Logo: The Rainbow Ripples Report

Good Practice Recommendations - Employment

  1. There needs to be further work at a national level to ensure an end to disability discrimination in the workplace, including less obvious indirect discrimination such as inflexible working practices and unspoken assumptions about disabled people made in recruitment and selection processes.
  2. There needs to be a removal of attitudinal discrimination in the education system and in careers advice. There should be an expectation that disabled people will achieve if access barriers are overcome. Until this occurs, disabled people will always be disadvantaged in employment.
  3. There needs to be a review of funding and benefits to ensure that people living in residential care can work without a financial penalty. The interaction between benefits and employment also needs a more general review but this is beyond the scope of this project.
  4. Organisations supporting people into a range of employment, including self-employment (such as Business Link) should review their support to disabled people, with a view to removing barriers.
  5. Employers need to be more aware that there are disabled people in their workplaces, including people with hidden impairments. They also need to ensure that all supervisory and management staff have knowledge of schemes that can support disabled people, such as Access to Work.
  6. Employers need to take attitudinal discrimination against LGB and disabled employees seriously. This includes ensuring that Equality Policies and Harassment Policies are well known, that policies specifically mention homophobia and disablism, and are used when required. Consideration needs to be given to protection from reprisals for people making claims of harassment. Assumptions should not be made about people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or disability.
  7. Employers should aim to create an environment which makes it safe for employees to “come out” as LGB or as a disabled person to their line managers and to colleagues, as hiding identity can be damaging for individuals.
  8. Employers should encourage peer worker support groups for LGB and disabled employees. In large organisations it may be possible to have a specifically LGB disabled employees support group. These groups could provide 3 roles; support for workers, feedback to management on issues of concern and a consultation route for management on new developments, and policies.
  9. There needs to be more availability of high quality equality and diversity training of managers, supervisors, human resources and employment support staff (e.g. careers service etc). This should be a responsibility of Human Resources departments.
  10. Self employment was a popular option for many LGB disabled people, both in terms of being in control of working conditions and being free from potential discrimination from colleagues or managers. Agencies supporting self employment need to look at their marketing and services to LGB disabled people.

Links