Employers’ attitude, intention, skills and barriers in relation to employment of vulnerable workers

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Little is known why some organizations employ vulnerable workers and others do not. OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationships between the attitude, intention, skills and barriers of employers and employment of vulnerable workers. METHODS: We included 5,601 inclusive organizations (≥1% of employees had a disability, was long-term unemployed or a school dropout) and 6,236 non-inclusive organizations of the Netherlands Employers Work Survey 2014–2019. We operationalized employer factors based on the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction as attitude (negative impact), intention (mission statement regarding social inclusion), skills (human resources policies and practices), and barriers (economic conditions and type of work). We used multivariate-adjusted logistic regression models. RESULTS: Compared to non-inclusive organizations, inclusive organizations had a more negative attitude (OR:0.81) and a stronger intention to employ vulnerable workers (OR:6.09). Regarding skills, inclusive organizations had more inclusive human resources practices (OR:4.83) and initiated more supporting human resources actions (OR:4.45). Also, they adapted more work conditions towards the needs of employees (OR:1.52), negotiated about work times and absenteeism (OR:1.49), and had general human resources practices on, for example, employability (OR:1.78). Inclusive organizations had less barriers reflected by better financial results (OR:1.32), more employment opportunities (OR:1.33) and more appropriate work tasks (OR:1.40). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, inclusive organizations reported more positive results on the employer factors of the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction, except for a more negative attitude. The more negative attitude might reflect a more realistic view on the efforts to employ vulnerable groups, and suggests that other unmeasured emotions and beliefs are more positive.

Training for Supervisors to Improve Sustainable Employment of Employees with a work Disability: A Longitudinal Effect and Process Evaluation from an Intervention Study with Matched Controls

“…Therefore, effectiveness of trainings, such as ‘Mentorwijs’ could be improved by addressing the needs of an organization before the start of the training or adapting the training in consultation with employers. Lastly, HR or management of organizations should, next to offering trainings to supervisors, structurally strive for measures that improve the inclusion of employees with a disability, as this may also result in more employment opportunities and human resources practices for employability [ 32 ]. This is important, as solely implementing a supervisor training may not be enough to improve sustainable employment of employees.…”

The Relationship Between Strategic Human Resource Management Practices and the Employment of Vulnerable Workers: A Two-Wave Study Among Employers

“…These practices are explicitly aimed at hiring vulnerable groups, which may require alternative recruitment efforts (e.g., working together with specialized agencies), enabling sustainable employment for all [29], and a fair representation of society within the organization [30]. Inclusive recruitment practices that have been found to support the inclusion of vulnerable groups are, for example, job creation, work experience positions, seconding vulnerable workers, or collaborating with other employers for the recruitment of vulnerable groups [17,28,31]. These practices are especially important as the vast majority of (inclusive and non-inclusive) employers experiences problems in hiring vulnerable groups [31].…”

“…Inclusive recruitment practices that have been found to support the inclusion of vulnerable groups are, for example, job creation, work experience positions, seconding vulnerable workers, or collaborating with other employers for the recruitment of vulnerable groups [17,28,31]. These practices are especially important as the vast majority of (inclusive and non-inclusive) employers experiences problems in hiring vulnerable groups [31].…”

“…Particularly for vulnerable workers, well-being practices are thought to be important to ensure their sustainable employment [18,37]. For instance, previous research has shown that adapting work hours, stimulating training, and job crafting are positively related to the employment of vulnerable workers [31].…”

“…Previous research, which builds on the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction [38], highlighted that the intention to hire people with a distance to the labor market may differ from the actual hiring of these employees. Whereas employer attitude [8,21], subjective norms [31], and perceived behavioral control [31] have been found to predict the intention to hire vulnerable workers, the presence of a disability hiring policy was found to be a more reliable predictor of the actual hiring of vulnerable workers [21]. Therefore, we explore not only whether the application of strategic HRM practices leads to the intention to hire vulnerable groups in the future, but also whether these HRM practices result in the (continued) employment of these workers.…”