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The Role of Disability Management Practices in the Long-Term Employment Retention of Individuals with Disabilities
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Habeck, R., Rachel, C., Campbell, L. & Kregel, J. (2008). The Role of Disability Management Practices in the Long-Term Employment Retention of Individuals with Disabilities. Monograph: Workplace Supports and Job Retention: Promoting an Employer Driven Approach to Employment of People with Disabilities, 0, Chapter 5.
The goal of this research study was to examine the strategies and supports that are most effective for assisting persons with disabilities to maintain employment and advance their careers. To that end, the present study was designed to better understand the current status of demand-side activities used by progressive employers to promote the general retention of their workforce, and how these practices and strategies can be optimized to include people with disabilities. This paper presents the preliminary, descriptive findings from a survey designed to assess these practices that was conducted with employer members of the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC) by the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center of Virginia Commonwealth University in collaboration with DMEC.
The paper presents employer ratings of important practices currently used by employer organizations to promote the general retention of their workforce, as well as those used specifically to prevent health risk and injury, manage health conditions, restore function and accommodate limitations to sustain productive employment for absence and disability management efforts. Results are also presented regarding
employer ratings about the perceived status of program efforts and their effectiveness and the factors motivating absence and disability management efforts. Results are also presented for the current practices reported by these employers regarding diversity, the inclusion of disability in their diversity efforts, and their levels of hiring and views regarding the value of hiring new employees who have disabilities.