Disability Employment

Photo by Marcus Aurelius.

The Open Doors Initiative helps marginalised groups access work through training, education, employment, and entrepreneurship. It supports refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, people with disabilities, disadvantaged youth, members of the Traveller and Roma communities, LGBTQ+ people, and those with criminal convictions. Many in these groups still face higher barriers to employment in Ireland, even during times of near full employment.

By Jeanne McDonagh

Irish reality

According to the 2022 Census, there are currently more than 1.1 million people in Ireland who identify themselves as having a disability, which is 22% of the population. 80% of disabilities are non-visible. 

Yet Ireland continues to have one of the lowest employment rates for persons with disabilities in the EU at 43% vs 54% EU average and the highest disability employment gap in the EU of 37% vs the EU average of 21.4%, with significant barriers still limiting access to meaningful and sustained work.

Those who experienced an intellectual disability to a great extent also had low labour force participation. The highest rate of unemployment among people who experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent was recorded by those experiencing an intellectual disability.

Stigma in society and misconceptions about the abilities of people with disabilities remain a persistent issue. According to a report from ESRI, there are different levels of discrimination based on disability. Those with mental health conditions, intellectual disabilities and autism were to be judged more negatively than physical or sensory disabilities.

The social model of disability shifts the focus from a person’s impairment to the barriers society creates, such as inaccessible environments, rigid systems, or stigma, which disable people. The human rights model, reinforced by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), affirms that disabled people have equal rights and must be supported to participate fully in all aspects of life, including employment. 

These models call on employers to remove structural, attitudinal, and communication barriers. For example, a wheelchair user is not disabled by their wheelchair, but by an office without ramps or lifts. A truly inclusive employer might hold meetings in accessible spaces, provide live captions or sign language interpreters, offer flexible hours for people with fluctuating conditions, or enable remote work for those with mobility barriers. It is also important that they involve disabled staff in co-designing policies and practices, ensuring that inclusion is not just a policy, but a lived experience grounded in dignity, autonomy, and equal opportunity. 

According to the Deloitte Disability Inclusion @ Work 2024: A Global Outlook:

While respondents report experiencing a range of difficulties performing certain activities at work, they do not always self-identify as having a disability or chronic health condition, or as neurodivergent. Three-quarters of those respondents who have disclosed their disability, neurodivergence or chronic health condition have not asked their current employer for workplace accommodations. The reasons cited most notably include: 

• Just over four in 10 of these respondents say that they don’t think they need any workplace accommodations, despite just under half of the same people reporting having faced workplace accessibility challenges. 

• Fear of negative perception: 20% of those who haven’t requested workplace accommodations haven’t done so because they fear a negative reaction from their supervisor. This includes 25% of those who said they “cannot do it at all” for at least one activity. 

• Past negative experiences: 11% of those who haven’t requested accommodations cite previous negative experiences with such requests at other organisations. 

• Lack of knowledge and low expectations: 18% don’t know how to request accommodations, while 20% think their employer wouldn’t grant them.

Despite this, change can happen. Factors driving the likelihood to recommend an employer to other people with disabilities or chronic health conditions or neurodivergent individuals, include how employees regard their leadership’s commitment to disability inclusion and neurodiversity, including representation in senior leadership, evidence of concrete organisational efforts to make progress, and their relationship with their supervisor.

Roles that are aligned to strengths are vital and supports need to be put in place to ensure success. An inclusive culture also matters, as well as having supportive colleagues. How employees regard the physical accessibility of their workplace, access to workplace accommodations, and comfort with disclosing their disability, chronic health condition, or being neurodivergent at work are also key to good work. 

Where employees feel they have been treated fairly, including whether they think assumptions have been made about them based on their disability, chronic health condition or neurodivergence, they succeed. Finally, in terms of career progression, employees need to feel they have the support, clarity, and structure they need to advance, and believe they could become a senior leader themselves.

There are meaningful steps an employer can take to ensure the workplace is more accommodating, including making disability inclusion a visible leadership priority, accompanied by valid actions and helping to encourage senior role models. Recognising the importance of providing workplace accommodations when they are needed – and that the accommodations application process is clear, timely and stigma-free. Importantly, providing a disability-inclusive culture, addressing non-inclusive behaviours, and helping enable everyone to report without concern. Full support can be found to assist with this at www.employersforchange.ie 

There are some supports available from the Government to aid the employment of people with disabilities into the workforce:

• Work and Access Scheme: private, community, and voluntary sector employers can access financial support through schemes like the Work and Access Scheme to fund workplace accommodations for employees with disabilities and support employers with the costs associated with providing assistive technologies and training

• Wage Subsidy Scheme: encourages employers to employ disabled staff. It offers employers financial support to employ people with a disability through a subsidy

Diversity in Tech Awards

Organised by Dublin Tech Summit, the Diversity in Tech Awards aim to highlight the achievements of companies and individuals that promote different backgrounds and genders across Ireland’s booming technology industry. The 2025 Diversity in Tech Awards (DITA) will take place on 17th September at the Gibson Hotel, Dublin. Read more here.

READ MORE:

LGBT+ Allyship in work 

Employing People with a Criminal Past

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the Workplace