Retaining Employees with Disabilities: Evidence-Based Strategies That Work
Why Retention Matters
Hiring diverse talent is pointless if you cannot keep it. The cost of replacing an employee is 50–200% of annual salary (SHRM, 2022) when accounting for recruitment, onboarding, training, lost productivity, and institutional knowledge loss.
Yet the data on disability retention is encouraging:
- DuPont study: Employees with disabilities had 90% above-average retention rates
- JAN: 83% of accommodations had zero ongoing cost, and employers reported an average return of $28 for every $1 invested in accommodations
- i4cp: Companies with mature disability inclusion programmes reported 72% higher retention across their entire workforce
The message is clear: retaining disabled employees is not expensive — losing them is.
Accommodation Review Cycles
Accommodations are not "set and forget." Conditions change, roles evolve, and technology improves. Best practice is a structured review cycle:
Quarterly Check-Ins
- Brief (15-minute) conversation between employee and manager
- "Are your current accommodations still working?"