Disabled workers are less happy and RTO policies are likely to blame, report finds

Workers were largely happier in 2023 compared to previous years, but something is happening with disabled employees—they’re less happy, less loyal, and more stressed than their colleagues, according to the 2024 MetLife US Employee Benefit Trends Study.

Happiness is declining. Among the report’s most glaring findings, “holistic well-being” among disabled employees declined 18% in the last year YOY, while it increased by 3% for workers on average. Beyond that, employee happiness increased for all demographics, except disabled employees, who reported a 9% decrease, the only demographic experiencing a decline. That trend extends to employee engagement, loyalty, and satisfaction as well, which increased slightly for all workers, but fell up to 5% for disabled workers.

The report also found that while 36% of all workers reported non-work stress, that number jumped to 47% among disabled workers.

Why is this happening? The culprit appears to be “largely a function of the impact of return-to-work policies,” the report said. Some 58% of disabled employees are now working fully onsite, compared to 42% in 2022. Additionally, disabled workers are less satisfied with metrics like location (down 9%) and scheduling (down 11%), typically tied to job flexibility.

Onsite work mandates may negatively impact disability employment numbers. While remote work led to record high workforce participation and low unemployment for disabled US workers, experts speculate that progress could stall as there are fewer remote jobs available.

The report recommends that employers learn what disabled employees need and devise strategies to directly address those needs.

“If remote work is a possibility in your company, and you’re denying people simply because you think that it’s better off if everybody is in the office, that’s not being disability inclusive,” Emily Ladau, a disability rights activist, previously told HR Brew.