Employer-focused interventions targeting disability employment: A systematic review

Area of Science:

• Health Policy
• Labor Economics
• Disability Studies

Background:

• Employer-focused interventions aim to improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities.
• High-income Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries are the focus.
• Systematic review of interventions influencing employer behavior in disability employment.

Approach:

• Systematic literature review synthesizing findings from 71 papers.
• Interventions categorized into anti-discrimination legislation, quota systems, part-time sick leave, graded return to work, and wage subsidy schemes.
• Analysis of employment rate, time to return to work, and sickness absence duration.

Key Points:

• Anti-discrimination legislation shows no effectiveness in enhancing disability employment.
• Quota systems and wage subsidy schemes present mixed evidence regarding their impact.
• Part-time sick leave and graded return-to-work policies are consistently linked to better work participation.

Conclusions:

• Flexible work arrangements like part-time sick leave and graded return to work are key to improving disability employment.
• Policy recommendations should prioritize these effective interventions.
• Further research may explore nuances of less effective interventions.