managing different abilities in the workplace

Question 1

What is the criteria for having a disabilities according to the UK Equality act 2010? what is meant by substantial and long-term?

Answer 1

1. You have a disability if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.
   - substantial: more than minor or trivial, i.e. it takes much longer than it usually would do complete a daily task like getting dressed.
   - long-term: 12 months or more

Question 2

What protection does the UK Equality Act 2010 provide for people with disabilities? and what are the four types of disability discriminations?

Answer 2

• The Equality Act provides disabled people with protection from discrimination in a range of areas, including: employment.

Four main types of disability discrimination:

1. Direct
2. Indirect
3. Harassment
4. Victimisation

Question 3

All public bodies, including schools and local authorities, have a duty to what? (6)

Answer 3

1. Take steps to take account of different abilities in the form of adjustments or modifications.
2. Eliminate discrimination
3. Eliminate harassment related to a disability
4. Promote positive attitudes towards people with different abilities
5. Promote equality of opportunity
6. Encourage participation of people with different abilities in public life

Question 4

What are the reasonable adjustments? (6)

Answer 4

1. Identify employee’s functional limitations and potential accommodations
2. Involve the individual in every step - they know what will work best for them to help them carry out their work
3. Employ confidentiality principles
4. Consult with rehabilitation professionals
5. Select adjustments that are effective, reliable, easy to use, readily available
6. Costs should not be an undue hardship

Question 5

Reasonable accommodation may include, but not be limited to…? (6)

Answer 5

◼ Making facilities readily accessible 
◼ Modifying worksites
◼ Adjusting Work Schedules
◼ Providing Assistive Devices
◼ Providing personal assistants (travel)
◼ Adopting flexible leave policies

Question 6

How can employers Accommodate for mental disabilities? (5)

Answer 6

1. Providing room dividers or sound proofing for individuals with disabilities affecting their ability to concentrate
2. modified work schedules
3. time off for treatment or recovery
4. enhanced supervision
5. job coaches written instructions additional training

Question 7

What is included in the ranges of human ability that is now encouraged a greater focus on? (7)

Answer 7

Need to shift our focus from Disability to “Ranges of Human Ability”

◼ These ranges include the things we typically label as disabilities:
➢ Deafness
➢ Blindness
➢ Limited Mobility

◼ And other things that we may not immediately think of:
✓ Reading or cognitive difficulties
✓ Ageing and the maturing population
✓ Colourblindness
✓ English as a second language

Question 8

What are three interesting facts about disability? (3)

Answer 8

1. Only 17% of people with disabilities are born with their disability. Most disabled people have had to adjust to their impairment as an adult, as they fall ill, have an accident or find it harder to get around as they grow older.
2. The prevalence of disability rises with age: 6% for children, 16% for working age adults and 45% for adults over 65.
3. Predictions suggest that 58% of people over 50 will have a long-term health condition by 2020.

Question 9

What does the ability factor mean?

Answer 9

Signifies that employing people with disabilities makes good business sense

Question 10

What type of things can the UK “Government Access to Work Programme” provide a grant for people with disabilities? (7)

Answer 10

❑ adaptations to equipment or special equipment
❑ fares to work if public transport is not possible
❑ a support worker or job coach
❑ a support service for mental health conditions
❑ disability awareness training for colleagues of the person
❑ a communicator at a job interview
❑ the cost of moving equipment if there is a location change

Question 11

What is the Two Ticks Scheme? and what were the five commitments? (6)

Answer 11

1. A scheme whereby employers agree to take on five commitments regarding the employment, retention, training and career development of employees with disabilities.
2. Make every effort when employees become disabled to make sure they stay in employment
3. Regular discussions regarding what can be done to help employees with disabilities develop and use their abilities
4. Interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy and consider them on their abilities
5. Ensure all employees develop the appropriate level of disability awareness needed to make these commitments work
6. Review and improve annually

Question 12

What were the problems of the two tick scheme? (3)

Answer 12

◼ Easy to ‘get around’ criteria
◼ Seen as a public relations tool
◼ Some employers with the two ticks symbol failed to meet basic employer duty for employees with disabilities

Question 13

What replaced the two tick scheme? and what did it entitle? (2)

Answer 13

1. The Disability Confident Symbol Replaced the “two ticks” scheme in July 2014.
2. Has 3 levels designed to help employers make the most of opportunities provided by employing people with disabilities

Question 14

What was the three levels of the disability confident symbol?

Answer 14

Level 1: Disability confident committed:

• Recruitment process is inclusive and accessible
• Communicate and promote vacancies
• Offer an interview to people with disabilities if they meet the minimum criteria for the job
• Anticipate and provide reasonable adjustments as required
• Support existing employees who acquire disabilities to enable them to stay in work

Level 2: Disability confident employer:

• Self-assessment on two themes. Each theme requires particular core actions and activities.
  Theme 1 – Getting the right people for your business
  Theme 2 – Keeping and developing your people

Level 3: Disability confident leader:

• Gaining recognition from other organisations. Champion in the business community and helping other businesses become disability confident.
• Have the self assessment validated from outside the business
• Demonstrate disability confident leadership in helping other organisations and bodies.

