When an employee asks for a workplace accommodation, a supervisor's first thought is usually a number. Equipment to buy. Construction to schedule. A budget line to defend to someone upstairs. October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and the research says that picture is mostly wrong.
The Job Accommodation Network, a free service funded by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy, surveys employers about what accommodations actually cost. Its current report covers employers who contacted JAN between 2019 and 2024. Of those who provided cost figures, 61 percent said the accommodation their employee needed cost nothing at all. Another 33 percent reported a one-time expense, with a median of $300. Only 6 percent reported an ongoing annual cost.
Nothing means nothing. According to JAN, the no-cost category is filled with schedule changes, adjustments to company policy, a workstation moved away from a vent, a coworker asked to get the employee's attention before speaking. The purchases that do happen are ordinary — screen-reading software, an automatic door opener.
The same employers were asked what they got back. Eighty-five percent reported better retention, 52 percent reported higher productivity, and 48 percent said they avoided the cost of hiring and training a replacement. The average employee in the survey had been with the company five years and eight months. Replacing that person costs considerably more than $300.
So the first move on the next request is not a purchase order. It is a question — what would actually help? — and, if the answer is unclear, a phone call. JAN takes employer questions free of charge at (800) 526-7234.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.