The study, “Diversity in the Workplace,” was designed to gauge the frequency, severity and occasion for perceptions of discrimination or unfair treatment and how diversity impacts hiring, compensation and career advancement. It focused on seven diverse segments including workers with disabilities, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, women, mature workers age 50 or older and Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender workers. Of these segments, workers with disabilities reported the highest incidence of discrimination or unfair treatment in the workplace and the highest incidence of being fired based on their diverse background.
“Forty-four percent of workers with disabilities said they have felt discriminated against or treated unfairly by management or co-workers, significantly higher than the 23 percent average for the other diverse segments in this study,” said Nina Ramsey, senior vice president of Human Resources at Kelly Services. “While the Americans with Disabilities Act has helped to safeguard employees with disabilities and enable them to enjoy the same workplace privileges as others, employers need to take a closer look at how effectively policies have been implemented throughout the company culture.”
Limited Access in the Workplace
One-in-five workers (22 percent) with disabilities reported their employer doesn’t provide necessities to enable them to access facilities. Even more (29 percent) said their employers don’t provide accommodations or necessities that enable them to successfully perform and execute on their responsibilities.
Severity of Discrimination or Unfair Treatment in the Workplace
When asked to judge the severity of the discrimination or unfair treatment at work, 63 percent of workers with disabilities who had experienced this treatment categorized it as moderate. One-in-ten (11 percent) described it as severe.
Frequency of Discrimination or Unfair Treatment in the Workplace
Among all the diverse segments surveyed, workers with disabilities reported the highest incidence of experiencing discrimination or unfair treatment on the job daily. Five percent of workers with disabilities said they experience discrimination or unfair treatment on a daily basis, 38 percent said it happens at least once a week and another 17 percent said it happens at least once a month.
Discriminating or Unfair Behaviors
The most common incidents of discrimination or unfair treatment involved:
• Co-workers talking behind the worker’s back (46 percent)
• Not being assigned projects that provide greater company visibility (41 percent)
• Not being provided with the same training as other workers (39 percent)
• Not receiving credit for one’s work (36 percent)
• Not having concerns addressed or taken seriously (33 percent)
• Being overlooked for a promotion (31 percent)
• Being excluded from office activities or work events outside the office (31 percent)
• Feeling ideas or input are ignored (21 percent)
Reporting of Discrimination or Unfair Treatment
Unfortunately, most of the discrimination or unfair treatment goes unaddressed. Half (51 percent) of workers with disabilities who experienced discrimination or unfair treatment said they did not report the incident. Of these workers, 82 percent said they didn’t think reporting the incident would make a difference while 53 percent feared being labeled as a trouble-maker and 43 percent feared losing their jobs.
Two-in-five workers with disabilities (41 percent) did bring attention to the discrimination or unfair treatment by reporting it to their direct supervisor. Another 27 percent reported it to Human Resources while 20 percent reported it to senior management. However, only 35 percent of those who made a claim felt it was taken seriously and, in 61 percent of the cases, the offender was not held accountable. Only seven percent ever took legal action against their employer.
When asked why those being discriminated against stay with their current employer, 58 percent said they couldn’t afford to quit while 56 percent thought it was likely they would encounter the same discrimination or unfair treatment at another company.
Thirty-six percent of workers with disabilities said they have witnessed discrimination or unfair treatment of a co-worker. Sixty-nine percent reported it, the highest of all diverse segments surveyed.
Sources of Discrimination
Twenty-nine percent of workers with disabilities feel members of senior management primarily instigate the perceived discrimination or unfair treatment of those with diverse backgrounds at their workplace. Another 29 percent said co-workers are the primary instigators while 24 percent pointed to their direct supervisors.
“Eighteen percent of the American population - 51 million people - have some form of disability, according to U.S. Census data,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com. “Ensuring equal and fair treatment across all aspects of employment provides for a stronger corporate environment and more successful corporate performance. It is critical that policies and programs be championed by senior management and communicated to all employees.”
Diversity – Hiring and Firing
The majority of all diverse workers surveyed said their diverse background does not influence whether someone will hire them. However, workers with disabilities reported the highest incidence of their diverse background working against them as job candidates at 59 percent. Five percent said their disability works in their favor.
In terms of involuntary termination, one-in-ten diverse workers (11 percent) said they believed had been fired at some point in their career based on their diverse background. Workers with disabilities were twice as likely (27 percent) to report this form of discrimination or unfair treatment.
Pay and Career Advancement
In terms of compensation, 20 percent of workers with disabilities feel they are paid less than co-workers without disabilities who have the same skills and experience; 2 percent feel they are paid more; 51 percent feel it’s the same.
Half (52 percent) of workers with disabilities feel they have less career advancement opportunities than co-workers without disabilities who have the same skills and experience; 2 percent feel they have more; 20 percent feel it’s the same.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com and Kelly Services among 953 Workers (age 18+ within the United States, employed full-time or part-time) with 150 being Diverse Disabled Workers (age 18+ within the United States, employed full-time or part-time) between March 15 and March 21, 2007. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
With a pure probability sample of 953 one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 3.2 percentage points. With a pure probability sample of 150 one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 8 percentage points. Sampling error for data from subsamples is higher and varies. However that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
About Kelly Services
Kelly Services, Inc. (Nasdaq:KELYA) (Nasdaq:KELYB) is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Troy, Mich., offering human resource solutions that include temporary staffing services, outsourcing, vendor on-site and full-time placement. Kelly operates in 33 countries and territories. Kelly provides employment to more than 750,000 employees annually, with skills including office services, accounting, engineering, information technology, law, science, marketing, creative services, light industrial, education, and health care. Revenue in 2006 was $5.5 billion. Visit www.kellyservices.com.
About CareerBuilder.com
CareerBuilder.com is the nation’s largest online job site with more than 21 million unique visitors and over 1.5 million jobs. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB), The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), the company offers a vast online and print network to help job seekers connect with employers. CareerBuilder.com powers the career centers for more than 1,100 partners that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. These include more than 150 newspapers and leading portals such as America Online and MSN. More than 300,000 employers take advantage of CareerBuilder.com’s easy job postings, 20 million-plus resumes, Diversity Channel and more. Millions of job seekers visit the site every month to search for opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for automatic email job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career management. CareerBuilder.com and its subsidiaries operate in Europe, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.careerbuilder.com.
Kelly Services Media Contact
Renee Walker
(P) (248) 244-4305
(E) renee_walker@kellyservices.com
CareerBuilder Media Contact
For all media inquiries and interview requests, contact:
Jennifer Grasz
(P) 773-527-1164
(E) jennifer.grasz@careerbuilder.com