In 2020, 8.4 million people of working age (16-64) reported that they were disabled which is 20% of the working age population. 52 percent of disabled people aged 16-64 were in work compared with  81 percent of non-disabled people. It’s a gap the Department for Work and Pensions wants to tackle, but good research for evidence-based policy solutions in this area is thin on the ground. New research from Tarani Chandola and Patrick Rouxel suggests that ‘workplace accommodations’ such as flexible or part-time working, mentorship and training and support could help the Government achieve its 10 year ambition to halve the disability employment gap.

In its 2017 policy paper Improving lives: the future of work, health and disability, the DWP committed to seeing the number of  disabled work in work rise by 1 million from 3.5 to 4.5 million over the subsequent 10 years. 

When we talk about the disability employment gap we mean the difference between the number of people with a disability who are in work compared with those without a disability. The gap comes about through people having to leave work through ill-health or the onset of physical or mental health problems whilst working, together with the fact that if you’re disabled, you have considerably lower chances of getting a job in the first place. The large majority (83 percent) become disabled whilst they are in work and once they do the likelihood of them being in work a year later is much reduced.

There has been little research in this area, particularly when it comes to looking at all this in the round in order to get the bigger picture as it relates to all workers who use some sort of work place accommodation or adjustment to how, where and when they carry out the role. In order to make sound policy recommendations that work for disabled people and employers, the Government has been looking to develop a more comprehensive evidence base. 

Rather than starting with a person’s medical condition, we thought it could be useful to examine which workers (no matter the state of their health) are able to access e.g. a technical solution that means they can fulfil a role they otherwise wouldn’t be able to, as well as a range of flexible arrangements such as working hours, modified duties, being based at home, having access to a mentor. 

We wanted to try to establish who and how these arrangements and adaptations help to remain in work.

Barriers faced

We made use of information on more than 6,000 participants from the Life Opportunities Survey , which looks specifically at the barriers disabled people face in participating in various aspects of life including work. 

Around a third of the people we looked at who were in work reported some sort of impairment – a problem with their sight, hearing, mobility, pain, breathing, learning mental health or with a range of other conditions and disability-related issues. They were more likely to be out of work a year later than peers with no impairment, particularly if their impairments were to do with mobility or dexterity in which case they were three times more likely to be unemployed.

Workers with some sort of impairment or disability who had modified work duties or hours were more likely to remain economically active (in work or looking for work) than those who reported no such accommodations.

Modifications

A modified work area or equipment led to workers being twice as likely to stay in work. Indeed the more modifications reported, the more likely workers with an impairment were to be in work one year later.

Particularly noteworthy was how true this was for workers with mental impairments. Those who had no workplace accommodations were over 2/3rds (or 70 percent) less likely to remain in work than workers with no mental impairment.

This stark gap closed where two or more accommodations were reported. Also interesting was the fact that people with mental impairments were considerably less likely than those who reported physical pain to report an increase in their workplace accommodations. 

Looking at the wider picture of who accesses work accommodations and why, the main reason was not actually related to disability at all, but with having caring responsibilities.

The key things we learn from all this are that despite the evidence that workers with mental impairments could benefit considerably from workplace accommodations, they are less likely to have their workplace adjusted to take account of it.

This is something that could be a focus for policymakers and employers looking to close the disability employment gap. It should be especially helpful in informing managers and supervisors who have a crucial role in creating healthy and inclusive workplaces where all can thrive and progress. 

The role of workplace accommodations in explaining the disability employment gap in the UK is research by Tarani Chandola and Patrick Rouxel and is published in Social Science & Medicine.