Seminar- Dsiability in the workplace Flashcards
How many of the working age population become disabled each year?
2% (Papworth Trust, 2018)
How many people experience a common mental health problem in any given week in the UK?
1 in 6 (Papeworth Trust, 2018)
Why is the number of people with disabilities increasing?
The number of people with disabilities is increasing due to demographic changes and an increase chronic health conditions
Sherbin et al., 2017 in a survey of white collar workers in america found
Of the 30% of employees had a disability, 62% had an invisible disability
Only 3.2% self-identify as having a disability to their employers
What did BUPA 2022 find
43% of employees in the UK with a less visible disability haven’t disclosed it to their employer
Compared to non disabled people, disabled people are more likely
Unemployed and have difficulties finding work
- Experience a pay gap compared to non-disabled people
- Experience bullying and harassment
(Papeworth Trust, 2018)
What did EHRC report 2017 find
that disabled people in the UK are “left behind in society” and have “very poor” life chances
Why is there a belief that disabled people wont be as good as non disabled people
Less productive than other staff
High rates of sickness absences
Be a risk to health and safety
Leave after a short time
Take longer to train
Require expensive changes to buildings, policies and ways of thinking and working
Kaye et al., 2011 states employers need
- Training on disability issues
E.g. success stories of disabled people; strategies for rethinking job duties; dispelling stereotypes and overcoming prejudice - Government subsides and public policy strategies e.g. tax breaks or salary subsidies for employing workers with disabilities
Legal assistance and advice
What are some deemed disabilities
Blindness, severe sight impairment and partial sightedness (provided this is certified by a consultant ophthalmologist)
Severe disfigurements (with the exception of unremoved tattoos and piercings)
Cancer
HIV infection
Multiple sclerosis
[ERCH, 2021]
Conceptualisations of disabilities
Conceptualisations of disability affect people’s attitudes towards people with disabilities
These attitudes have an impact on outcomes for people with disabilities
They affect how they are treated, how they are able to participate in society, and social policy
Medical model of disability
A traditional view of disability
Disability is understood as an individual’s problem
For example, if someone has a visual, mobility or hearing impairment, then their inability to see, walk or hear is understood as their problem
Problems with the medical model
People are expected to see their disabilities as their problem
Something they will have to make thebest of
Accept that there are many things they cannot do
Impact on indivudal having a disability
People with disability may internalise the negative message that all their problems stem from not being ‘normal’
People can also be led to believe that their disabilities automatically prevent them from taking part in society
Carson (2009) argues that this “internalised oppression” can make people with disabilities less likely to challenge their exclusion from mainstream society
The social model
Created by disabled people themselves
Challenge the assumptions of the medical model
People are disabled by barriers in society, not their impairment or difference
For example: the physical environment, people’s attitudes, how people communicate, how organisations are run, how society discriminates against people who are perceived as ‘different’
Solutions in response to the social model
Removing barriers creates equality
Offers disabled people more independence, choice, and control
Allows disabled people to participate in society and access work
If life was set up in a way that was accessible for disabled people, then they would not be excluded or restricted
What is the affermative model (Cameron, 2008)
Moves away from the idea that sees disability as a “personal tragedy” in favour of a “non-tragic view” of disability and impairments
An impairment should be viewed as an “ordinary characteristic” of human experience, rather than an “extraordinary characteristic”
We are all likely to develop impairments at some point in our lives as we get older
How does Equality Act (2010) protect disabled people?
The law protects against disability discrimination during all stages of the employment process:
Recruitment
Promotion
Training and development
Determining pay or salary
what happens in recruitment
Employers cannot ask job applicants about their health or disability until they have been offered a job
Except in specific circumstances where the information is necessary for the application process or a requirement of the job
Reasonable adjustments
The Equality Act (2010) imposes an obligation on employers to make reasonable adjustments in their workplace and practices in order to remove any disadvantage suffered by a disabled employee
