|
|
|
|
|
Home Latest News Search e-learning Calendars Contact Us Legal Issues |
Disability » Employment IssuesEmployment Issues(Information contained in this Section is taken from: 'Employing Disabled People, a good practice guide for managers and employers', produced by the Department for Education and Employment.) Background
There are good business reasons for employing disabled people. Most disabled people can work alongside their non-disabled colleagues without any, or with very little, special assistance. Others may need some adjustment to the working environment or working practices. But these adjustments can be straightforward and often inexpensive to implement. Frequently there is financial and other assistance available. What has been clearly demonstrated are the benefits to employers of employing disabled people. Research has shown that:
In addition, adopting good practice and complying with the duties and requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) reduces the risk of costly litigation and bad publicity. Any firm with 15 or more employees is covered by the employment duties in the DDA (although this figure is likely to reduce, possibly to 0). A crucial part of the DDA is that it is unlawful for employers to discriminate against current or prospective employees with disabilities. Employers are required to act in a fair and common sense way. This could mean that employers have to make 'reasonable adjustments' so that a disabled person is not put at a substantial disadvantage compared with a non-disabled person. It could also mean that employers have to be prepared to justify the way in which they treat a disabled person. Recruitment
By far the most common business argument given by managers employing disabled
people is that it enables them to secure the best person for the job. Making
adjustments to accommodate the needs of disabled employees, if necessary, is seen
as common sense and sound business practice.
It is important to ensure that your recruitment and employment practices maximise the opportunity to attract and keep disabled people as well as ensuring that you comply with the law. The recruitment process should be relevant to the post so that the best person
for the job is selected, rather than the best person at the interview process.
Job descriptions/Person specifications
Check that the job description and person specification for a vacant post only include requirements which are clearly related to the duties – otherwise a disabled applicant may be deterred from applying or be (inadvertently) discriminated against in the selection process. A good discipline is to focus on what the job is to accomplish as the inclusion
of unnecessary, or marginal, requirements in a person specification can lead to
discrimination.
Advertising
If you are using advertisements to recruit, you can use them to publicly welcome applications from people with disabilities. Make it clear that you can provide the vacancy information in different formats such as large print, audio tape, disk or e-mail and that applications can be received in a similar fashion. Consider placing your advertisement with the Disability Employment Adviser at the local Jobcentre. Ensure that special schools and Day Centres are informed about Careers Fairs. Application Forms
You may need to make adjustments such as allowing a candidate to submit an application in a different format from that specified for candidates in general e.g. typewritten, by telephone, on tape or by e-mail. Good and successful practice is where an employer gives applicants, through standard questions in the job application, the opportunity to say whether any special provisions or facilities are required at interview. Employers can ask applicants on the application form if they are disabled. It can be helpful to ask whether the applicant believes that they will need the employer to make a reasonable adjustment in the selection or interview process, or in the job if the applicant is selected. Sharing this information at an early stage should be to the advantage of both applicant and employer. Selection
You need to ensure that your selection procedures do not disadvantage disabled people at interview or when completing assessment and selection tests. You should review the job requirements and person specifications to make sure that they can all be justified in relation to the tasks to be performed in the job. Even where a qualification is justified generally, you should consider waiving it if a person who could not achieve it because of a disability would nevertheless be capable of performing well in the job. Interviewing
If you know in advance that a candidate will need some adjustments to attend and/or take part in a selection interview, you will need to arrange this where reasonable. Even if you do not know in advance, you should try to accommodate any needs a disabled person might have when they arrive. All selection interviews should be objective and non-biased. When interviewing
people with disabilities do not let any misconceptions about disability influence
your view on whether a person can do the job.
Asking about a disability should only be done in relation to the effect on someone's ability to do the job. It can be very useful to allow the individual to guide you through their qualities and limitations as they know their needs better than anyone else. This will help you to find out whether the person needs an adjustment to the job and what that adjustment might be. An important 'rule' is not to make assumptions about an individual's ability
to perform certain tasks. People with disabilities often develop innovative solutions
to everyday tasks, with or without technical aids or personal support.
