Employment and Disability Institute www.edi.cornell.edu

How Disability Employment Protection Laws Affect Employer Accommodation Provisions

A Public Policy Forum

February 7, 2008

Cornell University Government Affairs OfficeHall of States, Room 333444 North Capitol Street, N.W.Washington, DC 20001

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employment Policy for

Persons with Disabilities

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation

Research (Grant Number H133B040013)

Collaborating Partners

• Employment and Disability Institute ILR School, Ithaca, NY

• Dept. of Policy Analysis and Management College of Human Ecology, Ithaca, New York

• Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.Princeton, NJ, Washington, DC, and Cambridge, MA

• American Association of People with DisabilitiesWashington, DC

• Rutgers University, School of Management and Labor Relations, Program for Disability Research

New Brunswick, NJ

Upcoming Policy Forums

• March 21, 2008, Hall of StatesEmployment in the Federal Sector for People

with Disabilities Speakers & Moderators to be determined

• July, 2008Speakers & Moderators to be determined

• Date & Location TBD – Fall 2008Speakers & Moderators to be determined

Welcome & Introductions• Susanne Bruyerè, Director, Cornell University –

Employment and Disability Institute

Panel• Richard, Burkhauser, Ph.D., Cornell University,

Policy Analysis and Management

Discussants• Michael Collins, Executive Director, National

Council on Disability• John D. Kemp, Esq., Executive Director &

General Counsel, U.S. Business Leadership Network

Has the Americans with Disabilities Act Changed Workplace Accommodations?

Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

Robert R. Weathers II

Social Security Administration

Richard V. Burkhauser

Cornell University/AEI

Employment and Disability Institute www.edi.cornell.edu

This project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (No. H133B040013 ). The contents of this paper do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government (Edgar,75.620 (b)).

Background

• The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 mandates employers to provide reasonable workplace accommodations to employees with a disability.

• Its anti-discrimination goals are not controversial, but its success in achieving them is.

• Critics argue the ADA imposes significant costs on

employers (firing costs and reasonable accommodation costs) that have reduced employment.

Earlier Findings using HRS data

• Employer Accommodation Before ADA

– About 25 percent of workers offered accommodation after disability onset

(Daly and Bound, 1995).

– Accommodated workers more likely to remain employed and less likely to

apply for disability benefits (Burkhauser, Butler, Kim and Weathers, 2002).

• Employer Accommodation After ADA

– About 33 percent of workers offered accommodation after disability onset.

(Charles, 2004).

– Data limitations: small sample size, post-ADA sample is near retirement,

period of analysis short (1992-1995), no controls for state level anti-

discrimination laws prior to the ADA.

Contribution of this Paper

• Improves on previous work by:– using new data from HRS;– using data on state level employment protection

laws; – examining accommodation over a longer post-ADA

period; and– examining whether the changes in accommodation

are consistent with theoretical predictions.

Data: Health and Retirement Study (HRS)

• We use three HRS cohorts.– Health and Retirement Study original cohort born

1931-1941 and first interviewed in 1992.– War Babies born 1942-1947 and first interviewed

in 1998.– Early baby boomers born 1948-1953 and first

interviewed in 2004.

• Each cohort is re-interviewed every two years.

HRS Definitions

• Disability“Do you have any impairment or health problem that

limits the kind or amount of paid work you can do?”

• Employed at Disability Onset“Were you employed at the time your health limited

your ability to work?”

• Year of Disability Onset“When did the impairment or health problem begin to

interfere with your work?” (Month, Year)

HRS Employer Accommodation Definition

• For persons employed at onset of disability, HRS asks:

“At the time your health started to limit your ability to work, did your employer do anything special to help you out so you could stay at work?”

• Responses include: yes, no, left immediately, self-employed. In later years the response “none needed” added but numbers in this category are small.

• If person responds yes, then the HRS asks a set of questions about the type of accommodation.

HRS Type of Employer Accommodation

Did your employer…. – get someone to help you?– shorten your work days?– allow you to change the time you came and left

from work?– allow you more breaks and rest periods?– arrange for special transportation?– change the job to something you could do?

Type of Employer Accommodation (Cont.)

Did your employer…. – Help you learn new job skills?– Get you special equipment for the job?– Do any other things to help you out?

• What things? (Open Ended Responses)

Construction of HRS Analysis Sample

• Identify persons with a disability at the time of any interview who report being employed at time of onset.

• Exclude persons who:– are self-employed at disability onset.– are 59 or older at disability onset.

• Use first reported disability onset. – Some multiple reports across HRS interviews.

• Final sample:1,625 pre-ADA,1,049 post-ADA.

Figure 1. Times Series of Employer Accommodation at Disability Onset by the Year of Disability Onset

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Percentage Who Report Accommodation

3 per. Mov. Avg. (Percentage Who Report Accommodation)

Table 5. Prevalence of employer provided accommodation at the time of disability onset

All

Type of Accommodation Before 1992 1992 or later Difference

Did your employer… Mean Mean Mean Std. Err

do anything? 25.6% 28.8% 3.2% (1.8%)

State Level Employment Protection Laws

• Pre-ADA period included three distinct employment protection law regimes.– No Protection Laws. Onset occurred in a state with no

anti-discrimination laws in place at the time.– Antidiscrimination Laws Only. Onset occurred in a state

with state anti-discrimination laws in place at the time.– Reasonable Accommodation Laws. Onset occurred in a

state with state ADA-like laws in place at the time.

