RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – 22 billboards have gone up across the commonwealth urging Virginia businesses to hire people with disabilities.
It’s all part of a campaign by the Virginia Board for People With Disabilities and Virginia Ability.
“Businesses and employers often discount somebody with a disability just because what you see is what you think,” said Bob Lancaster, a disability employment advocate with Virginia Ability.
According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 21% of people with disabilities were employed last year, compared to 65% of people without a disability.
While information for Virginia is not available, data shows that across the country the majority of people employed with the program make subminimum wage, earning less than $3.50 an hour.
“In Virginia, there are approximately 1.6 million people with disabilities, and the reality is that they are three times more likely to be unemployed or even underemployed,” Lancaster said.
Lancaster says the biggest challenges come for people who are blind, visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing.
“Someone who is deaf or hard of hearing, they need an accommodation to be able to do the interview,” Lancaster said. “Someone who’s blind or vision impaired may need some sort of accommodation to complete the application.”
The campaign comes after the Virginia General Assembly took steps to end paying people with disabilities subminimum wages. Currently, seven businesses in Virginia with 349 employees have certificates from the U.S. Department of Labor to do that.
The billboards cost $63,000 and are expected to stay up through September.