UK disability employment: challenges and barriers.

While the contribution disabled people make in the workplace is increasingly valued by UK employers, the disability employment gap remains stubbornly high. Increasing the number of disabled people in employment has wide reaching benefits for businesses, disabled individuals and the economy. But, according to Disability Rights UK (1), as few as 13% of businesses think they are doing enough to increase the number of disabled people they employ (DRUK).

These concerns are shared by many disabled people, who report experiencing long job hunts and negative attitudes when searching for work. So, what is stopping businesses in the UK from hiring more disabled people? And why are so many disabled people facing such a difficult time getting into and staying in work?

The situation in the UK

Disabled people make up a significant part of the working age population. In the UK, a third of adults aged 16-64 are disabled, neurodiverse or have a long term health condition (2). For this group, the employment rate remains low at only 52.7%, almost thirty percentage points short of the rate for their non-disabled peers (81.0%)(3). Disabled employees in the UK are subject to a further disadvantage through a significant disability pay gap. In 2020, the Trade Union Council reported disabled people earn on average £2.10 less an hour than disabled workers (4). This is supported by government figures, which show disabled people are underrepresented in professional roles, and reports that disabled people regularly accept job roles that do not progress their careers (5).

In recent years, the government has reported positive trends in this area, pointing to an increasing employment rate for disabled people. They also claim that the disability employment gap has shrunk by almost 5% since 2013 (6). However, experts (7) suggest these changes are not due to a reduction in discrimination against disabled people. Instead, they argue these differences result from an increasing number of people reporting themselves as disabled. Either way, this change remains concerningly small in relation to the huge disadvantage disabled people experience within employment.

Barriers to obtaining employment

While many factors contribute to the disability employment gap, a key area of research has been the barriers to finding and starting work for disabled people. According to research for Disability Rights UK (8), businesses lack confidence hiring disabled people, understanding how to make adjustments, and navigating systems such as Access to Work. At the same time, disabled people describe demoralising job searches, sometimes applying for hundreds of jobs, and difficulty identifying inclusive employers (9).

Some employers suggest it would be easier to hire disabled people if applicants were more willing to discuss their conditions (10). But for disabled people, previous bad experiences with employers mean many are reluctant to discuss adjustments prior to starting a new job (11). When disabled people do share information, they worry they will be disadvantaged and report that job opportunities sometimes disappear after revealing that they are disabled. A Scope survey of disabled people in work found that as many as 15% of reponsponds felt they had been turned down for a job because of their condition or impairment (12).

Where communication does happen, disabled people report that they are usually the ones to initiate discussion about adjustments (13). Employers describe a lack of information about how to support disabled employees can prevent them from being proactive (14). Both businesses and disabled employees recognise that suggesting solutions to problems encountered in the workplace often falls to the disabled person. For many disabled people, repeatedly explaining their needs, and feeling responsible for solving any problems that occur creates extra work and can be a burden on the employee.

Another key barrier is the concern around extra costs. Disabled job seekers fear being a burden to employers, sometimes meaning they do not request adjustments they would benefit from (15). Businesses can also worry about the cost of supporting disabled workers, with 19% of employers believing it is expensive to employ disabled people (16). Access to Work, a government scheme that provides grants to fund adjustments, is intended to cover these extra costs. However, uptake for the scheme is low, and both employers and employees are not always familiar with what support is available. Even where the scheme is used, there can be long delays in processing applications and receiving equipment, leaving employees struggling or unable to perform some parts of their new job.

Written by Vickery Stamp

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