The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) have released a new set of guidelines to assist managers with providing better support to employees with disabilities.
The guidance, entitled ‘Recruiting, managing and developing disabled people: a practical guide for managers’, is designed to inspire managers to adopt an active and welcoming stance towards hiring individuals with disabilities and/or long-term health conditions.
The guide provides statistics based on DWP data that states out of the estimated 9.5 million working-age individuals with disabilities in the UK, only 5.1 million are employed. The guidance underscores how:
“This represents a huge pool of untapped talent which businesses can’t afford to ignore.”
Peter Cheese, CIPD’s CEO, remarked:
“Too often, people with disabilities or long-term health conditions face prejudice or cannot access the support they need to help them reach their potential or remain in work. That is a loss of significant workforce capacity and skills.
That’s why Disability Confident and the CIPD have worked in partnership to update this guide, which aims to support managers and anyone who leads another individual or team, in the recruitment, management, and development of people with disabilities and long-term health conditions.”
Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, Mims Davies MP, praised the new guide as a:
“really useful tool for managers that will support even more people to progress – whatever their condition and whatever their profession.
It’s just the latest step in our mission to ensure the UK is the most accessible place in the world for disabled people to live, work and thrive.”
Please find a summary of the main aspects of the guide below.
Language and behaviour
According to the disability charity, Scope, the guide states how two-thirds of individuals describe feeling uncomfortable around disabled people.
The guidance offers managerial language guidance and advises against using phrases like “suffering from,” as this makes individuals feel like “victims”. It also suggests using caution against collective descriptors such as “the disabled” or “the blind.”
Additionally, the guidance recommends that managers engage directly with disabled individuals rather than their aides or interpreters. The guidance also confirms that it is acceptable to request clarification if someone’s speech is difficult to understand; when people do not address this directly with the disabled individual it can make the individual feel invisible.
Make reasonable adjustments
The Equality Act requires employers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees who might be disadvantaged by certain job or workplace aspects, as outlined in the guide.
Examples of such accommodations include:
- adapting work schedules for greater flexibility, such as altering start times to avoid peak commute hours;
- providing more personalised supervision, additional training, or assigning a mentor;
- modifying the physical workspace, for example, rearranging furniture for better accessibility;
- changing evaluation methods – offering extra time, utilising assistive devices, or opting for practical evaluations over formal interviews;
- supplying specialised equipment or software; and
- being understanding and flexible if employees have to take time off for GP or hospital appointments.
Provide a fair recruitment process and highlight opportunities for career progression
The guide encourages employers to express their dedication to diversity and inclusion in their recruitment materials and to publish job postings through channels that reach disabled individuals specifically. It is important for employers to demonstrate a fair recruitment process, not just to avoid an Employment Tribunal claim but, to evidence the company’s attitudes towards diversity which will subsequently enhance recruitment and attract a more inclusive workforce.
The guides also suggest that employers could agree to offer interviews for disabled candidates who meet the basic job requirements, a commitment that should be stated in the job advertisement. This will provide for an accessible recruitment process.
The guide stresses that, whilst it is not permissible for managers to enquire about a candidate’s disability or health condition during the hiring phase, it is essential to ask all candidates if they require any specific accommodations in order to make them feel as comfortable as possible during the interview.
The guide provides several examples of possible accommodations, such as:
- confirming the accessibility of the interview venue;
- permitting the presence of a support worker during the interview; and
- providing communication assistance if needed.
Additionally, the guide offers a wide range of advice to supervisors on topics including:
- career security for employees with disabilities;
- managing sickness absences effectively;
- understanding the nuances of different disabilities; and
- offering support to disabled employees who are transitioning out of the company.
What should you be doing as an employer?
It is important for employers to ensure they have adopted not only a fair recruitment policy and process, but to ensure their policies and guidelines adhere to many of the recommendations made in the guide.
As an employer, you have a duty of care to your employees and it is important to ensure you are doing enough to support all employees including those with disabilities.
How can we help?
Chloe Hickling is a Trainee Solicitor in our expert Employment Law team.
If you have any questions concerning the subjects discussed in this article, please contact Chloe or a member of our expert Employment Law team in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.
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