The NHRC Survey Finds Persons With Disabilities Face Discrimination at Work
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRC) surveyed 510 persons with disabilities, gathered and analyzed 22 companies" hiring policies, and examined want-ads that 455 companies posted on the net. The NHRC discovered that persons with disabilities are being discriminated against from the start of the hiring process all the way to the retirement process.
In the recruitment process, 93.8% of the companies that placed want-ads discriminated against persons with disabilities by placing an age-limit, and 70.5% requested the applicants to disclose their physical condition. When giving personal interviews and exams, 98.9% of the companies lack in providing aids to persons with disabilities and 82.2% of them lack in considerations for the blind who apply over the internet.
When the interviews are given, the companies have separate questions for the disabled applicants such as "Can you perform your duties even though you are disabled?" In addition, women with disabilities face more discrimination when given an interview, particularly with regard to their ability to balance work and childcare.
Once the persons with disabilities are employed, they face even more discrimination in job placements, promotions, and wage scales. Out of 510 persons with disabilities, 56.9% of them are blue-collar workers, and the number of persons with disabilities in managerial positions is extremely small. Also, 22.5% of them have experienced discrimination when they are up for promotion and 23.3% of them have experienced discrimination in the form of a different wage scale than their peers without disabilities.
When it comes to the lay-offs, it"s not so different: companies lay-off persons with disabilities before anyone else. After analyzing 22 companies" hiring policies, 79.1% of them have clauses that specify company"s rights to dismiss persons with disabilities. Especially, persons with a mental disability and women disabled persons are the ones who are discriminated against more often.
However, in order for discrimination to stop, the help has to come from the persons with disabilities. The majority (67.9%) of the disabled workers replied that they won"t contest discrimination in the labor market simply because they feel that it is a personal matter rather than a public one.
