Government not doing enough to support disabled to stay in work, campaigners say

By Rebecca Speare-Cole, Reporter20th June 2023News EnglandDisabilities, Government / Politics, Learning Disabilities, News England, Unemployment, Welfare / Benefits

The Government must do more to support disabled people to stay in work, campaigners have said.

Research released on Tuesday by the Business Disability Forum (BDF), a non-profit membership organisation working in disability inclusion, explores the experiences of almost 1,500 disabled employees and 400 managers around workplace inclusion in the UK.

The findings suggest that disabled people are still waiting too long for the adjustments they need to reduce or remove the barriers they experience in their jobs.

These adjustments include flexibility over hours and location, time off work for medical appointments, ergonomic equipment and assistive technology while barriers include bullying and harassment, limited career opportunities, and inaccessible buildings.

Employees are also having to push for adjustments or even fund them themselves, the Great Big Workplace Adjustments Survey found.

The findings show that 10% of disabled employees said it was easy to get the adjustments they needed at work while 78% said they, rather than their employer, had to initiate the process.

One in eight were waiting more than a year to get the adjustments they need, according to the research.

Elsewhere, only 18% of disabled employees said their adjustments have removed all barriers in the workplace.

One employee told the researchers: “I did all the organisation myself as I waited two years for my manager to do something. In the end, I paid for it myself.”

Meanwhile, 40% of respondents said they felt patronised or “put down” by other people at work because of their disability or condition, while 38% said they had been bullied or harassed.

“Some people try to bubble wrap me, giving me less responsibility even though I am able, when in fact they unconsciously disable me,” one employee said.

It comes after the Government last week announced a £58 million funding boost for the Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care scheme, which supports disabled people or those with a health condition to get back and stay in work.

But the Business Disability Forum said more needs to be done in terms of long-term support.

Angela Matthews (pictured), head of policy and research at Business Disability Forum, said: “Whilst any additional Government funding for disability employment support is welcome, our latest research shows that disabled people do not only experience barriers getting into work.

“People also face significant barriers once in the workplace.”

On what more the Government should do to support employers, she said: “A strategy which concentrates on getting disabled people through the doors of an organisation but not on what happens beyond that does not build inclusive workplaces.

“We need an approach which seeks to support disabled people throughout their careers.”

Diane Lightfoot, CEO of the Business Disability Forum, added: “Workplace adjustments play a vital role in enabling disabled people to thrive at work. Access to adjustments needs to be simplified and improved but adjustments only remove some of the workplace barriers that disabled people experience.

“To be fully inclusive, employers need to have a greater understanding of how disability affects a person’s life as a whole.”

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “We recognise that disabled people and people with health conditions face additional barriers within the workplace which is why have recently put into action our new £58 million Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care scheme.

“This not only helps disabled people and people with health conditions move into a job that suits their needs, but it also provides them and their employers with wraparound support during their work to help them sustain employment in the long term.

“That is on top of our wide range of existing support such as Access to Work grants which can be made available to disabled employees to cover the costs of in-work adjustments and the Disability Confident scheme.”