This is how employers eliminate people with disabilities from their hiring pools

Finding a job is hard work, but it's even harder for people with disabilities – the largest and most under-represented minority group in the world. So when I came across a list of jobs on the Newsday Careers website last Monday, describing the requirements for mobility, strength, weight and height, I was shocked.

The list of job offers announced a role as a journalist in charge of general badignments for the Long Island-based newspaper in New York. In addition to job-related duties such as "ability to advertise news" and "meet tight deadlines", the list of items listed requiring "ability to reach, fold, lift, push, pull and carry a minimum of 25 kg And the "ability to type a minimum of 40 words per minute". Another point was noted that the role was a sedentary office job that "would require the ability to sit for a long time, up to 8 hours of shift work".

This list particularly concerned me because I am a disabled journalist. I started my career in 2016 as a summer intern for amNewYork, a Newsday publication that covers the city of New York. During my internship, I scored titles on the front page, took several cover photos, interviewed celebrities on the red carpet, and made some amazing friends. Even though I was intern, my managers treated me seriously as if I were a full time journalist.

When I saw this list online, I could not help thinking of journalism students and aspiring disabled reporters who might have seen it and decided not to apply. So I decided to ask Newsday publicly on Twitter why did the organization include these exclusionary qualifications on not onebut what I realized was many of their job offers – one for a director of market research and a traffic compliance badyst.

In a few minutes, dozens of reporters and People with Disabilities liked and shared my Twitter feed. Several people have asked Newsday take the listwhile others reported seeing similar wording in job postings in other sectors.

A few hours later, I visited the Newsday website. The vast majority of his job offers have been withdrawn and there are only five left. The lists were replaced shortly thereafter by new lists not including the original problematic language.

Kim Grabina-Como, Head of Communications at Newsday, tweeted excuses for me.

"The job offer you originally mentioned was wrong, did not accurately reflect Newsday's job posting requirements and was corrected. We are sorry for mistakes and misunderstandings, "wrote Grabina-Como.

"Newsday has a long and proud experience of inclusive recruitment," Grabina-Como added during a phone interview Friday, though she does not know how many disabled people actually employ Newsday.

Job postings that discourage applicants with disabilities from applying are far from being limited to the only Newsday Careers site. They are ubiquitous in every professional sector, from the media to finance, to higher education. On ZipRecruiter, the search for "ability to type" generates nearly 300 job postings, although speech recognition software is often considered a reasonable accommodation, and the phrase "25 pounds" leads to more 950 job offers for positions such as CFO. , secretary and sales representative.

In March, Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, was awarded a Diversity and Inclusion Assistant Administrator position, which included "the ability to access non-ADA compliant buildings." ". The Disability Policy Consortium, a disability rights organization, called Bradley University for its hypocrisy in a Facebook post stating that the job listing was "a blatant example of how disability is left out by academic diversity and integration efforts ".

The post has been shared more than 1,000 times, and the university has apologized and removed the obligation of posting.

The reality is that many jobs require physical mobility – for example, construction and firefighting. In these cases, the inclusion of "core functions" on a list of positions can help potential candidates determine if they need to apply for accommodation in order to perform the required tasks. However, according to the US Department of Labor, job offers should focus on the job itself rather than the individual's various abilities.

"For example, a warehouse station may require boxes to be stacked on shelves. The essential function of this job is that the boxes are stacked, not that someone raises boxes, "says the department on its website.

Yet, it is quite common for career pages to use phrases such as "ability to speak and hear" or "ability to lower, kneel, or even". "Squatting or crawling" to describe non-essential functions at work, According to Robyn Powell, a lawyer specializing in disability law and policy, it is essential to effectively screen people with various types of disabilities. disabilities that might otherwise be able to do the job.

While the ability to "reach, bend, lift, push, pull and carry a minimum of 25 pounds" can be important for a fitness trainer, the prerequisite is more uncertain for a journalist or market researcher.

"People with disabilities are completely underemployed. One of the reasons is discrimination in the workplace, "said Powell, herself disabled. "When you see this type of job posting, it's not surprising that they are not working at the same pace as their non-disabled peers."

There are many ways for businesses to list professional qualifications using more general and open language. For example, Kristin Gilger, director of the National Center for Disability and Journalism at Walter Cronkite, needs a journalist who would need a journalist capable of producing content, for example, to list a certain number of reports needed per day, rather than a typing speed. School of Journalism and Mbad Communication.

"It's open to people who say," I can do what you ask, but I need accommodation to be able to do it differently, "Gilger said. "The fact is, can you do the work?"

The Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination based on disability, applies to employment from the moment a job is advertised, not just once a person is hired Powell said. In job interviews, employers may ask candidates if they can perform certain functions, but they can not specifically ask questions about the nature or severity of their disability – which even has been personally asked several times during an employment search.

This means that disabled candidates could theoretically submit an ADA claim when they see a problematic job offer. But in reality, it is extremely difficult to prove discrimination in employment. One of the disadvantages of the ADA is that it is the responsibility of the discriminated person to speak. For many job seekers, filing a complaint is not high on the to-do list.

"I encountered a lot of discrimination when I applied for a job and in the recruitment process. I never took action when I could, and that's because I was looking for a job, "said Powell. "When you apply for a job, the last thing to do is to make waves."

Job applicants are not the only ones who miss out on a disability that unfairly costs them a job. The diversity of workplaces provides better results, and people with disabilities are particularly innovative employees because they have to navigate a world designed for people with disabilities.

"If you want to attract the best candidates to your workplace, you do not want to discourage a number of highly qualified people who do not want to apply because they see this type of requirement," Gilger said.

Job offers that describe certain working conditions as "essential" can also set harmful and unrealistic expectations for current employees. For example, it is quite common in the lists to say that workers must sit for a long time, up to eight hours – but this is not a reasonable expectation for a person, whether disabled or not.

"It's ridiculous – no one should sit for eight hours," Gilger said. "That's just not good for people's health."

Elizabeth Estochen, 28, a Denver-based full-time writer, said she found mobility-related qualifications for almost every position she applied for. At the age of 14, she was diagnosed with scoliosis, which has progressed over the years. Although her job is stable, Ms. Estochen said she was afraid to meet similar job offers in the future if her scoliosis worsened – which is already the case. A few months ago, she herniated two discs.

"During this time, I was fortunate to have this work already defined where I am able to work remotely and work in bed for about a week. I really thought about it: "My God, what would happen if I lost this job and had to find another one?"