Is There a Downside of Job Accommodations? An Employee Perspective on Individual Change Processes

The Job Leeway Scale: Initial Evaluation of a Self-report Measure of Health-Related Flexibility and Latitude at Work

Purpose Evidence suggests that workers manage health-related challenges at work, in part, by using available leeway to perform work differently. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Job Leeway Scale (JLS), a new 18-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess worker perceptions of available flexibility and latitude to manage health-related challenges at work. Methods Workers seeking assistance for workplace difficulties due to chronic medical conditions (n = 119, 83% female, median age = 49) completed the JLS along with other workplace and health measures. Construct validity was assessed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and concurrent validity was assessed by associations with related measures. Results Mean item scores ranged from 2.13 to 4.16 within a possible range of 0-6. The EFA supported three underlying factors: organizational leeway (9 items), task leeway (6 items), and staffing leeway (3 items). Internal consistency (alpha) ranged from 0.78 to 0.91 for subscale scores and 0.94 for the total score. The JLS showed moderate correlations with other work outcome measures including work fatigue, self-efficacy, engagement, and productivity. Conclusion The JLS is a promising new measure with initial support for its reliability and validity to assess worker beliefs of available flexibility to manage health symptoms at work, and this construct may have organizational implications for worker support and accommodation.

Efficacy of an Online Workplace Mental Health Accommodations Psychoeducational Course: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Workplace accommodations can improve work functioning for employees with mental health concerns, yet few employees receive accommodations. The current study examined the benefits of providing education on workplace accommodations. In total, 89 participants with symptoms of depression and/or anxiety were randomized to an online psychoeducation course or wait-list control (WLC). The course provided education on symptoms, accommodations, tips for requesting accommodations and making disclosures, and coping strategies. Primary outcomes included the impact of the course on requesting and receiving accommodations, accommodation knowledge, self-stigma, and workplace relationships at 8 weeks post-randomization. Additional analyses examined the impact of the course on symptoms, absenteeism, presenteeism, and self-efficacy and whether supervisory leadership and organizational inclusivity impact disclosure and accommodation use. Participants in the course reported improvements in accommodation knowledge, self-efficacy, and presenteeism compared to the WLC. Both groups reported reduced self-stigma and increased disclosures over time. Specifically, partial disclosures were associated with supportive organizations and supervisors. No group differences were found on accommodation use, symptoms, workplace relationships, or comfort with disclosure. Few participants made accommodation requests, therefore a statistical analysis on requesting or receiving accommodations was not performed. Overall, providing psychoeducation has the potential to assist individuals with depression and anxiety who may require workplace accommodations, but further research is required.

Examining psychosocial factors associated with receiving workplace accommodations among people with disabilities

BACKGROUND

People with disabilities experience challenges in obtaining workplace support including job accommodations.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the impacts of psychosocial factors affecting the likelihood of an employee with disability receiving an accommodation and subsequent effects on job satisfaction and job performance.

METHODS

This study recruited 596 participants from multiple national and state agencies serving persons with disabilities in U.S. A mediation model was conducted to examine the impacts of psychosocial factors (i.e., self-efficacy, positive affect, negative affect, workplace support, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) knowledge, accommodation knowledge, and work goal) on receiving accommodation, and the impacts of receiving accommodations on job satisfaction and job performance. The indirect effects of the psychosocial factors on job satisfaction and job performance via receiving accommodations were examined using the Delta method.

RESULTS

Among all the examined direct effects, only the effect from workplace support to receiving accommodations and the effect from receiving accommodations to job satisfaction were significant. Nevertheless, indirect effects were non-significant, indicating that all the psychosocial factors had no indirect effect (via receiving accommodation) on job satisfaction and job performance.

CONCLUSION

The findings reveal the significance of workplace support on employees' likelihood of receiving accommodations, and subsequent association between accommodation receipt and job satisfaction. Rehabilitation professionals need to provide adequate training to employers to facilitate inclusive and supportive workplace environments.

Workplace accommodation in return to work after mild traumatic brain injury

BACKGROUND: While a vast amount of research focuses on unmodifiable and individual factors that may impact return to work (RTW) for patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), less knowledge exists of the relationship between specific workplace factors and work retention. OBJECTIVE: Identify types of accommodation in the workplace that influence the RTW process for employees with TBI and the challenges associated with them. METHODS: A multiple case study consisting of 38 cases and 109 interviews of employees with TBI and their managers conducted between 2017 and 2020 at two time points. RESULTS: Accommodation of both the organizational and psychosocial work environment influences RTW for employees with TBI. Social support and supportive management may have positive and negative effects. RTW is often not a linear process. Over time, maintaining and developing customized accommodation in the work organization is challenging. CONCLUSIONS: Uncertainty about accommodation in RTW for employees with TBI is closely linked to lack of knowledge in the workplace of how to handle complex and nonlinear RTW processes. Work-oriented rehabilitation should to a greater extent provide managers with relevant information and support to develop the person-environment fit over time.