AL

AZAR

CA

CO

CT

DE

FL

GA

ID

IL IN

IA

KS

KY

LA

ME

MD

MA

MI

MN

MS

MO

MT

NE

NV

NH

NJ

NM

NY

NC

ND

OH

OK

OR

PARI

SC

SD

TN

TX

UT

VT

VA

WA

WV

WI

WY

No Protection States (3)In or Before 1975 (28)Between 1975 and 1980 (9)Between 1980 and 1990 (10)

Year of Enactment of Traditional Antidiscrimination ProhibitionPre-ADA State Disability Discrimination Laws

AL

AZAR

CA

CO

CT

DE

FL

GA

ID

IL IN

IA

KS

KY

LA

ME

MD

MA

MI

MN

MS

MO

MT

NE

NV

NH

NJ

NM

NY

NC

ND

OH

OK

OR

PARI

SC

SD

TN

TX

UT

VT

VA

WA

WV

WI

WY

No Reasonable Accommodation Standard Imposed (32)Between 1977 and 1983 (9)Between 1983 and 1988 (9)

Year of Enactment of Reasonable Accommodation StandardPre-ADA State Disability Discrimination Laws

Distribution of Sample by Employment Protection Laws

No State Laws14%

State Antidiscrimination

Laws w/out Accommodation

37%

ADA Laws39%

State "ADA Like" Laws

10%

Table 7a. Employer provided accommodation at the time of disability onset, by pre-ADA State reasonable accommodation laws

Type of Accommodation No State Laws ADA Difference

Did your employer… (n=367) (n=1,069) Mean Std. Err.

do anything? 23.9% 28.8% 4.9% (2.2%)

get someone to help you? 10.5% 12.0% 1.5% (1.6%)

shorten your work days? 6.7% 8.9% 2.2% (1.3%)

allow you to change the time you came and left from work? 5.9% 11.4% 5.4% (1.2%)

allow you more breaks and rest periods? 9.0% 12.0% 3.0% (1.5%)

arrange for special transportation? 2.1% 1.5% -0.5% (0.7%)

change the job to something you could do? 10.8% 10.3% -0.5% (1.6%)

help you learn new job skills? 6.2% 4.0% -2.2% (1.2%)

get you special equipment for the job? 2.6% 4.4% 1.8% (0.8%)

other? 5.6% 7.4% 1.8% (1.2%)

Table 7b. Incidence of employer provided accommodation at the time of disability onset, by pre-ADA State reasonable accommodation laws

Type of Accommodation State Anti-discrimination ADA Difference

Did your employer… (n=976) (n=1,069) Mean Std. Err.

do anything? 25.9% 28.8% 2.9% (1.4%)

get someone to help you? 9.4% 12.0% 2.6% (0.9%)

shorten your work days? 6.3% 8.9% 2.6% (0.8%)

allow you to change the time you came and left from work? 8.8% 11.4% 2.6% (0.9%)

allow you more breaks and rest periods? 9.2% 12.0% 2.8% (0.9%)

arrange for special transportation? 1.2% 1.5% 0.3% (0.4%)

change the job to something you could do? 11.1% 10.3% -0.8% (1.0%)

help you learn new job skills? 3.8% 4.0% 0.2% (0.6%)

get you special equipment for the job? 2.6% 4.4% 1.8% (0.5%)

other? 6.7% 7.4% 0.7% (0.8%)

Table 7c. Incidence of employer provided accommodation at the time of disability onset, by pre-ADA State reasonable accommodation laws

Type of AccommodationState ADA-Like

Laws ADA Difference

Did your employer… (n=263) (n=1,069) Mean Std. Err

do anything? 28.1% 28.8% 0.7% (2.8%)

get someone to help you? 11.0% 12.0% 1.0% (1.9%)

shorten your work days? 8.7% 8.9% 0.1% (1.7%)

allow you to change the time you came and left from work? 9.2% 11.4% 2.2% (1.8%)

allow you more breaks and rest periods? 12.5% 12.0% -0.5% (2.0%)

arrange for special transportation? 0.8% 1.5% 0.8% (0.5%)

change the job to something you could do? 12.5% 10.3% -2.3% (2.0%)

help you learn new job skills? 5.3% 4.0% -1.3% (1.4%)

get you special equipment for the job? 6.8% 4.4% -2.5% (1.6%)

other? 7.2% 7.4% 0.2% (1.6%)

Regression Model

• Employer Accommodation is a function of:– disability onset accommodation laws;– demographic factors (gender, race);– age of disability onset;– education;– cause of disability (accident at work, work-related);– health condition;– labor market conditions (state-time level unemployment rates).

Regression Results• Differences between no state laws and ADA laws are

larger in regression model.– No Law predicted probability of accommodation is 19.3%.

Variable

Change in

t-valuePred. Prob.

State Anti-Dis. Laws +5.9 (25.2) 1.84

State ADA-like Laws +8.4 (27.7) 2.06

ADA +11.7 (31.0) 3.30

•Tests between ADA and State ADA-like laws indicate difference is not statistically significant.

Regression Results

• More likely to receive accommodation: disability result of an accident at work. – Predicted probability of accommodation for no accident at work:

25.7%

Variable

Change in

t-valuePredicted Prob.

Result of work accident +5.7 2.39

Summary

• State and Federal mandates both mattered. • The Federal ADA effect was largest in states without

anti-discrimination laws.• The effect of the federal ADA was not statistically

significant in states that already had ADA laws in place.• The costs of most accommodations are not easily

measured.

Upcoming Policy Forums

• March 21, 2008, Hall of StatesEmployment in the Federal Sector for People

with Disabilities Speakers & Moderators to be determined

• July, 2008Speakers & Moderators to be determined

• Date & Location TBD – Fall 2008Speakers & Moderators to be determined