Question 15

What are the disability quotes set in place for: Austria, India, USA and the UK?

Answer 15

Austria: employers with more that 24 employees must employ 1 person with a registered disability for every 25 employees. Employees with disabilities who are >55 or <19 or who have severe disabilities count as double on the quota.

India: employers are required to reserve up to 3% of places for differently abled people.

US: uses “disability benchmarking” rather than quotas. Corporates need to show they have a total group workforce that is 7% differently abled to qualify for federal contracts.

UK: Abandoned quota system in 1995. Prefer to rely on legislation making it unlawful to discriminate against people with disabilities in hiring and in the employment relationship.

Question 16

What findings does the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (ENEI) research reveal? (5 facts)

Answer 16

1. 2/3 of British people feel uncomfortable talking to people with disabilities
2. 1/3 of people think of people with disabilities as less productive
3. 1/3 people show an unconscious bias against those with a disability, higher than levels of bias on the basis of gender or race
4. 21% of 18-34 year olds admit they have actually avoided talking to a disabled person , reason: don’t know how
5. Despite claims that the London 2012 Paralympic Games signalled a change in attitudes towards disability, levels of unconscious bias are higher than they were in 2010/2011 before the games.

Question 17

What are 9 main recommendations to remove unconscious bias? (according to ENEI)

Answer 17

1. Measure and educate about unconscious bias
2. Review positive action programmes for the risks of triggering stereotypes amongst decision makers, the staff (including staff with disabilities) and the public.
3. Increase understanding of the reasonable adjustment process, cost and impact.
4. Refer to hard evidence when talking up’ the impact of interventions rather than here-say to avoid ‘back-lash’ effects.
5. Review the impact of disability initiatives to ensure they are producing long term and lasting effects on the experiences of disabled people.
6. Use positive role models to show the positive effect people with disabilities can have at work. Focus on their achievements at work and not on their disability.
7. Encourage honest discussions about disability in the workplace. Educate managers about different types of disabilities and how to talk to someone about their disability, giving them the confidece to have effective communication with different types of people.
8. Review approach to reasonable adjustments to allow provision for extra help, reduced or different hours, reduced workload or different duties.
9. Make sure key people in the organisation are aware of Access to Work, the support offered and the funding that may be available.

Question 18

At a minimum monitor disability at what levels? (3)

Answer 18

• At recruitment stage
• Of staff with different performance ratings
• Of Leavers

Question 19

What are positive attitudes of people with disabilities correlating with according to the Ohio study? (2)

Answer 19

1. Positive attitudes toward people with disabilities in the workplace are associated with positive beliefs about the reasonableness of accommodating people with disabilities in the workplace
2. Positive attitudes are related to higher level of experience working with people with disabilities

Question 20

How can one make people more positive towards people with disabilities? (Copeland et al 2009) (3)

Answer 20

1. Promoting awareness of negative attitudes towards people with disabilities in the workplace is critical to eliminating barriers to employment.
2. Efforts to educate and inform employers regarding the ease of making reasonable workplace adjustments and the benefits of doing so may lead to increased opportunities for people with disabilities and may lead to increasingly positive attitudes.
3. Increased exposure to people with disabilities in the workplace may lead to improved attitudes.

Question 21

What are the three barriers to inclusion? (3)

Answer 21

1. Structural/Architectural
2. Communicative
3. Attitudinal: This is the least expensive barrier, but the hardest to deal with

Question 22

What was the USA study measuring and assessing? (3)

Answer 22

❑ Beliefs about what constitutes a disability,
❑ Affective reactions to working with individuals with disabilities
❑ beliefs about the reasonableness of workplace accommodations

Question 23

Who were the candidates studied and their experience? (3)

Answer 23

◼ The participants in this study were 118 undergraduate students at a large midwestern university (29 men and 89 women).

◼ Half of the sample had worked with an individual who was disabled.

◼ The average length of the work experience for those who had worked with a disable individuals was 5 months.

Question 24

What were the findings of the US Study? (4)

Answer 24

◼ In general, there was a discrepancy between what the participants believed were disabilities and what are actually covered by American Disability Act (ADA).

◼ Participants considered more of the physical or sensory- motor conditions to be disabilities than the psychological conditions

◼ Participants believed that schizophrenia, learning disabilities and alcoholism are not disabilities.

◼ Experience with persons who have disabilities was associated with more positive affective reactions but not with higher ratings of the reasonableness of workplace accommodations.

Question 25

What are the take away messages from both studies conducted? (4)

Answer 25

◼ Both studies found that the participants had little knowledge of what conditions are actually covered by the ADA.

◼ Lack of knowledge may lead to stereotypes that could manifest as discrimination in the workplace.

◼ Interventions to correct these misconceptions could be as simple as increasing awareness by providing employers with informational pamphlets and meetings.

◼ Organizations could also develop more involved interventions such as training programs.

Question 26

Give an example of a company that has dealt with disability as a key priority? what is its 5 levers?

Answer 26

1. Loreal has been committed for 10 years to deal with disability
2. Raising awareness
3. Giving accessibility to information and workplaces
4. Fostering sustainable partnerships in our zone
5. Recruiting disabled people at all levels
6. Ensuring long term development of all out talent