Reasonable adjustments in the workplace take too long to introduce according to research by the Business Disability Forum.
HR magazine reported that managers are not entirely confident that they have the authority to act on adjustments, and as a result employees doubt their employer’s commitment to inclusion values.
The findings emerged from The Great British Workplace Adjustments Survey for 2023, which followed up on the Forum’s first survey from 2019.
The latest survey added new themes including adjustment passports, occupational health, working life during and since the pandemic, assertiveness and self-confidence, work-related stress, health and wellbeing initiatives, and what employees want in their careers.
Angela Matthews, the charity’s policy and research lead, said the research again found that people were having to wait too long for adjustments but also that adjustments were only one part of the jigsaw.
She reported: “For disabled staff, intimidating use of occupational health, inaccessible health and wellbeing initiatives, bullying and harassment and limited career progression were some of the remaining barriers.
“Employees generally felt that these barriers were not intended, but existed because their employer had not considered the impact something would have on disabled staff. This made disabled staff feel that they did not belong.”
The research also noted that “even the best employers” cannot solve the impairment or condition which brings the need for adjustments.
The report said: “For many people, difficulties, pain, tiredness, and the sheer time and energy it takes to manage conditions are barriers that are untouched by adjustments to a job or even the most inclusive of cultures.
The survey said that only one in 10 of disabled employees found it easy to get the adjustments they need and 8 per cent waited over a year to get them. In addition, 78 per cent of disabled employees said they initiated the process rather than their employers.
Only 19 per cent of managers said it was easy to put adjustments in place for their staff, due to complex and disjointed processes in their organisation.
The report said employers need to have a greater understanding of how disability affects a person’s life as a whole. It added that employers should accept that someone’s disability or condition still remains and should therefore remove or reduce as many disability-related barriers in their organisations as possible.
