach.

Keywords: employment, hiring and retaining a person with a disability, employer values

Journal: Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 175-181, 2002