DISABILITY MONTH
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities and UK Disability History Month
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) is observed annually on December 3rd. The theme for this year is "Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future" –recognizing the important role that persons with disabilities play in creating a more inclusive and sustainable world for all. It also emphasizes the importance of the participation of persons with disabilities in decision-making processes that affect their lives.
UK Disability History Month is also currently underway (14 November to 20 December) and is intended to highlight the important themes of disability, livelihood and employment. The campaign aims to raise awareness about the challenges faced by disabled people to get into, and remain, in the workplace.
Current landscape
Unfortunately, government data shows that only around 54% of working-age disabled people in the UK are employed – a drastically low figure when compared to the 82% of non-disabled individuals in work.
“The legislative duty on employers is ultimately to make reasonable adjustments i.e. ones which assist the individual in overcoming any barriers, but ones which are ultimately achievable for the employer.”
We believe these low figures could be due to the fact that many employers are fearful about what the exactly the ‘duty to make reasonable adjustments’ means for them, and so in turn are reluctant to recruit disabled employees. We do however think this is a missed opportunity to tap into a diverse and skilled talent pool.
Supporting disabled individuals within your business
Clear and open communications with both applicants and employees is, we believe, key to developing your support strategy; actively listening to the individual’s needs and then adopting a ‘how can we make this work’ approach.
Flexibility is often another key factor for disabled individuals, which may entail adapting their working hours and other ways of working, to enable them to manage their health conditions alongside their work commitments.
Being willing to trial, and monitor, adjustments is also key to demonstrating a commitment to making the employment relationship work – there is often no one size fits all approach, and obviously needs may change with time.
The legislative duty on employers is ultimately to make reasonable adjustments i.e. ones which assist the individual in overcoming any barriers, but ones which are ultimately achievable for the employer.
We are proud to work with a number of clients who don’t just talk about inclusion, but actively seek out new ways of fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. If you require assistance with making reasonable adjustments for disabled applicants or employees or want to discuss how you can implement strategies to support disabled employees, please let us know.