ADD ADVICE TO FAVPhysical disabilities
Employers often discriminate against disabled applicants because they lack awareness of how to come up with solutions in the workplace. And disabled people often lack confidence and knowledge about their rights, so they don’t always know what they are entitled to ask of their employers.
However, support is available from organisations such as Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities, and if you do run into problems, the law is on your side. The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) protects people who are disabled or have long-term health conditions, such as diabetes or chronic heart conditions. It requires employers not to treat disabled people less favourably and to make adjustments for them, both during the application process and at work.
Meeting disabled people’s needs
The needs of people with physical disabilities are usually considered to be relatively straightforward to address, as the impairment is often visible and therefore its effects are judged to be obvious. However, physical disabilities can be complex and fluctuating. They vary enormously from person to person, and their effects won’t always be visible.
Employers’ awareness of the need to install ramps and chair-lifts for people who are wheelchair-users is relatively high, but these changes are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the range of potential adjustments for people with physical disabilities.
For example, the adjustments required by someone with multiple sclerosis may change over time, as it is a fluctuating health condition. At times they may use a wheelchair and need to work in an accessible space or from home.
Someone with chronic fatigue syndrome may require flexible working hours or frequent short breaks. Someone with problems affecting their hands may need special equipment, such as a different sort of mouse or voice-activated software. Someone with a neurological condition affecting their co-ordination may need a support worker for a few hours each week.
If you have these or other physical disabilities you may require one or more of these adjustments, or some entirely different ones.
Access to Work
Many adjustments are free, and help is available to pay for those that do have a cost. You can apply for the Access to Work scheme through your local Jobcentre Plus. This is a government-funded scheme to pay for a range of workplace support for disabled people, ranging from specialist IT equipment to transport costs. Like the DDA, Access to Work should make you feel more confident about discussing your needs with employers.
It’s important to remember that the best way to come up with solutions is to talk frankly with your employer about what they can do to support you. If you have a clear idea of what adjustments you need, it will be much easier for your employer to act accordingly.
