The Great British Workplace Adjustments Survey 2023, which received almost 1,900 responses from disabled employees and managers, has shown that disabled employees wait too long for reasonable adjustments.
The reports recommends that a "single entry point" to all health adjustments and wellbeing support provided by an employer will help support to be found, and decisions to be made more quickly. Another recommendation is that conversations and adjustment reviews take place every time there is a change, and not just annually.
Disability passports have not been found to be particularly effective to the process of obtaining reasonable adjustments. They led to an increase in conversations with managers about disabilities for just 11% of respondents. The report therefore recommends that passports are used to facilitate, and not replace, conversations and that more guidance and training should be provided to managers on how to use them. In order to reduce stigma, the report recommends that employers should consider using passports for all employees, and not just for those who are disabled.
Just 22% of disabled employees and 25% of managers said that occupational health had helped disabilities or conditions being managed at work. The report recommends that, to improve this, the occupational health tender process should include questions that require providers to adhere to the employer's diversity and disability inclusion policies and guidance.
Another recommendation, following findings that bullying and harassment due to their disability was reported by 38% of respondents, is for employers to undertake a bullying and harassment review of their organisation. This should include asking employees whether they think the treatment was because of their protected characteristic so that interventions can be appropriately targeted.
