Teleworkers with disabilities: characteristics and accommodation use

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of telework among people with disabilities is not as great as the general population, despite the accommodative benefits of telework.

Objective: This study of employment and accommodation use patterns of people with disabilities investigates relationships between functional abilities, work location and nature, and accommodation use.

Participants: Currently employed subjects with disabilities were recruited from client lists of research, technical assistance, and service provision centers, as well as through over 100 social networking venues focused on individuals with disabilities.

Methods: A national, cross-sectional survey was administered electronically. Details of accommodation use for 373 individuals were compared using Chi-Square distribution analysis.

Results: Those in white-collar and knowledge-based jobs were twice as likely to telework as other worker types, and teleworkers were twice as likely to use flexible scheduling. Only 47% of teleworkers reported telework as a job accommodation. Of those, 57% were satisfied with telework and 76% reported it as important to job task completion.

Conclusions: Increased use of flexible scheduling, particularly among those who view telework as an accommodation, suggests the primary accommodative benefit of telework is to reduce pain and fatigue-related barriers to traditional employment. Relatively low satisfaction with telework suggests that it presents other employment-related barriers.

Keywords: Employment; assistive technology; remote work; work environment; workplace accommodations.