Should employers pay disabled employees more?

[autism-and-autotune]

No way.

I hear you that it can be difficult to be in between, but perhaps it is time to get creative with accommodations and supplements to your paycheck. A disability-based discrepancy in wages does not seem like the answer.

Thanks for that advice! I agree with you, now that I understand.

 

[autism-and-autotune]

It's not an unreasonable idea (though it's much more complicated that a simple formulation can capture).

But IMO such questions are "unanswerable" because it's so difficult to implement an "equality of outcome" scheme of this general type in practice. The "Law of Unintended Consequences" is certain to assert itself.

Also it can't be forced on the employer. It generates an immediate problem: the employers get less "work per dollar", so they won't hire anyone who's eligible.
There's no easy/practical way to resolve that.

Yeah, I understand that it really is a convoluted issue and there's no real 'best' solution. It's a real pickle.

 

[autism-and-autotune]

The general guideline that most businesses follow regarding pay: How much value do you bring to the company?
Being disabled or not, really isn't part of the equation. If you're wheelchair-bound, but your work, more specifically, your decision-making, can make the company 10's-100's of thousands, millions of dollars, then you are going to receive higher compensation than someone else who might actually cost the company money. Yes, there are entry-level workers that are needed to operate the business, but actually cost the company money. They are a liability. If you happen to be seen as a liability, then good luck trying to get a raise. As a general rule, the "decision-makers" are the people making the higher wages and have some leverage for pay raises.

The only thing you can do in this situation is obtain more training to become more valuable to the company in a "decision-making position", or find another position in another company that will see you as an asset rather than a liability.

I totally understand this viewpoint that there can be staggering huge disparities between the compensation that a CEO and the average worker at many companies make. How can this be fair? It almost seems criminal. However, CEOs are the ones making the decisions that guide companies through all the ups and downs, they are the ones approving the decisions of people below them, they are the ones with the most value to the company and shareholders. The rest of us poor grunts below them are just disposable cogs in the machine. We don't add value. Sure, the company "propaganda" machine keeps telling us we are "valued team members", we are "family", as a means of making us feel loyal, but when it comes to leveraging for wages, then it becomes more clear that we can be replaced with a newer person at a lower wage.

Sorry, I've been working at a huge corporate health system for nearly 40 years and have seen a lot that has made me a bit "jaded", angry, and wise.

Well that does seen just super crummy. If someone can make the company a bunch of money based on only their skills, then they'd deserve a raise regardless!

Hey, I completely understand your disgruntledness towards the corporate world. I think everything you're writing is apt and true. I understand your anger.

 

[Cryptid]

Should employers be required to pay disabled employees more?
No. Doing so would incentivize employers to hire fewer or no disabled people.

Should employers also be required to hire more disabled employees?
No. Doing so would incentivize people to fake or exaggerate their disabilities for more pay.

Employers should be allowed to hire the people they deem most qualified for the position, and not go to persons for reasons deemed arbitrary or irrelevant, such as circumstances of birth, upbringing, having well-connected relatives or friends, religion, sex, ethnicity, race, caste, or involuntary personal attributes such as disability, age, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

It's called "Equal Opportunity Employment", not "Preferential Treatment Employment" for a reason.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I'm retired know my last position lasted 21 years enough for a pension renumeration was good did all the physical work making ink had stroke 10 days before official retirement.my ability to solve issues is my real strength. Even enjoyed figuring out what may have caused my stroke. Cracking covid. overcoming disability with ability is the way to go.