Benefits of Hiring

• The Business Case:

  The Business Case: Hiring a qualified person with a disability brings greater benefits beyond just filling an open position. There’s a solid business case too.

  • Return on Investment: Business who employ people with disabilities turn social issues into business opportunities.
  • Marketing: Customers with disabilities and their families, friends, and associates represent a trillion-dollar market segment
  • Innovation: Employees with disabilities bring unique experiences and understanding that can transform a workplace and enhance products and services.
  • People with disabilities who are employed control $2.1 billion annually in spending
  • These individuals demonstrate brand loyalty to businesses who hire people with disabilities
  • 87% of all U.S. adults prefer to spend money at businesses who hire people with disabilities
  • Hiring job seekers with disabilities results in a more diverse workplace environment and may lead to a more diversified customer base
  • Their quality of work, flexibility to demands, attendance, and safety are equal to employees who do not have disabilities.
  • There are more than 1.5 million Ohioans who have a disability and they represent 13 percent of the market.

• Tax incentives:

  There are some great tax incentives available for employers who hire a person with a disability or just want to make their business more accessible to customers:

  Here are some commonly used:

  • Small Business Tax Credit: Maximum tax credit of $5,000
  • Architectural/Transportation Tax Deduction: Maximum deduction of $15,000 per year
  • Work Opportunities Tax Credit (WOTC): Credit of up to 40 percent of the first $6,000, or up to $2,400, in wages paid during the first 12 months for each new hire.

• Quality Employees:

  Hiring people with disabilities positively impacts your staff and your customer’s experience.

  • “We’ve found that people we hire who have disabilities want to come to work each day. They want to contribute. They are proud to have a job and they work hard at what they do. They want to know at the end of the day that their results matter.” – Rich Guerin, ThyssenKrupp Bilstein of America.

  • Job coaching services benefit businesses by supporting both the individual with a disability as well as the employer. Job coaches:
    
    
    • Provide actual job training
    • Are present at the business to provide support and job retention services
    • Can assist the employer with obtaining possible tax credits
    • Can assist with the identification of other accommodations for the business and can be a resource for their diversity efforts

Myths for Employers

• 1. MYTH: “Hiring people with disabilities increases workers compensation insurance rates.”

  FACT: Insurance rates are based solely on the relative hazards of the operation and the organizations’ accident experience, not on whether workers have disabilities.

• 2. MYTH: “Providing accommodations for people with disabilities is expensive”

  FACT: The majority of workers with disabilities do not need accommodations to perform their jobs, and for those who do, the cost is usually minimal. In fact, two-thirds of accommodations cost less than $500, with many costing nothing at all. Plus, available tax incentives make it even easier for businesses to cover accessibility costs.

• 3. MYTH: The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) forces employers to hire unqualified individuals with disabilities

  FACT: Unqualified candidates are not protected under the ADA. To be protected from discrimination in hiring, an individual must first meet all of the requirements for a job and be ablet o perform its essential functions with or without reasonable accommodations.

• 4. MYTH: Employees with disabilities have a higher absentee rate than employees without disabilities

  FACT: Studies by firms at DuPont show that employees with disabilities are not absent more than employees without disabilities.