Employment is a major problem faced by people with disabilities. Physical limitations are often perceived by society as a form of inability. The stigma that persists to this day among most of society is that people with disabilities are beings who need to be pitied and given charity. In reality, they can also contribute if given the opportunity and access.
Cases of companies rejecting job applicants with disabilities are also common. There are several experiences from friends, such as a visually impaired person who was rejected simply because they couldn't read typed documents. However, with a scanner and screen-reading software, reading typed text is not an issue. After all, it's the digital age now.
There was also a deaf person who couldn't work in an office simply because they couldn't answer phone calls, even though their main job description wasn't a telephone operator. Many other cases are actually caused by employers' lack of understanding of people with disabilities, and their obligation to empower them. Moreover, it's not just a burdensome obligation; companies also gain benefits when employing people with disabilities.
The first reason is the obligation for government-owned or private companies to employ people with disabilities in their institutions, based on the mandate of Law No. 4 of 1997 concerning Persons with Disabilities. Article 14 states: "State and private companies shall provide equal opportunities and treatment to persons with disabilities by employing them in their companies according to their type and degree of disability, education, and abilities, the number of which shall be adjusted to the number of employees and/or company qualifications." It turns out that this law is still largely unknown to government-owned or private companies.
From the author's experience speaking with various companies, most of them were unaware of this obligation. Typically, companies that already employ people with disabilities do so due to the awareness of their management, or the policies of the company's country of origin. It seems the government has not been serious enough in campaigning for this, even after almost 17 years since the law was enacted; a new Bill on Persons with Disabilities is only being proposed this year.
The main weakness of the current law is the lack of strict supervision or sanctions if government-owned or private companies fail to fulfill their mandate. Yet, this is an affirmative action or a proactive outreach effort to uplift the welfare of people with disabilities, the majority of whom live in poverty. Furthermore, a point of criticism is that the law does not mention the same obligations for government agencies.
In other words, the government has not set an example but is already telling others what to do. Another reason is that the presence of people with disabilities in a company can have a positive psychological impact on employees. The general view considers people with disabilities to be weak and limited. When a person with a disability achieves success and contributes just like anyone else, it is often seen as extraordinary.
They are also often seen as motivation for others not to be outdone by those with physical imperfections. In other words, the presence of employees with disabilities serves as a kind of life motivation for other employees. Moreover, the presence of people with disabilities in an institution should ideally foster greater empathy. When interacting with them, there is additional knowledge gained on how to approach differences.
How every human being has their own strengths and weaknesses. They also learn that a small act of help, such as guiding a visually impaired person to the restroom, can have a significant impact on others. These are some reasons why companies need, and even must, empower people with disabilities. The author uses the word 'empower' rather than 'employ' because empowering also means developing the potential of people with disabilities, not just providing a job as a formality.
Hopefully, more government-owned and private companies will commit to participating in this effort. If you have other opinions or reasons, please share them in the comments section.(DPM)