Interviewing job candidates requires skills and understanding, and staff training
in disability awareness can be a good way to reduce the risk of discriminatory
attitudes affecting decisions.
For people who have a Learning Disability please refer back to the Section on People with a Learning Disability, Health and Social Care, Customer Care. Assessment Testing
If you use aptitude or other tests as part of the selection procedure, you may need to revise these tests or the way the results are assessed, to take account of specific disabled candidates. An exception to this would be where the nature and form of the test are necessary to assess an ability which is very relevant to the job. For example, you could substitute written tests with practical tests for people with learning disabilities who are not good at reading and writing and do not need to be in order to do the job. When administering commercially produced psychometric tests there are various issues which can arise for people with disabilities and cause bias. Some people with a hearing impairment may have difficulty in following oral instructions or a person with dyslexia may take longer to read questions. Advice should be sought from a test consultant for each individual situation so that only appropriate changes are made and that the effects on the interpretation of the results are understood. Health Screening
Some employers require all candidates for employment to have a medical examination and it would be appropriate to include a disabled person in this process. But it is not appropriate for an employer to insist on a medical check for a disabled person and not for others without justification. The crucial question is not simply whether this person is fit for the job but
often whether he or she would be fit for the job if a reasonable adjustment was
made.
Research shows that good practice is where the selection process is separated from the health screening. Confidential health questionnaires or medical examinations are only triggered after a preferred candidate has been identified and are dealt with by an occupational health specialist. The crucial question is not simply whether this person is fit for the job but often whether he or she would be fit for the job if a reasonable adjustment was made. Employment - Induction
Induction is an important stage for both employer and any new recruit. For some disabled people this can be especially so. You will need to consider whether your standard induction procedures are accessible or whether you need to make any adjustments. Adjustments could include: having an induction loop for the induction talks; alternative formats for manuals and presentation packs, including the use of braille or sub-titles/signing on videos, or maybe an alternative venue. Sometimes these arrangements might only be needed at the induction stage and not for the job itself. The Disablement Advisory Service offer a professional link and advisory service between persons with a disability in the workplace and their employer. They can advise on adjustments required such as adapted software, providing a support worker or arranging transport to and from work. They will also in certain cases provide financial assistance towards the cost of various adjustments where applicable. Most importantly, you will need to ensure that managers, supervisors and working colleagues are suitably briefed. They need to understand the nature of the adjustments you have made but may not always need to know details of the disability. You might want to consider assigning another member of staff to support the new employee, especially in the first few days. Training
Your training programmes may need to take account of any particular or additional needs of disabled people. For instance:
Career Development and Promotion
Enabling employees to benefit from training courses is one of the principal steps to good career development. It is therefore very important not to make assumptions about a person's ability to undertake or benefit from training. Always check and talk with the person and discuss if they will need adjustments to participate fully. Other steps to facilitate development opportunities are also important. For example, adjustments to allow full participation in staff and team meetings. Regular performance reviews provide a chance to discuss whether an individual is able to carry out new tasks associated with promotion or transfer. One common mistake is to overlook a disabled person for promotion to management or supervisory positions because they cannot carry out some of the tasks due to their impairment. But very often the supervisor only needs to know how the task is done and not necessarily be able to do it. Retention/Redeployment
There are sound business reasons to retain employees who become disabled. They cost money to recruit and train, as well as having the skills for the job, and knowledge of the organisation and its methods of working. The DDA Code of Practice says that it would be reasonable for an employer to
have to spend at least as much on an adjustment to keep a disabled person in work,
including any retraining, as might be recruiting and training a replacement.
Experience has shown that often the costs of adjustments in money and time can
be far less than those of recruiting a new employee.
The majority of disabled people become disabled during their working life and the incidence of disability increases steadily from age 45. Employers need to consider how best to make reasonable adjustments to retain an employee who has become disabled or whose condition changes or deteriorates, so that the employee is not put at a substantial disadvantage in their job. Some of the most effective adjustments include:
|
 |
‘Working with
Diversity’ is not responsible for the content of external Internet
sites Northern Ireland Web Design by redrhino |
 |