Navigating Policy on the Job: How Disabled Workers Negotiate Workplace Accommodations

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

Abstract

Nearly 35 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law, disabled workers in the US still face multiple barriers in finding and maintaining employment. In the first months of 2025, disabled workers have faced new attacks from prominent political actors. The Trump administration targets diversity and accessibility policies as somehow discriminatory, and the President went so far as to scapegoat unidentified disabled air traffic control workers for somehow contributing to a plane crash.

As we ask how this political climate will shape the future of work for disabled workers, it is important to ask how disabled workers today navigate the process of securing jobs and accommodations. This paper provides one study of that process, drawing on in-depth interviews with a diverse set of 40 disabled people in greater Chicago. I find that disabled workers must perform significant additional labor to secure accommodations. Many workers, particularly those who developed disabilities in adulthood, are not familiar with the concept of accommodations. Still, often driven by sheer necessity, they may seek both formal and informal adjustments to their working conditions. Requesting accommodations can mean disclosing details of one’s disability while also managing relationships with bosses and supervisors, who can hold outsized power in both judging the request and shaping a worker’s experience overall. Looking to the future, while we can’t predict how many employers will treat Trump administration rhetoric as a green light to deny accommodation requests, this paper’s analysis of the process that disabled workers already must undertake provides a baseline context for changes that may come.

Author

• Matthew Borus, Binghamton University