Lots of organisations use the disability confident accreditation or claim to be inclusive employers, but what does that really mean? There's always a big push to get people into employment that have long term health problems, but how easy is it to find work if you have a disability and what's it like to try and sustain that? I don't have all the answers, but I wanted to write a bit about my experiences.
Around 4 years ago I left a job that I'd been in for years and found myself in a position of needing to look for work. I was still in work whilst I was looking, so didn't have to explain any gaps in employment at that point in time. I found a job within the NHS within administration and that's where my problems began.
When things go wrong in work
The job didn't start well, I didn't have a training plan, there wasn't guidance for a lot of the work I did. I often found myself having to second guess what I needed to do and that created a constant sense of anxiety. I wasn't part of a specific team as people were spread over different sites, so I felt isolated. I had big gaps of having nothing to do and seeking guidance often didn't resolve this. During this employment I was diagnosed as autistic. My manager worked across different sites and when they were in the building they often sat in a separate room. I remember feeling scared nearly all of the time and close to tears a lot. I always did everything that was asked of me efficiently once I understood what I needed to do, there was no question of the quality of my work. Even just typing this is making me feel upset as I remember feeling completely trapped, when you are autistic change can be really difficult, so in my mind leaving the job wasn't an option as that would mean stepping into another unknown and potentially another difficult situation. Eventually my mental health did break, I've talked about hospital admissions and my illness in other blogs so I won't go into it here. I did have advice from occupational health and mental health employment services to help me to return to work after being off sick, unfortunately the adjustments that were recommended weren't always followed – some were refused outright. My role and expectations kept changing to the point I couldn't keep up with it. I reached a point where I couldn't return to the job and handed in my notice.
Looking for work
I'd not experienced looking for work with a gap in the CV before and it did feel more challenging to get an interview. I'd had time in hospital and was still recovering, so needed to find part time work so I could manage my recovery alongside. I faced a variety of problems looking for work.
- Most jobs are advertised as full time. Some disability confident employers say they will consider jobs as part time. My experience of applying on a part time basis was being told I'd given a great interview, but they'd given the job to the person who could do it full time – this happened more than once.
- Disability confident employers say they will offer an interview to those who meet the minimum criteria. I experienced multiple occasions of not being offered an interview and having to flag up I'd met the minimum criteria to have the decision overturned. In some instances (One of them was the NHS) I was promised an interview and didn't hear anything further, emails and calls went ignored.
- It was hard to get reasonable adjustments understood, I didn't always know what to ask for. I'd ask for details of what the tests were and would get a really vague answer. I'd ask for a quiet room for an interview, but not anticipate I'd have to wait in a really busy area which would give me sensory overload before I'd even begun. Organisations often think that by asking people to do tests in open plan offices it's mimicking what people need to do if they were offered the role, however it fails to take into account that it's an unfamiliar place at interview stage which can be overwhelming and distracting.
- I tried to look at voluntary work. When approaching organisations I would explain that I'd need 2 specific adjustments – clear written instructions for tasks and to always be busy/ have something to do. They'd respond and say they couldn't guarantee they could meet my adjustments, so I didn't feel able to take on the roles. One did agree to make adjustments and then in practice didn't follow any of them at all, which left me really distressed and struggling to keep trying.
- I went into the job centre to beg for a supported work placement, somewhere that would understand my autism and allow me regain some confidence about being able to work again. They said there was nothing they could recommend.
- I am extremely thorough when filling in online application forms, responding to every point of the job specification in detail. This meant that applying for just one job could take a few days of extensive work. Most online job application systems are so poorly put together it can take hours. I have compulsively completed lots of courses over the years, so having to add each course one at a time, rather than being able to copy/paste into a box was massively time consuming. I would find job hunting really distressing as there were so few jobs that were part time and accessible by bus/foot. I'd often search late into the night as it became obsessional.
- There were endless courses around creating things like CV's and yet most employers don't accept CVs.
- I had quite specific requirements around hours/days of work and location of work. I don't drive and public transport is difficult. I lost count of how many job adverts don't include the specific location, stating just the name of the city along with 'part time' rather than how many hours.
- I cannot begin to describe how demoralizing it is to face constant rejection, I did relapse in relation to my mental illness and ended up back in hospital.
Being offered a job
After a year of searching and hundreds of applications later I finally secured a job. I had a huge amount of anxiety about starting a new job as I'd been (I'm not sure if this is too strong a word) traumatized by my past experiences. I'd asked for a structured plan for my training but hadn't received it in the lead up to starting. I was so overwhelmed I nearly withdrew my acceptance. Instead though I sought advice from a mental health employment service who stepped in, met with my new manager, explained things and got everything in place I needed. I received proper training for the role and everyone has written instructions for what they do. I have reasonable adjustments in place which are followed. It made me see that my past experiences weren't my fault. When you read back the above though it's easy to see how discouraging and challenging it is to find employment when you are disabled or have access needs. The employment service I used is now no longer accessible to people that aren't under community mental health teams. I don't know where I'd turn if I needed support in the future.
Progressing in employment
When I returned to work such was the state of my mental health I intentionally looked for roles that weren't challenging. Now in a better place in recovery I am hoping I can move onto something more challenging. It's difficult though as I am back in the camp of seeing full time jobs that may not accept me on a part time basis and also roles where I can do 90% of the role, but difficulties due to being autistic means I can't take on some of the generic stuff that's expected when progressing.
