Disabled people who want to work say they can’t due to a ‘chronically underfunded’ welfare system and accessibility issues
People with disabilities who want to work say they cannot because of a “chronically underfunded” benefits system and a lack of reasonable accommodations in the workplace.
The author of a major review of how to keep people in work warned on Wednesday that Britain was “heading towards an avoidable crisis” with health problems among workers coming at a “tremendous” cost to employers.
Former John Lewis boss Sir Charlie Mayfield’s report Keep Britain Work found that poor workplace health costs UK employers around £85bn a year and called on both employers and workers to do more.
But as Pauline Fox-Reid, 57, who is deaf and blind, says Independent: “I have a strong work ethic, but I’m struggling with a system that doesn’t work.”
The 57-year-old woman, who lives in Waltham Priory in Essex, said she had to resign from her job at the pharmacy in 2014 after her request for help with her health condition was rejected, and has since retired due to health problems.
He emphasized that he wanted to return to work, but faced many obstacles in doing so, such as lack of digital skills, the need for others to help him due to his disabilities, and the need for a quiet work environment, which he otherwise would not be able to hear. “I’m lost in a system that doesn’t kill people,” he said.
He explained that he had many transferable skills but was afraid that employers would deter him from hiring because they might think some reasonable adjustments would cost them more.
He also worries that his qualifications may be out of date now that so much time has passed. “I can’t find anyone to help me or hire me,” he said. And he once said a visit to a job center left him “without any practical help” such as a coach to support him in accessing work.
He blamed the “chronically underfunded” system and called for better accessibility for all.
The new report described a culture of fear among workers about health issues, the lack of an effective and consistent support system for employers and employees in managing health, and structural challenges for people with disabilities.
Sir Charlie proposed a new approach where responsibility for workplace health is shared between employers, employees and health services, rather than left to the worker and the NHS. But while he said employers must do more to help their employees, he warned workers must also do their bit, with health problems one of the biggest drivers of economic inactivity in the UK.
But Ms Fox-Reid said potential employees like herself had tried but the support was not enough. “People will not recover from long-term health conditions and support is not available.” He went further to say sick pay was actually still “inadequate” and was a “real challenge” to take up.
Dan White, of Disability Rights UK, said the report “accuses disabled people of not working” and “fundamentally misunderstands that people are disabled not just because of health conditions but also because of social and workplace barriers.”
He continued: “The report comes at a time when the government is cutting programs such as Access to Work, which we know support us in the workplace, which it highlights are important for disabled people. But the report makes absolutely no criticism of employers’ inflexibility and top-down culture, their failure to comply with the Equality Act, their inability to create disability-inclusive cultures and their failure to embrace modern ways of engaging with their disabled employees.”
“This review, like many previous reviews, focuses mostly on employers and what can be done to support them, and offers little concrete advice to strengthen the rights of disabled people in the workplace. So we struggle to see the impact this will have.”
Jamie McCormock, 53, acknowledged the lack of support for those with health conditions in the UK, drawing on personal experience and the last decade of campaigning.
The 53-year-old man, a wheelchair user, said he wanted to work but had not worked a formal job since 2017 because “accessibility is such an issue.” “I want to go back to working on something I can solve and improve my health,” he said.
He explained that employers’ attitude towards people who have not worked for more than a year can often be: “Not worth the risk.” He also said accessibility requirements could cost thousands of pounds, but the five-day working week was not suitable for everyone.
She talked about her experience with a work coach, and when she told him she wanted to be a rehabilitation therapist or trainer, he asked: “What makes you think you can do this job?” He showed her his resume detailing his skills in the field. When she later asked him if there was any support that could help him land a role or programs that could help him start his own company, she told him “no,” he said.
McCormock, from Chessington, called for changes to the law to improve access to work for people with health conditions, as well as changes to the language around disabled people and access. He said: “You need to change the language of missed opportunity to risk and develop a more flexible system of access to work.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “Following the publication of the Keep Britain Working Review, we are partnering with over sixty large and many smaller employers to reshape the way health issues and disabilities are managed in the workplace.
“This builds on our work to help more sick or disabled people move out of poverty and into good, secure jobs, including our Connect to Work program and our neurodivergent panel work to increase inclusion in the workplace.”
