Employer Resources - Hiring People with Disabilities

Hiring a Person With a Disability

As an employer who is giving consideration to hiring people with disabilities, you have undoubtedly come across questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act, about how to find qualified employees, about tax incentives, about communication, and about myths and facts about hiring people with disabilities. ETR offers a range of resources to employers to assist in answering your questions and in providing you with practical information that can facilitate your efforts to develop a diversified workforce.

Benefits and Opportunities for Employers Who Hire People With Disabilities

By opening your job searches to qualified people with disabilities, you gain access to a new and vital talent pool of workers
A healthy workforce includes people with different abilities
A diverse workforce gives you a competitive advantage by adding new ideas, viewpoints and approaches to solving your business challenges
Your employees and customers appreciate diversity
Making accommodations for people with disabilities is usually easy and inexpensive, and can actually carry a return
The average accommodation costs less than $500
Companies earn an average return of $28.69 for every dollar invested in making an accommodation
Employing people with disabilities makes good business sense because it has a direct impact on your bottom line
Retention rates among people with disabilities are higher than average thus reducing training costs
People with disabilities are loyal customers to businesses who support them
Customers with disabilities control discretionary income of nearly $200 billion (twice the teen market)

Information on Employing People with Disabilities

The following links provide employers with information about the Americans with Disabilities Act, tax incentives, referral services, job accommodations, hiring practices, and helpful links to a variety of state and federal web sites including the MA Department of Workforce Development and the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy.