Citation: Ebrahim, A.; Lorenzo, T.; Kathard, H. Traversing Disability: Employers’ Perspectives of Disability Inclusion. Disabilities 2022, 2, 317–329. https://doi.org/10.3390/ disabilities2020023 Received: 4 April 2022 Accepted: 24 May 2022 Published: 9 June 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Article Traversing Disability: Employers’ Perspectives of Disability Inclusion Adèle Ebrahim * , Theresa Lorenzo and Harsha Kathard Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7701, South Africa; theresa.lorenzo@uct.ac.za (T.L.); harsha.kathard@uct.ac.za (H.K.) * Correspondence: adele.ebrahim@uct.ac.za Abstract: Persons with disabilities still experience challenges in obtaining employment even though obligations associated with their employment are in place in legislative frameworks that strive to support transformation within the labour market. This paper explores employers’ perspectives on the employment of persons with disabilities in South Africa identified in a case study. The influence of social capital on disability inclusive employment was explored from the perspective of two employers who employed trainees who completed an auxiliary training programme for persons with disabilities, which provides opportunities to facilitate pathways to economic inclusion and/or employment. Findings reveal that despite the call for increased labour inclusivity, the development of social capital is not clearly apparent when persons with disabilities are considered for employment. Organisational attitudes and beliefs seem to stem from the obligatory standpoint of the organisations. The paper highlights the need for employers to look beyond impairments so that employment goals are shared and re-enforced by understanding and possibly re-evaluating their views on their organisation’s obligations, norms, values and mission, and goals. Insights can guide employers to think more holistically about ways to facilitate the economic inclusion of persons with disabilities. Keywords: employment; employers; social capital; disability 1. Introduction While employers continually seek to diversify their workforces and acknowledge the benefits of employing persons with disabilities, the ways in which employers can ensure sustainability require attention. A diverse workforce, inclusive of persons with disabilities, is seen by many as important in terms of an effective transformation agenda. Yet, in South Africa, the national disability prevalence rate is 7.5 per cent and persons with disabilities make up only one per cent of the workforce. The implementation of legislation has influenced change, with companies in 2020 reporting that persons with disabilities comprised 1.5% of their workforce, which is a shortfall of 0.5% of the target set in 1998. South African employers, both private and public, reported in 2021 that persons with disabilities comprised 1.3% of their workforce [1]. Disaggregated data regarding types of disabilities, the severity of the disability, and the age and gender of persons with disabilities are not available or accurate. South Africa’s post-apartheid legislation is generally viewed as progressive in its focus on inclusive development for previously disadvantaged people, women and persons with disabilities. Despite policies such as the Employment Equity (EE) Act (1998), the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Act (2003), and the National Skills Development Strategy III (2011) driving the agenda for skills development and inclusive employment, the general unemployment rate in South Africa is high—recorded at 32.5% in the last quarter of 2020 [2]. When persons with disabilities are employed, they are less likely to be in full-time jobs and more likely to be in low-paying jobs with poor working conditions, and poor prospects for career progression as compared to their non-disabled peers. Persons with disabilities Disabilities 2022, 2, 317–329. https://doi.org/10.3390/disabilities2020023 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/disabilities