Disability in the workplace

Patrick Burke, Guest Writer

I met Patrick Burke for the first time in December last year and we spent a couple of hours chatting, amongst other things, about his disability, his website, and life in the workplace for a disabled person. His perspective does much to educate and I thank him for this guest blog.

Patrick offers a consultancy service to organisations needing assistance with their corporate social responsibilities. He is disabled – he has multiple sclerosis – and he says “I do my utmost to stop it controlling my life”.

Number of disabled is increasing

Why are disabled people as a group much less likely to have a job than nondisabled people. It would appear that some employers in the United Kingdon appear to be reluctant to employ a disabled person. I can think of several reasons for this, I’m sure there are plenty more.

• The employer can be wary of the changes to the workplace that will be necessary such as making the site fully accessible or providing a disabled toilet.
• The disabled person is reluctant to go through an employment agency. There is widespread concern amongst the disabled that recruitment agencies fail to provide employers with their details if they meet the requirements.
• Only too often the stated requirements for the position will make it difficult for a disabled person to apply for the post, such as a requirement to work a full week during normal working hours.
• The assumption that disability means poor health.

Barriers need to be broken down

The number of disabled people in the United Kingdom capable of work is rising. At the moment there are about 7 million disabled people capable of work. That represents 18% of the working age population (http://businessdisabilityforum.org.uk/talent-recruitment) but a significant proportion are not working and are on benefits though they would prefer to be employed.

Thirty years ago very few people worked flexi-time or worked from home, or ‘hot-desked’. Almost everyone did a ‘nine-to-five’ job in the office. The concept of a job-for-life is beginning to end.

Today many disabled people are self employed. This allows them to arrange work around their disability.  Many cannot manage the travelling as well as working a standard 40 hour week but they could work say a four-day week. This principle works successfully in Holland where a person is recruited on ability then agreement is reached on hours worked per week.

Make it win-win

The disabled person who is employed wins because their net income should be greater than the money received from benefits. This person should now have a better quality of life and more independence. The country wins because it is paying less in benefits and the chances are that the disabled person will also pay income tax.

What needs to be done to make employment for a disabled person more attractive?

• Ensure the recruitment process is not creating unnecessary barriers such as demanding the employee works a 40 hour week, or the door being too narrow for a wheelchair.
• The job description needs to reflect the actual requirements.
• Actively seek candidates who are prepared to work a 20 or 30 hour week.
• Ensure the workplace is suitable for a disabled person.
• The staff and managers need to be trained to work alongside a person with a disability.

Simplify the application process

There are many factors that can, directly or indirectly, cause unfair discrimination against disabled people, including:-

• Insistence on handwritten covering letters for some roles. HR needs to be creative and find different ways to approach collating information.
• Badly designed application forms, for example crowded pages, poor print, inadequate space for responses.
• Unwillingness to make reasonable accommodation available.
• The assumption that excessive costs would be incurred.
• In recruiting the aim is to find the best person for the job. You are looking for ability – not at disability.

Employers have responsibilities to disabled employees as well as to disabled people who want to join their organisation.

The obstacles to employing a disabled person are frequently in the mind. Maybe this is because one is not used to seeing disabled people in the workforce or been given the opportunity to hire a disabled person. A disabled person is less inclined to move from job to job.

Next time a position needs to be filled then check that you are not excluding disabled people. By being ‘disablity smart’ you will start to make your organisation more effective. You will have stronger leadership, more productive employees, stronger customer relationships and a better overall reputation.

Please check out the following websites

Department for Work and Pensions

Business Disability Forum

Recruitment Protocol

By Patrick Burke

www.Aid4disabled.com

Contact Patrick at +44 (0)7947 024691, or visit his website www.aid4disabled.com.

 Thank you Patrick for a very interesting and educational piece of writing. There is a place for everyone in the workplace and for managers and business owners to understand how to embrace this talent. Your consultancy services will be useful to SMEs and corporates alike.

Cecily Lalloo of Embrace HR helps businesses without their own HR manager or department. As your HR manager we ensure that you have management practices to help you and your business. Our cloud-based HR management system takes the hassle out of the basic but important personnel record keeping; whilst the reporting function assists you to make decisions on managing and growing your business. Based in Aylesbury, we support businesses in the surrounding areas of Oxford, Thame, Berkhamsted, Princes Risborough, High Wycombe, and London.   

T : 07767 308 717

E : hr.support@embracehr.co.uk

A : Elsinore House | Buckingham Street | Aylesbury | HP20 2NQ

W: www.embracehr.co.uk

What’s up, What’s new? How are you?

Have you asked your employees lately ‘What’s up? What’s new? How are you?’  

I’ve been watching episodes of “Undercover Boss” on TV – where the undercover boss asks these questions in a different way. The same messages come across no matter what country the programme is filmed in. The boss finds out more about their business and what can make a world of difference to their employees on a day-to-day basis.

As one boss put it after his undercover stint :

“… in the workplace people have private problems that we don’t always know about. We should try to support them more”.

The boss learns

Bosses learnt how a worker had cancer and hardly missed a day off work whilst undergoing treatment; how another couple had grandchildren with a debilitating and prolonged disorder; how another person built up a large collection of the company’s trucks over the years, working on them in his spare time, because he thought they were the best. The majority of bosses are humbled and hopefully make changes in the business having taken on board the views of their employees.

Going undercover in a large organisation is a great way for the boss to learn about what’s happening in the business and about what works and what doesn’t and, more importantly about the people who work there.

Some issues were :

• how a simple team meeting is sorely missed
• how an employee struggles to get to work due to illness in the family, or
• how a suggestion to change a process could make an individual’s work more efficient, adding to the company’s profits, or
• how an individual uses their initiative because they don’t have the proper tools for the job .

Most learnt :

• that the people who work for them really want to make a difference for themselves, their families and the company
• that the people have lives outside of work and that what happens on a personal basis affects their work
• that given the chance, the people at the front of house will make suggestions to make their jobs more efficient, which in turn helps the company
• that the best marketing and reputation-building comes from the people employed in the business.

Everyone is busy until there is a problem

In smaller businesses it is easier to have a more personal and closer relationship with the people you work with. But sometimes everyone is busy and communication can take a back seat – unless or until there is a problem that affects the work or others in the workplace. For instance, someone is off more often than normal with minor ailments, or they start arriving late for work, or performance begin to decline.

The proverbial molehill

Regular 1-2-1 meetings, even in smaller organisations, highlights issues before they become problems. 1-2-1 meetings offer dedicated time for managers to learn about events, incidents, issues that may affect your workers whether on a personal or work basis; and an opportunity to give feedback to the employee.  A 1-2-1 meeting does not have to be long – it can take place over a cup of coffee mid morning, a lunch time break. Wherever possible it should be a regular diary appointment.

You may find out that the employee who is coming in 15 minutes late each day has a childcare problem, or there is a pattern to the time taken off by the personwith minor ailments. It is amazing how a little dedicated time with someone – or even a team –  can sort out problems before the proverbial molehill becomes a mountain.

Away from daily work short but regular meetings can make a difference to finding out ‘what’s up, what’s new, or how they are’.

 

Embrace HR helps to manage HR in your business from helping set up your HR records, to dealing with performance, contact us. Based in Aylesbury, we also support businesses in the surrounding areas of Oxford, Thame, Berkhamsted, High Wycombe, and London.  We help businesses without their own HR department and those with an HR team who need help from time to time.  

T : 07767 308 717

E : hr.support@embracehr.co.uk

A : Elsinore House | Buckingham Street | Aylesbury | HP20 2NQ

W: www.embracehr.co.uk