Catering for disabled employees won’t cost much but is now a priority says Steve Crabb
In just under six weeks, businesses are going to face a major shake-up of the way they treat employees with disabilities. So far, a lot of media attention has been focused on how easy it is to get a wheelchair into your local pub or bank, but comparatively little on the workplace implications. But the new Disability Discrimination Act (Amendment) Regulations, which come into effect on October 1, need close attention.
SMEs are going to be included within the scope of the Act for the first time; the small business exemption, for employers with fewer than 15 staff, is being abolished.
Secondly, four forms of discrimination will become unlawful from 1 October:
- Direct discrimination (ie discrimination on the grounds of a person’s disability)
- Failure to comply with a duty to make reasonable adjustments
- Discrimination relating to a person’s disability
- Victimisation of a person on the grounds of their disability
The Act will also be extended to cover people in a wider range of working relationships, including partnerships and even work experience placements.
That’s the scary stuff out of the way. Now for the good news. Treating people with disabilities as individuals is actually fantastically good for business, and needn’t cost as much as you’d think. Dianah Worman, policy adviser on equal opportunities at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, says: “Employing people with disabilities enables you to put out a message to the community that you are taking the issue seriously and you welcome people with disabilities as customers. It will also give you a leg up against your competitors if they aren’t already taking action.
“And it’s not just people with disabilities who’ll take notice - one in four of us has a friend or relation with a disability. It’s a huge marketplace, which is one of the reasons why grocery businesses like Tesco and Sainsbury take disability so seriously.” In fact, the Employers’ Forum on Disability estimates that people with disabilities spend around £50bn each year in the UK.
Susan Scott-Parker, chief executive of the EFD, says the argument for service providers to act now is compelling: “No provider of goods and services can afford to miss out on the spending power of 10 million disabled customers across the UK, never mind the hundreds of millions around the world.”
Marks & Spencer is another major business going through a disability awareness training programme in the run-up to the implementation of the new regulations; it’s bought 100,000 copies of the EFD’s guide ‘Welcoming disabled customers’ to give to its staff, and has made disability a central plank of its Marks & Start work experience programme.
Unfortunately, too many employers think wheelchairs and ramps when you mention disability. But important as it is to make adjustments for wheelchair users, they represent a fraction of people with disabilities - and the list of disabilities is getting longer all the time. By 2006, for example, it’s likely that people suffering from progressive illnesses like HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis will be covered by the Act from the moment their condition is diagnosed - up to now they have only been protected once they start showing the symptoms. This is expected to add an extra 73,000 people to the number protected.
Look again at the list above, and you’ll see that adjusting to most of the new regulations won’t involve any expense at all - it’s simply a matter of making sure your employees and your managers know their rights and their responsibilities and act decently. Companies are going to see the results of their actions reflected in the bottom line - whether as increased profits or a fat fine for non-compliance.
Further information: Contact The Employers Forum on Disability on 020 7403 3020.
Steve Crabb is editor of People Management
In just under six weeks, businesses are going to face a major shake-up of the way they treat employees with disabilities. So far, a lot of media attention has been focused on how easy it is to get a wheelchair into your local pub or bank, but comparatively little on the workplace implications. But the new Disability Discrimination Act (Amendment) Regulations, which come into effect on October 1, need close attention.
SMEs are going to be included within the scope of the Act for the first time; the small business exemption, for employers with fewer than 15 staff, is being abolished.
Secondly, four forms of discrimination will become unlawful from 1 October:
- Direct discrimination (ie discrimination on the grounds of a person’s disability)
- Failure to comply with a duty to make reasonable adjustments
- Discrimination relating to a person’s disability
- Victimisation of a person on the grounds of their disability
The Act will also be extended to cover people in a wider range of working relationships, including partnerships and even work experience placements.
That’s the scary stuff out of the way. Now for the good news. Treating people with disabilities as individuals is actually fantastically good for business, and needn’t cost as much as you’d think. Dianah Worman, policy adviser on equal opportunities at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, says: “Employing people with disabilities enables you to put out a message to the community that you are taking the issue seriously and you welcome people with disabilities as customers. It will also give you a leg up against your competitors if they aren’t already taking action.
“And it’s not just people with disabilities who’ll take notice - one in four of us has a friend or relation with a disability. It’s a huge marketplace, which is one of the reasons why grocery businesses like Tesco and Sainsbury take disability so seriously.” In fact, the Employers’ Forum on Disability estimates that people with disabilities spend around £50bn each year in the UK.
Susan Scott-Parker, chief executive of the EFD, says the argument for service providers to act now is compelling: “No provider of goods and services can afford to miss out on the spending power of 10 million disabled customers across the UK, never mind the hundreds of millions around the world.”
Marks & Spencer is another major business going through a disability awareness training programme in the run-up to the implementation of the new regulations; it’s bought 100,000 copies of the EFD’s guide ‘Welcoming disabled customers’ to give to its staff, and has made disability a central plank of its Marks & Start work experience programme.
Unfortunately, too many employers think wheelchairs and ramps when you mention disability. But important as it is to make adjustments for wheelchair users, they represent a fraction of people with disabilities - and the list of disabilities is getting longer all the time. By 2006, for example, it’s likely that people suffering from progressive illnesses like HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis will be covered by the Act from the moment their condition is diagnosed - up to now they have only been protected once they start showing the symptoms. This is expected to add an extra 73,000 people to the number protected.
Look again at the list above, and you’ll see that adjusting to most of the new regulations won’t involve any expense at all - it’s simply a matter of making sure your employees and your managers know their rights and their responsibilities and act decently. Companies are going to see the results of their actions reflected in the bottom line - whether as increased profits or a fat fine for non-compliance.
Further information: Contact The Employers Forum on Disability on 020 7403 3020.
Steve Crabb is editor of People Management
No comments yet