Disguise, Dispute, or Disrupt: Navigating Disability at Work

• In Event: 50625 - The Future of Work for Disabled Workers

Abstract

This paper draws on an in-depth interview study of over 100 service sector workers to take up the question of how workers living with a disability navigate the demands of service industry jobs. Focusing on a subset of 30 workers who discussed navigating a disability at work, we describe three distinct but overlapping approaches workers in the service industry used to navigate their disability status in the workplace: disguising their disability, disputing or pushing back on workplace demands through formal/informal channels, and disrupting the rules and expectations of the job to meet their physical and mental health needs at work. Although adequate supports and accommodations were rare, there were some structural conditions perceived by workers to make supports and accommodations more likely: when requested support needs were temporary, staffing levels were adequate, and management was supportive. These conditions create what we refer to as a “culture of care” within these service industry occupations. That is, both material and cultural resources converge to create a workplace environment that is more likely to address disabled worker's support needs.

Authors

• Esperanza Teresa, Guadalupe Padilla, University of California-San Francisco

• Kristen S. Harknett, University of California-San Francisco