Breakfast Forum newsletter – November 2009

The misconceptions which prevent employers from taking on people with disabilities were discussed at our November forum. The discussion was led by David Jessop, Operations Director of the Royal British Legion Industries Ltd (RBLI), who are experts in advising employers and employees in this field.

Alcohol (and drug) use and abuse in the workplace will be the topic for our last Breakfast Forum this year, on Friday 11 December. Our discussions will be led by Dr Patrick Wheeler, consultant physician with a special interest in gastroenterology and liver disease. Although the topic is a serious one, we hope to mark the Christmas period with a suitable festive flavour.

If you are interested in attending this forum, please contact anne@employment-relations.co.uk, tel: 01303 840001.

The topic discussed in November was one close to Tony Bertin, as he experienced first hand the problems disabled people have in finding work. He was unable to find legal work during two years of treatment, after a serious medical accident 10 years ago forced him to undergo limb reconstruction at King’s College Hospital, London. He is now a trustee and co-chairman of the King’s College Hospital Limb Reconstruction Trust, a charity set up to provide information and support to patients undergoing this lengthy, complex and painful reconstruction work.

Mark Phillips, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at King’s College Hospital Limb Reconstruction Unit and the charity’s medical co-chairman, told forum members that the lengthy treatment often means patients lose their job, their home, their relationships, their drive and self-esteem. These patients are often men aged 20 to 40, frequently motorcyclists, men employed in the building industry or ex service personnel, who have suffered a complex fracture. The charity offers support and information to help them rebuild their lives.

David Jessop of RBLI explained the work they do at Aylesford and through contracts elsewhere in the country, to rehabilitate disabled servicemen and civilians back into meaningful employment.

“After people are injured there is a spiral of growing despondency or depression. Our role is to channel the positive aspects of rehabilitation. In the past these people were put in a factory setting, a protected work environment. Now we provide meaningful work in a meaningful commercial environment and we feel we can make a difference to people’s lives,” said David.

Questions employers should ask themselves are: what are their restrictions and inhibitions about employing people with disabilities? Why do they differentiate between people with disability and without?

A disability is not always physically visible; there is a stigma attached to disability, the perception that an able person can and a disabled person cannot; and employers wrongly believe that employing a disabled person will cost them money in absence management and adapting the workplace. But as an example, only 2% of disabled people need a ramp to gain access to a building.

Some disabled people have suffered such a level of discrimination in the past that given the chance of employment, they can be the most loyal ambassadors for a company. This is because employment for them is not just a job, but an integral and meaningful part of their life.

Employing disabled people is all about attitude: if decision makers have the wrong attitude, it will not happen, independently of legislation. They will spend 40 minutes explaining why they can’t employ disabled people rather than five minutes saying why they can.

The bottom line is that it does not matter a jot what condition someone has if that condition does not affect that person’s ability to do the job. This requires employers to think laterally when welcoming back to work someone who has become disabled. It’s not a question of doing everything to make things the same as before, but to find adaptations that better suit that person.

The reluctance of companies also stems from press reports of large amounts being paid out by companies accused of disability discrimination, where the limit of compensation is uncapped.

From the legal point of view people have to be fit to do the job for which they are employed, but adjustments relative to the size of business may be required.