Accommodating disabled workers ‘far easier than thought’
It is much easier than many employers think to accommodate disabled employees in workplaces and benefit from the skills they can provide, one organisation has pointed out.Shaun Williams, director of corporate affairs for Leonard Cheshire Disability, said often employers do not know how to handle the employment of disabled people and therefore shy away from doing so, not necessarily out of prejudice, but out of lack of knowledge.
He noted that there are "a number of barriers" holding disabled people back, some of which may arise directly from physical inaccessibility in the workplace, while others could stem from social factors such as attitudes or lack of awareness of disability.
"Through our research, we have identified that employers were twice as likely to offer a non-disabled candidate an interview as an equally qualified disabled candidate," Mr Williams said.
However, he noted that this problem could reflect a false perception on the part of employers about the high costs of introducing a reasonable adjustment required by a disabled employee.
Recently, Caroline Waters, director for people and policy at BT, told the Recruiter that agencies and fellow employers need to "make no mistake" when it comes to eliminating barriers to employment for disabled candidates, as this will ultimately "create a real competitive advantage".
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Posted by Nikki Barrister
