An organisation which was set up to explore the social impact of Covid-19 has published a series of recommendations around providing hybrid working opportunities for disabled people.
The International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO) said the next Government should prioritise introducing a UK-wide right to flexible working for all workers, which would allow disabled workers to benefit without penalisation or stigma.
It also urged employers to always display flexible working options on job adverts, normalising flexible working for all and giving applicants choice and transparency.
And it called for investment in research comparing international policy responses to supporting disabled people in a hybrid work environment, considering alternative solutions such as disability quotas and their potential application in the UK.
The report, which can be found at https://theippo.co.uk/ notes that the pandemic forced a revolution in working practices on organisations and employees alike, and a much larger proportion of the workforce continue to work remotely than ever before.
It found that a hybrid work environment appropriately designed around workers’ individual support needs can contribute to raised productivity, increased prosperity and a happier and healthier workforce. Within that, the IPPO identified a particular interest in the impact of hybrid working on the experiences and employment outcomes of disabled people.
The IPPO quoted figures showing that around 23 per cent of the UK working age population are disabled under the Equality Act 2010 definition, an increase from 19 per cent before the pandemic.
It says there is a significant “disability employment gap”, with the overall difference in the employment rate of disabled people and non-disabled people being 29 per cent in early 2023.
Other recommendations for government included bringing the enforcement of workplace rights under the Equality Act 2010. It also said the Flexible Working Taskforce should initiate a campaign to attract more employers to be “Disability Confident” with a view to making disability reporting mandatory within the next decade.
The report concluded that hybrid working is desirable for most workers and can bring important additional benefits for disabled people, yet it can also create additional challenges and new access needs for some.
It said: “Opportunities and rights for hybrid working should be expanded but must be paired with additional support where needed to support equality in the workplace.
For disabled people to get benefits from hybrid working, they should have maximum autonomy and control over their working pattern.
“Good practice guidance and examples are important to normalise hybrid working, and reforms to enforcement and support mechanisms for reasonable adjustments are needed.
“Hybrid working is not equally available to all, and disabled people are more likely to work in industries where hybrid working is less routine. Government support and encouragement for these industries to trial approaches to flexible working could help.”
