1.1 Exploring discrimination

As well as the types of discrimination outlined in Week 1, there are two additional types of disability discrimination:

• failure to make reasonable adjustments
• discrimination arising from disability, i.e. when you’re treated unfairly because of something connected to your disability rather than the disability itself.

What are reasonable adjustments?

Watch this short video from BeyondHR for a detailed explanation.

Download this video clip.Video player: Video 2: Disability and reasonable adjustment at work

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Transcript: Video 2: Disability and reasonable adjustment at work

[MUSIC PLAYING]

DEIRDRE MCDERMOTT

A disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out their normal day to day activities. Whilst physical impairments affect the senses, such as sight and hearing, heart disease, diabetes, and epilepsy, mental impairments include learning disabilities and mental ill health. Long term are effects that last or are likely to last at least 12 months. And day to day activities are normal activities carried out by most people on a regular basis. Some examples of which are mobility, manual dexterity, physical coordination, and memory or ability to concentrate. If as a result of their disability an individual is treated worse than another person in a similar situation or as an employer you fail to make reasonable changes to allow this person to work or be interviewed, etc, the individual can challenge this treatment under disability discrimination legislation.

So what is a reasonable adjustment? A reasonable adjustment is a change to remove or adjust the effect of an employee’s disability so as they can do their job or a job applicant’s disability when applying for a job. The reasonable adjustment could be to the workplace, to the way things are done-- providing equipment to assist the individual to carry out their job, for example-- or to get someone to help the employee or job applicant. It is important when employers are considering reasonable adjustments that you consult with both the employee and the medical professionals to determine the best approach.

End transcript: Video 2: Disability and reasonable adjustment at work

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Video _unit3.2.1 Video 2: Disability and reasonable adjustment at work

Making reasonable adjustments for one individual can potentially lead to an increasingly diverse workforce, as other disabled applicants might benefit from the increased accessibility of the working environment you are creating.

If you represent a small organisation with concerns about the costs associated with these adjustments, your employee may be able to apply to the Access to Work scheme for support. See Further reading for the link.

Disability Rights UK (2021) provides a factsheet detailing a wide range of potential adjustments for students. Although this advice is given primarily for an educational context, it is very detailed and divided into ‘impairment specific’ sections, so should provide useful insight for any employer.

Examples include:

• provision of a quiet room for individuals with sensory issues
• use of digital recorders in meetings
• alternative arrangements for work and deadlines
• provision of paperwork in advance to give extra time for planning.

Brett (2021) suggests five ways to work towards a more inclusive business for employees with disabilities:

1. Inclusion starts with changes in attitudes and behaviour – changing the workplace culture and stopping the negative assumptions that are often made about a person’s capabilities.
2. ‘Disability’ is a word that many don’t actually identify with – asking people about the adjustments and accessibility measures they need to perform their work will help you to collect more meaningful and actionable data.
3. Your people are experts on their own accessibility requirements – ask them what will help them to thrive.
4. The greatest impairment is often our social environments – talk to those who are potentially affected and make an effort to remove barriers.
5. Input will make your business more accessible – access the internal experience and knowledge, listen and act on the feedback you receive.