REPORT: Most Workplace Accommodations Cost Less Than $300
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The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced that a new report finds that nearly half of workplace accommodations made for people with disabilities can be implemented at no cost to employers, and of those that do incur a one-time cost, the median expenditure has decreased when compared to previous reports to only $300. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an accommodation is a modification to the work environment or the way a job is customarily done to enable a qualified individual with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunities.
The newly published report “Accommodation and Compliance: Low Cost, High Impact” by the Job Accommodation Network — a service of the department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) — analyzes survey data collected from employers from 2019 to 2022. The survey collected cost information from employers using online questionnaires, which increased the number and diversity of responses significantly. Before 2019, JAN collected cost information via one-on-one phone calls. These employers, representing a wide array of industry sectors and sizes, contacted JAN for information initially about workplace accommodations and/or the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In addition to gathering information about accommodations’ costs, the survey explores employers’ motivations for making them, their effectiveness and the benefits they produced. The report includes the following findings:
More than half of employers made accommodations to retain valued employees.
68.4 percent of employers said the accommodations made were either very effective or extremely effective after consulting JAN. Another 18.3 percent of employers said accommodations were somewhat effective after consulting JAN.
The direct and indirect benefits of making accommodations included retaining valuable employees, improving productivity and morale, reducing workers’ compensation and training costs, and increasing workforce diversity.