Business Disability Forum responds to Keep Britain Working Review
Responding to the publication of the Government’s Final Report on Keep Britain Working today (5 November), Business Disability Forum (BDF) has welcomed much of the report, including the central focus on workplace adjustments, but has said that more still needs to be done to help employers with the difficulties they are facing right now.
Angela Matthews, Director of Research and Public Policy at BDF, said:
“Workplace adjustments are key to the retention of disabled employees and helping them return to work and we know too well that, at the moment, getting adjustments is inconsistent and difficult. We are therefore pleased to see adjustments at the centre of this report. We are also pleased to see the call for a “people-focused, needs-led system”, rather than approaching situations by specific condition.
“But neither of these principles are new. In fact, they are basic employment law. Nevertheless, they remain rarely adhered to, and we know that even many disabled employees are unaware of the breadth of their rights at work.”
“We are also pleased to see the importance of workplace culture being recognized. Culture is at the heart of whether or not people feel ‘safe to share’. In research we published earlier this year, disabled employees who work in organisations where they felt included and had all the adjustments they needed told us that they ‘haven’t needed to’ say they have a disability. Employers also told us that, when they have good processes in place, they ‘rarely’ need to know if an employee has a disability, just what they are finding difficult. This is what workplace inclusion should look like.
“But we know that employers are finding it difficult to know what good looks like when it comes to the array of wellbeing initiatives available and sourcing and purchasing external provision for staff. We are disappointed that the review did not recognise this difficulty and seek to define what ‘best practice’ means in reality.
“We are also concerned that waiting three years for the initial ‘vanguard phase’ to finish before there is anything tangible to report seems contradictory with the beginning of the report which says this issue of health at work is an ‘urgent crisis’.
“There is a place for high-level and long-term thinking, definitely. But employers wanted to know what they need to do ahead of the raft of incoming mandatory requirements in legislation that workplace culture and practice change will require now. This is missing from the report but we hope that it will still be tackled by the Government.”
The Keep Britain Working Review can be found here.
ENDS
Find out more on our website www.businessdisabilityforum.org.uk.