From the above you can probably identify some of the problems. Here are some of the things which I think could make employment more accessible:
- An increase in work trials and work placements, which increase to paid employment after a short period of time. These need to be open to everyone, not just 16-25 year olds or people with specific support needs. I personally think all public service employers should offer an access pathway to employment specifically for people looking to get back to work. I personally feel there should be more responsibility in job centres to create these links and opportunities.
- When listing a job have specific job descriptions for the roles – generic ones can be exclusionary if they include things not required for the job. Make sure the specific postcode of location is listed. Specify actual hours of the job if part time, including days if it's that specific. Allow a search function for home working roles – identify ones which are suitable. If you say a role is hybrid explain what that actually means. Include contact email and phone number for any questions. Explain how it works for a full time job if someone applies on a part time basis – eg does it go to the best candidate or will it always go to the person that can do it full time in first instance?
- Simply the application process- allow free text boxes to enter qualifications. Offer a simple form or easy read format. Can alternative ways of applying be offered? A video application or a work trial?
- Employers giving all interview information in advance, the more the better. Include a photo of the room, who people are going to meet. Send questions in advance. Make sure waiting area/interview room/testing room are all quiet places. Give time scales for getting back to people about reasonable adjustment requests.
- Understand the communication and learning preferences of employees – make adaptions for this. For example, if a colleague prefers to communicate in writing, can their one to one be done via text chat? When learning new tasks I like written instructions. Written instructions for tasks can be helpful for everyone as it can ensure consistency.
- When someone has reasonable adjustments in place make sure they are always adhered to. Sometimes other members of staff may need to be told about the adjustments (with consent from the individual) People don't need to have all of the detail as to why the adjustment is needed, they just need to know what it is and why it needs to be kept to. Setting regular review meetings for adjustments can be helpful as it can give the colleague a chance to raise any issues and may help to identify what other adjustments are needed.
- Don't make assumptions or fall into the trap of stereotyping a colleague. It's important to include people. Even if a manager thinks my disability may prevent me from doing a new task, I would like to be asked and given the opportunity to discuss about how it could work.
- I don't have a physical disability, so most of these suggestions relate to difficulties I've experienced as an autistic person with mental health problems. The building environment is massively important to people of all disabilities. Ensuring this is improved and worked on with disabled employees is key as they will be able to identify what is a barrier and what can be improved. All buildings should ideally have more than one quiet space for people to work. Allow people to have their own desks rather than hot desking if they have a specific accessibility needs.
- Many jobs require travel as part of the job role, now that many are more able to use virtual technology it's important to review job descriptions and ways of working to see if alternatives can be offered for people that are unable to travel.
- Reviewing sickness absence policies and sickness absence triggers in relation to disability. Some organisations will still trigger absence management when it's related to disability, in my view this needs to change.
- Consider whether jobs need to be done by 1 sole employee full time, or whether they can be offered as part time roles. Some organisations feel that if they were to give a job to someone 4 days a week, the 5th day would be hard to recruit. This is a myth – many people are looking for work for just one or two days a week. The permitted work scheme under certain benefits mean that people can work under 16 hours and still receive their benefits, this is to maintain their health, but still have access to work. There is a demand for these hours.
- Mandatory learning around disability, health conditions and reasonable adjustments can be pretty poor. Build a work place culture of inviting and including lived experience where possible. Don't make it once a year mandatory learning alone, if wanted allow colleagues to lead on additional learning all year round. Personally I find listening to other colleagues talk about lived experience massively effects how I practice my work.
Home working
And finally I would like to finish this blog talking briefly about home working. As someone that currently works from home I've felt vilified by the media and politicians over the last few months, there have been accusations of home workers being 'lazy' not being supportive of other colleagues, suggestions that a home worker should be paid less. All of these negative attitudes have an effect on my mental health and make me feel anxious.
For me personally home working has made work more accessible. I can work without distraction. I exceed my work targets every month, I receive positive feedback about my relationships with others and input into the team. When I worked in an office I was distracted by conversation, from people who would talk throughout the day. I would often struggle with the temperature of the building due to sensory difficulties. Just making a cup of team could waste 10 minutes due to queues of people. I would often have time off sick because I would pick up illness travelling by public transport and working close to others. I would struggle to interact with colleagues as being autistic meant that I struggled to initiate interaction. Home working has meant I am able to chat to my colleagues using messenger, which has resulted in building better working relationships. I like our online tea breaks as it's structured social time I can schedule into my day. Being able to work from home has made work more accessible to me, I know of others that home working would mean they could actually work rather than being shut out of employment completely. Since home working I have also started doing presentations as part of my work, previously I wouldn't have been able to present to others because of anxiety. A few weeks ago I presented to 90 colleagues. In my health involvement job I have also been able to attend multiple meetings which I would have been excluded from because my disability means I can't drive or travel on public transport.
I understand that home working does not suit everyone and for some home working can be an accessibility barrier. We need employment that is flexible and understanding of the different needs of teams, solutions can be found. We don't need finger pointing and accusations of who is working hardest or threats to cut pay in a cost of living crisis. For some people working from home really effected their health and it's absolutely right that they should be able to return to the office if that's what they want. I am sure there are lots of things I have missed out in this blog, but the point I am making is that there needs to be major meaningful changes if organsations want to be disability confident beyond the ticking of boxes – the numbers of disabled people wanting to work that are excluded speak for themselves.
Disclaimer: My job role is in admin – I appreciate my take on this is reflected by the type of work that I do.
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