Employment tightens for nation’s disabled

Shelly Herpin begins her day at Sicily’s Italian Buffet in Houma at 8:30 a.m. She makes her way around the kitchen and places ingredients for salads and completed desserts in their assigned spots at serving stations.

Working at this restaurant during the past 10 years has been good for Herpin, who is able to keep up with any of her co-workers, but admits that because of her severely limited vision, which contributes to hand and eye coordination problems, she does need help working with sharp knives.

‘I have to maintain the dessert bar and salad bar, Herpin said of her daylong duties during a 2:30 p.m. break.

‘She’s an outstanding worker and an asset to the company, Sicily’s manager Joe Boudin said.

Boudin, like many employers is one that has discovered the loyalty and dedication generally demonstrated by employees with disabilities.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 36 million Americans, 12 percent of the civilian non-institutionalized population, are designated as being disabled.

This summer marks the 21st anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act being ratified by Congress. This legislative measure not only set standards for building access to promote equality in public places and private industry and enhanced accommodations for transportation and telecommunications, but a number of measures prompted employment opportunities for millions of people who would have otherwise become victimized by discrimination.

Yet even with strides of workforce inclusiveness made during the past two decades, a sagging economy could prompt a reduction of hires among the physically and mentally challenged as employers show preference for more able-bodied job applicants.

The latest numbers from the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics show that between May 2010 and May 2011, the unemployment rate among disabled Americans increased from 14.7 percent to 15.6 percent, while the same time period showed a decline in unemployment among people with no disabilities from 9.1 percent to 8.5 percent.

While professionals working to help the disabled find and keep employment contend that conditions are far better now than in the past, some voice concern of what the current job market offers and what added challenges may be before all persons competing for jobs.

‘You have a lot of people with disabilities graduating from colleges like LSU, Terrebonne Association for Retarded Citizens Executive Director Mary Lynn Bisland said. ‘They have graduates coming out that are highly intellectual, but they may be so physically disabled that they can’t find jobs. Even the ADA has not helped them.

Options for Independence CEO Barry Chauvin said that in the past the idea of the ADA frightened employers who thought reasonable accommodations for disabled workers would mean an onslaught of expensive renovations.

‘As we helped people get employment [employers found that] the accommodations they needed were usually so simple and so inexpensive that it became a non-issue over time, Chauvin said.

The cost of most accommodations is well under $5,000 and any expense to the employer can be written off as a business improvement expense.

Chauvin said that historically the disabled employee has had to produce harder and demonstrate a greater degree of work ethic in order to divert discrimination.

‘We’re in a tight economy in the job market, Chauvin said. ‘Employers don’t have as many jobs and for the openings they do have they sometimes need somebody who can do all those functions. In a tight labor market they sometimes have to have a more skilled all-around worker and that does put people with disabilities at a disadvantage.

Employment advisors for the disabled are encouraging those looking for work to not ignore their physical challenge, but take advantage of an interview to show how an accommodation can easily be made.

‘The individual can tell the employer, ‘Look, I’ll bring my equipment with me,’ Chauvin said. ‘There is nothing that says a person can’t tell an employer, ‘I’ll bring it from home.’ Offer the employer a solution for the accommodation when you go for an interview. An employer is going to see you as a solution-focused person.

Chauvin and Bisland confirmed studies that have shown disabled employees as more driven to satisfy their employers. They also admitted concern that in a time of economic belt tightening for business, some employers may become more selective in their hires based not on skills but on their own perceptions.

‘The biggest thing [the ADA did] was bring awareness to the general public, Bisland said. ‘The ADA brought a lot of quality to the lives of people.

Herpin confirmed the ADA also helped combat prejudices on the part of employers, property owners and even government bodies.

‘It helped me 100 percent, Herpin said. ‘There are still some that don’t understand. But part of them I explain what I can do and they understand.

Herpin said that she is happy working where she does, but admitted that even with laws designed to level the playing field, a tightening job market means securing work for the disabled has become an increased challenge.