Conceptualizing disability accommodation device acceptance by workgroups through a sociomaterial lens

Purpose

The provision of accommodation devices is said to aid organizational inclusion of employees with a disability. However, devices that are meant to enable might only partially facilitate productivity, independence, and social inclusion if these devices are not accepted by the user's workgroup. The authors outline a conceptual model of accommodation device acceptance through a sociomaterial lens to suggest conditions influencing workgroup device acceptance.

Design/methodology/approach

To build the model, the authors draw upon the sociomateriality and disability literature to frame accommodation devices as experienced in ongoing interactions, representing the goals, feelings, and interpretations of specific workgroups. The authors also unpack attributes of devices—instrumentality, aesthetics, and symbolism—and propose how each of these can pattern social conduct to influence device acceptance. The authors then draw upon the disability literature to identify attributes of workgroups that can be expected to amplify or diminish the effect of device attributes on device acceptance in that workgroup.

Findings

The conceptualization, which the authors illustrate with examples particular to visual impairment, presents implications for who and what serves as a gatekeeper to accommodation device acceptance and thereby workgroup inclusion.

Originality/value

Prior research has focused on conditions under which devices are requested by users or made available by organizations, undergirded by the assumption that devices are well-specified once provided and that they operate relatively predictably when used in various workgroups. The authors focus instead on what happens after the device is provided and highlight the complex and dynamic interaction between an accommodation device and the workgroup, which influences device and user acceptance.

Barriers and facilitators to requesting accommodation among individuals with psychiatric disabilities: A qualitative approach

BACKGROUND: Employees with psychiatric disabilities experience a great amount of workplace challenges such as lacking workplace supports and job accommodations. There is a lack of research surrounding job accommodations for persons with psychiatric disabilities within the United States. Thus, research is warranted to understand how to meet the needs of this population via accommodations. OBJECTIVE: This study examined barriers and facilitators to requesting accommodations among employees with psychiatric disabilities through a qualitative approach. METHODS: This study recruited 120 participants from multiple agencies serving individuals with psychiatric disabilities in the United States. Themes regarding barriers and facilitators were identified using the conventional content analysis approach. RESULTS: The most commonly identified themes were employees’ fear and anxiety negatively impacting accommodation seeking behaviors, employer discrimination and non-inclusive workplace culture, and employers lack knowledge of disabilities and ADA. Participants also identified positive experiences in requesting accommodations. CONCLUSION: Rehabilitation professionals and employers may utilize current findings, facilitate a positive and inclusive workplace environment and assist employees with disabilities to take full advantage of workplace resources and job accommodation to exert their potentials.

Helpfulness of Workplace Accommodations in Maintaining Health and Work Ability in Older Employees with Poor Health in Germany

OBJECTIVE

Supporting employees with health impairments to stay at work through workplace accommodation is a well-researched topic. However, research on workplace accommodations for older employees is lacking.

METHODS

Cross-sectional data from the German lidA cohort study in 2018 focusing on older employees who reported poor health (n = 421) was analyzed. A multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to asses a potential association between the accommodation type and perceived helpfulness of workplace accommodations in older employees with poor health.

RESULTS

Changes in working times (OR 6.59), in work tasks (OR 3.50) and in the workplace (OR 2.57) were perceived as most helpful.

CONCLUSION

The results indicate that workplace accommodations can be helpful in older employees with health impairments and that this is not by chance, but that the perceived effectiveness has determinants and can be influenced.

The role of workplace accommodations in explaining the disability employment gap in the UK

There has been limited theoretical and empirical research into the role of workplace accommodations in enabling workers with and without impairments to remain in work. This study used the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) model to examine (a) whether workplace accommodations enable workers, particularly those with different impairments, to remain economically active; and (b) the predictors of the onset of work accommodations. Data from two waves of a large-scale longitudinal survey of disability in Great Britain, the Life Opportunities Survey (2009-2012) were analysed. 2307 workers with an impairment and 4308 workers without an impairment were followed up for a year. Work accommodations appear to enable workers with impairments to remain economically active, especially those with mental impairments. There was no difference in the employment rates of workers with and without mental impairments who had two or more work accommodations, in contrast to the 10% employment gap between workers with and without mental impairments who did not have any work accommodations. While there was no gender difference in the disability employment gap, barriers to employment related to caregiving were much greater for women compared to men. Moreover, only workers with incident pain impairments were associated with an increase in their work accommodations, not workers with incident mental impairments. Despite the evidence that workers with mental impairments could benefit considerably from workplace accommodations, they are less likely to have their workplace adjusted. The ICF model is particularly useful in analysing the role of work accommodations because it considers a much wider range of factors that are relevant not just to workers with different types of impairments, but are also relevant to the wider group of workers who use workplace accommodations.

Autism at work: How internal and external factors influence employee outcomes and firm performance

Research and the popular press have provided confusing perspectives concerning the strategic integration of autistic individuals into organizations; some touting the benefits of a neurodiverse workforce and others noting the difficulty that many autistic individuals face in finding and maintaining employment. In this article, we examine these disparate views and build a reconciling framework that incorporates both the internal support that top management teams show for the integration of autistic individuals and the external visibility that can lead to their firm’s social approval. In turn, the combination of these internal and external perspectives contributes to explaining an organization’s ability to gain competitive advantage from hiring and managing autistic individuals. The proposed framework is augmented by vignettes, providing practitioners with takeaways for how to approach the topic of neurodiversity more successfully.

Reasonable Accommodation at the Workplace for Professionals with Severe Mental Illness: A Qualitative Study of Needs

BACKGROUND

Professionals with Severe Mental Illness (PwSMI) often face challenges in obtaining and retaining employment. For equal and effective participation, they may require reasonable workplace adjustments. The recently legislated Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act 2016 in India defines such adjustments as reasonable accommodations.

METHODS

In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 15 consenting PwSMI availing psychiatric rehabilitation services at a tertiary mental health institute in India, five mental health professionals, and five employers. The audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and coded manually by two independent investigators. Inductive content analysis approach was used for qualitative analysis.

RESULTS

The detected themes included modifications in work schedule, supports to improve work efficiency, modifications in the work environment, modifications in the work-related appraisal, supportive employer policy, and integration of services. The participants described the term "undue burden" to be ambiguous.

CONCLUSIONS

The reported reasonable accommodations are non-structural and mainly dependent on human assistance. Vocational rehabilitation and job reintegration efforts can focus on guided negotiations between employers and PwSMI. This is dependent on at least some degree of disclosure. Awareness regarding reasonable accommodation and stigma reduction is necessary for successful implementation.

Perceived interpersonal and institutional discrimination among persons with disability in the U.S.: Do patterns differ by age?

RATIONALE

One-third of U.S. adults have an activity-limiting health condition and this proportion increases with age. However, it is unclear whether functional limitation renders one vulnerable to institutional and interpersonal discrimination, and whether this vulnerability differs over the life course. Stigma theories suggest disability would be more discrediting to younger persons relative to older adults, as it violates cultural norms and expectations regarding able-bodied working-age adults.

OBJECTIVE

We evaluate whether U.S. adults with functional impairment report higher levels of perceived interpersonal mistreatment and institutional discrimination relative to persons without impairment, and whether these patterns differ across age groups.

METHOD

We use data from the second wave of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS II), collected between 2004 and 2006 (n = 3931). We estimate OLS and logistic regression models to predict interpersonal and institutional discrimination, respectively.

RESULTS

Persons with impairment report more frequent encounters of disrespectful treatment, insults, and being treated as if they have a character flaw, and elevated odds of workplace- and service-related discrimination, net of sociodemographic, and physical and mental health characteristics. Effects are significantly larger among early (age 40-49) and late (age 50-64) midlife versus older (age 65+) adults.

CONCLUSIONS

We discuss implications for policy and practice, and underscore that stigmatization processes may further amplify health and socioeconomic disparities between those with versus without functional limitations.

Visual Performance and Occupational Safety Among Aging Workers

With the rapid growth of the aging workforce, age-related conditions may negatively influence overall workplace safety and health among these workers and their employers. In this summary, we have outlined details about visual acuity, glare sensitivity, and contrast sensitivity, which are common age-related vision changes that can potentially affect their occupational safety. The occupational health nurse is well positioned to address these concerns by instructing aging workers about potential development of vision change and ensuring they receive the appropriate vision screening. By assisting employers to modify work environments to accommodate this population, the occupational health nurse can reduce the risk of injury, as well as positively impact the health of their aging workforce.

Employment predictors of exit from work among workers with disabilities: A survival analysis from the household income labour dynamics in Australia survey

Objectives

Across high-income countries, unemployment rates among workers with disabilities are disproportionately high. The aim of this study was to identify characteristics of employment associated with dropping out of work and assess whether these were different for workers with versus without disabilities.

Methods

Using a longitudinal panel study of working Australians (2001 to 2015), the current study estimated Kaplan–Meier curves and Cox proportional hazard regression models to identify predictors of leaving employment, including psychosocial job quality, employment arrangement, and occupational skill level. Effect modification by disability status of the relationship between employment-related factors and exit from the labour market were assessed by including interaction terms and assessing model fit with a likelihood ratio test. Models were adjusted for a range of socio-demographic and health related factors.

Results

Compared to those without disability, those with disability had a greater risk of leaving employment (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.35, p<0.001). Other predictors of exit from work included low-skilled occupation (HR 1.18, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.29, p = 0.001), being in a job with low psychosocial job quality (HR 1.11, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.19, p = 0.007), and casual, labour hire or fixed-term contract employment (HR 1.58, 95% CI 1.48 to 1.69, p<0.001). There was no effect modification by disability status.

Conclusions

More research is needed to understand the experiences of workers with disabilities who stay in and leave employment.