Myth:

Employees with disabilities will cause my WSIB (Workplace Safety & Insurance Board) rates to increase.

Fact:

Employers’ insurance rates are determined by the health and safety risk of your type of business, the size of your payroll, and on your company’s health and safety record. The Workplace Safety & Insurance Board can not increase your premiums because you have hired someone with a disability. Also, it is important to note that employees with disabilities have the same or better safety records than employees without disabilities.

MYTH:

Employees with disabilities have a higher turnover and absenteeism rate than employees without disabilities.

FACT:

Studies have shown that employees with disabilities are not absent any more than other employees, and in some cases have a lower absenteeism rate.

MYTH:

It is too expensive to accommodate employees with disabilities.

FACT:

Most employees with disabilities require little or no accommodation in the workplace. In many cases an employee already has any special equipment they may need, and if not, there are many government programs available to assist employers with these costs. Please see the section on Accommodation Information for details about these programs.

MYTH:

If an employee with a disability does not fit in or doesn’t work out, there is nothing I can do about it.

FACT:

Employees with disabilities should be treated the same as other employees in terms of expectations, opportunities and workplace standards. If an employee is not meeting performance expectations, follow the same procedures you normal would, for example: discuss the problem with the employee, look for solutions, document the situation and if necessary, terminate employment.

MYTH:

It is very difficult to interview individuals with disabilities because it is so easy to violate human rights laws.

FACT:

Use the same interview techniques and ask the same job-related questions that you would ask other applicants. Remember to focus on abilities rather than disabilities, and interviewing should be easy.

MYTH:

There aren’t many people with disabilities so it is not an issue for our company

FACT:

There are 4.4 million Canadians with disabilities – an increase of 12.4% from the 2001 disability rate and it is estimate that by 2026 that number will increase to 6.1 million

MYTH:

Employees with disabilities will miss too much work and won’t be able to effectively perform their job responsibilities

FACT:

Employers report performance rating of average or above average for 90% of employees with disabilities. Additional studies found:

• 86% of employees with disabilities have average or above average attendance records.
• 33% of employers say that persons a with disability work as hard as other employees while 46% say that persons with disabilities actually work harder.