Costs, Risks and Responsibility. Negotiating the Value of Disabled Workers Between Disability Insurance and Employers

Drawing on the theoretical framework of the Economics of Convention this paper analyses the employment of people with disabilities as a valuation process. Based on case studies and interviews in business companies and disability insurance offices, it explores how employers and disability insurance determine the value of disabled workers. Inasmuch as employers are not willing to adapt performance standards, job design and work organisation, disability insurance attains individual exceptions for its clients at best, while disabling standards remain intact.