Cost of Workplace Accommodations
for People with Disabilities:
With and Without PAS
Tatiana Solovieva, Ed.D
West Virginia University
International Center for Disability Information
Acknowledgements
Funding for this research was from National Institute
on Disability and Rehabilitation awarded to the
Center for Personal Assistance Services, San
Francisco. The research was conducted by the
International Center for Disability Information at
West Virginia University, with the Job
Accommodation Network (at WVU), and the Law,
Health Policy, and Disability Center at the
University of Iowa.
www.pascenter.org 2
Purpose Statement
The intent of the investigation was
to explore
the disability accommodation
costs and benefits
of PAS and Non-PAS uses.
3
Workplace PAS
Workplace Personal Assistance Services
(a) include job-essential task-related
assistance at work, such as readers,
interpreters, help with lifting or reaching, reassignment of non-essential duties to coworkers, and help related to performing work
tasks and
(b) may or may not include personal carerelated assistance such as helping someone
with toileting, eating, or drinking while at work
(Center for Personal Assistance Services).
4
Research Question
What are the cost and benefits among
(a) PAS cases and
(b) Non-PAS cases?
5
Participants
Prior to the survey (6-8 weeks), employers who
had contacted the Job Accommodation Network
(JAN) to discuss disability-related
accommodations for an employee or potential
employee, were asked if they would participate
in a follow-up telephone survey.
6
Timeline for Data Collection Points
Follow-up
telephone
survey
Data from all
types of JAN
cases (not only
PAS) were
collected
from January
2004 through
December 2006.
Follow-up
Interview
Interview data
collection was
conducted in
2007.
7
Survey Questions
Questions related to
– Employer demographics
– Employee demographics (e.g., work status
of the employee, educational level, work
limitation, hours worked, and wages)
– Types of accommodations
considered/implemented
– Costs and benefits associated with
accommodations
8
Participant Data
Descriptive statistics and interview data were
used to report the results of this investigation.
The study used 1,182 follow-up telephone
surveys (72% completion rate) and 24
telephone interviews.
Of those employers who responded to the
cost questions in the telephone survey,
there were 69 who had considered PAS and
310 who had considered Non-PAS
accommodations.
9
Work Status
Although most employer inquiries were about
PAS and Non-PAS accommodations for
retaining a current employee, the proportion
of concern at the Job-Application stage was
greater for PAS than for Non-PAS
accommodations.
10
Education
At the less-than-High School level, 11% for
PAS cases and 7% for Non-PAS cases.
At the High School level, 23% for PAS cases
and 41% for Non-PAS.
At the above-High School level (Associate,
College, Graduate School), 66% for PAS and
52% for Non-PAS.
11
Work Limitations
When rating the person’s functional ability to
work without accommodations, “Substantially
Limited” was selected by 51% for PAS cases
and 34% for Non-PAS cases.
The employers indicated that if appropriate
job accommodations were provided, 19% of
the employees with disabilities who needed
PAS would still be considered “Substantially
Limited” in comparison to only 6% for the
Non-PAS cases.
12
Weekly Hours Worked
A person who needed PAS worked a mean of
32 hours per week with a median of 38.5
hours a week.
A person with a disability, for whom other
types of accommodations were considered
(Non-PAS), worked a mean of 36 hours per
week and a median of 40 hours a week.
13
Annual Wages
for those employees who received PAS
services resulted in a mean of $43,637 and a
median of $42,000.
In Non-PAS cases, the mean was $48,190, and
the median was $30,000.
14
Accommodations
At the time of the employer interview,
58% of the PAS-related accommodations
(Interpreter, Reader, Job Coach, and
Personal Attendant) had been made or were
in process,
28% were pending, and
13% had been rejected by the employer or
employee.
15
Cost
As reported by the employers, the median
“one-time cost” of accommodations (not $0)
for Non-PAS cases was $500.
The median “one-time cost” of
accommodations (not $0) for PAS cases was
$1,850.
The annual cost for PAS accommodations
was a median cost of $8,000 in comparison
to $2,000 for Non-PAS.
16
Direct Benefits
The median dollar amount
estimates of direct benefits were
$1,600 for PAS accommodations,
similar
to $1,500 for Non-PAS.
17
Direct Benefits
The employers most frequently cited the
direct benefits of PAS as increased employee
productivity, increased diversity of the
company, and retention of a valued
employee.
The most frequently mentioned direct benefits
of accommodations by the Non-PAS
employers group were retaining a valued
employee, increasing employee productivity,
and eliminating costs related to training a new
employee.
18
Indirect Benefits
Overall company productivity, attendance,
morale, safety, customer base, customer
relations, profitability, and co-worker
interactions.
The most widely mentioned indirect benefits by
employers in both groups were
(a) improved interactions with co-workers,
(b) increased overall company morale, and
(c) increased overall company productivity.
19
Conclusions
When dollar cost was involved, the costs for
PAS accommodations were more than three
times greater than Non-PAS
accommodations.
20
Limitations
(a) the self-report nature of the survey
reflected in respondents’ recall after varying
periods of time, (b) reliance on only those
employers who contacted JAN, and (c) a
relatively small sample of PAS employers.
The study was focused on the concerns and
responses of this non-random, self-selected
sample of the employers who contacted JAN.
21
Notes
Although the sample size was limited, there is
not a widespread use of PAS in the
workplace. Cost for PAS cases in comparison
with the cost in Non-PAS cases was not
particularly out of line. Many Non-PAS
accommodations cost nothing to the
employer (e.g., changing the work schedule,
moving the individual to another location).
22
Questions
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