Disability inclusion in for-profit organizations:

Workplace case studies in the Netherlands, Denmark and the United States

Abstract

Work organizations recruiting and integrating workers with disabilities share a surprisingly common set of enablers. Across three different countries and five organizations, we find that they are characterised by (1) inclusive core values, (2) senior management commitment, (3) disability inclusive culture and (4) strong community partnerships. The study is based on a strategic selection of companies that employ a much larger proportion of employees with disabilities compared to similar companies in their country: Walgreens and Sephora in the USA, Philips and VodafoneZiggo in the Netherlands and Grundfos in Denmark. They are large, private, and successful companies in very different contexts. Our contribution to the disability literature is to focus on enablers rather than barriers to employment and to identify a specific set of common enablers that promote labour market inclusion of people with disabilities.