Getting to work with a physical disability: gaps in disability, transportation, and workers' compensation return-to-work policies and programs.

Abstract

Disabled people are less likely to be employed than those without disabilities. Research on the relationship between accessibility and the employment of physically disabled people has focused primarily on accessibility concerns within workplaces, neglecting challenges associated with travel to and within work, or 'work mobility'. Those few researchers who have addressed work mobility largely deal either with people with nonwork-related disabilities or with the return-to-work experiences of injured workers. Both literatures pay insufficient attention to the potential role of policy and practice in helping workers navigate work mobility challenges. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study of work disability policies that affect the work mobility of disabled people, with both work and nonwork-related physical disabilities, in the Canadian context. Findings are based on a combination of document analysis of policy texts related to work injury and disability support programs in two Canadian provinces, and semi-structured interviews with key informants (<i>N</i> = 6) and disabled people (<i>N</i> = 6). Important weaknesses in both workers' compensation and general disability policies negatively influence employment options and enhance reliance on informal support. Work mobility challenges contribute to unemployment and poverty among disabled people. Ways to better support work mobility are identified.