Effective Reasonable Accommodation in the Workplace for Employees with Disabilities – A Psychological Viewpoint
By Thomas. T Tsikai – Industrial/Organisational Psychologist (South Africa)
The aspect of reasonable accommodation of employees with disabilities has often been incomplete, only focusing on the physical aspect and overlooking the other crucial facets of human functioning – the cognitive and emotional.
Whilst there is an undoubted link between human physiology and the psyche, most employers tend to keep their accommodative efforts at a minimum if favor of profits. Yet again, despite increased laws designated to address employment discrimination and provide for workplace accommodation for employees with disabilities in South Africa, particularly the Employment Equity Act, the number of people with disabilities employed in the South African labour market is still shocking and worrisome. South Africa had not even reached its 1% target of employing disabled persons by end of 2019. It is a fact that whilst we are still fighting for the employment of more people with disabilities, reasonable accommodation remains unnoticed.
In an occupational context, the physiological aspect of human functioning has a direct impact on the emotional and cognitive. It is well documented that chronic pain leads to fatigue, irritability, concentration difficulties, a decline in motivation, etc. and these factors will continue to impact negatively on occupational proficiency and will have a direct impact on work performance and productivity. As such, reasonable workplace accommodations ought to ensure that a balance is struck, that goes beyond the physical to the intangible, the driving force of human behavior – the psyche.
Psychologically, the impact of emotional and cognitive deficits on one’s occupational performance is of significant importance. Without the necessary psychological support in the workplace, it would be somewhat difficult for an individual to reach their occupational career potential in the presence of such limitations. In most instances, most employers overlook the importance of mental health in the workplace in pursuit of profits. Reasonable accommodations go beyond the installation of user friendly facilities, they should be holistic in their reach – the cognitive, emotional and physical aspects of human functioning.
Whilst there is an undoubted need for accessible environments for employees with disabilities, there is evidently a need for the creation of emotionally conducive and supportive work environments. There is need for implementation of firm support systems within organizations, awareness amongst employees and other stakeholders, and more realistic performance benchmarks that are beyond physical measure to ensure fair career and earnings progression across organizations. It is totally futile that one would be reasonably accommodated in a role without any substantial career and earnings progression until retirement. The psychological implications of such stagnation should be considered. The most fundamental driver of human behavior is the psyche – once it is adequately nurtured, the occupational output is incredible!
About the Author:
Thomas.T Tsikai is a registered Industrial/Organisational Psychologist and Managing Consultant at Orgzone Consulting Group in South Africa. He has vast experience as an Expert Witness in personal injury litigation. He is also an expert in Organisational Development, Coaching and Psychometrics.
He may be contacted as follows:
Email: info@orgzonegroup.co.za
Website: www.orgzonegroup.com
Phone: +27 82 041 2943/ +27 12 433 6317
Its very important to provide holistic support to employees with disabilities. There are also issues of stigma and discrimination experienced by the employees. I think there is need to provide psychological support as well. So companies must have such policies at workplaces as well as putting systems in place to ensure practice
Yes indeed we wholly agree.