Being a Disability Confident Manager
Being a Disability Confident Manager
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What is a Disability?
There are many kinds of disability and the definition of disability can be broad. Some disabilities are visible whereas others can be hidden. There could be a number of employees who have a disability that could be legally defined without ever knowing about it. There are nearly 7 million people of working age in the UK living with a disability. However, not every disability is obvious or visible; in fact 70% of people have a disability which is not visible.
The Equality Act 2010 defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.
As a line manager you are responsible for creating an open and supportive environment in which all the employees you manage meet their objectives and performance targets whilst enabling them to achieve their full potential in their role.
What does “Substantial” and “Long Term” Mean?
Substantial means when a condition or impairment is more than minor. For example, to be considered to have a substantial disability, it would mean that you take much longer to complete day to day tasks. This could be brushing your teeth or getting dressed in the morning.
Long Terms means when a condition has lasted for more than 12 months. This could be a condition that has developed from an injury or infection.
Progressive Condition
A progressive condition is a condition that will either gradually or rapidly become worse over time. People with any progressive condition could be classed as disabled. For example, anyone that is diagnosed with HIV, cancer or multiple sclerosis is automatically defined as disabled.
What Conditions are Considered as a Disability under the Equality Act 2010?
What Conditions are Considered as a Disability under the Equality Act 2010?
Please note that this is not an exhaustive list.
What Conditions are not Covered by the Equality Act 2010?
- addiction to or dependency on alcohol, nicotine, or any other substance (other than as a result of the substance being medically prescribed)
- seasonal allergic rhinitis (e.g. hay fever), except where it aggravates the effect of another condition
- tendency to set fires
- tendency to steal
- tendency to physical or sexual abuse of other persons
- exhibitionism
- voyeurism.
You can read more about being a Disability Confident Manager, in our Manager's Guide to Building Disability Confidence which includes all stages of the employment relationship.
Reasonable Adjustments
Reasonable adjustments should be made whenever necessary. This may include:
- Recruitment and selection: this may apply to the way in which the application is completed, interview or test conducted or any of the criteria applied.
- On starting employment; if a new employee is starting within your team you may need to make reasonable adjustments.
- At any point during their employment with us
- When undertaking learning and development
- On a change of role or transfer of working environment or conditions
Your HR Business Partner will work with you when offering reasonable adjustments to employees. This is important as some changes that you might consider may affect the individuals employment contract. Help and advice should also be sought from Occupational Health (referred via HR) – In some circumstances Occupational Health may be able to provide more advice on the adjustments that will enable an employee to operate effectively in their role. Please note an employee may self refer to Occupational Health. Where necessary and with the employee’s agreement Occupational Health will contact the employee’s line manager to discuss any reasonable adjustments that may need to be made.
Funding for Reasonable Adjustments
It is important to remember that as a line manager you have a legal duty to ensure that any adjustments that are found to be reasonable are put in place. It is worth noting therefore that the majority of adjustments cost nothing or very little. Where adjustments are expensive, funding may be available through Access to Work. Access to Work is a scheme run by the Department for Work and Pensions which provides funding to facilitate reasonable adjustments in the workplace. Please be aware as a line manager, you may contact Access to Work for advice but the onus is on the employee to arrange an assessment with Access to Work.
An assessor will usually visit the employee and manager in the workplace and carry an assessment of their needs. They will also advise of the funding that can be provided. Access to Work can apply to any job whether full time, part time, permanent or temporary.
It is imperative that HR are made aware of an Access to Work application so they can support the application.
Reasonable Adjustment Passport
A Reasonable Adjustment Passport is a live document between you and your employee to support them at work because of a disability, long term physical or mental health condition or long term injury. You may need to know about the nature of your employee's disability, long term physical or mental health condition or long term injury and understand how this may impact on work to put in place the necessary reasonable adjustments. The purpose of this Passport is to make sure that everyone is clear and has a record of what reasonable adjustments have been agreed and provide you and your employee with a basis for future conversations about adjustments.
This record should be kept on an employees personal file so it is important that this document is sent to your HR Business Partner on completion and each time it is reviewed.
This document should be kept live by this we mean that you should review this every 6 months or sooner if there is any changes to the employees role or their condition to ensure that the reasonable adjustments are effective and still appropriate.
Top Tips on Supporting Disabled Employees
Top Tips on Supporting Disabled Employees
- Don’t make assumptions about what support an employee might need. You will need to discuss any specific needs or adjustments with the employee.
- Talk at an early stage. The earlier you notice that an employee is experiencing difficulties or requires an adjustment the better for all concerned. Your early actions can help prevent the situation becoming worse.
- Identifying early signs of distress. Some of the key things to look out for are changes in a person’s usual behaviour, poor performance, tiredness and increased sickness absence. You might notice or colleagues might comment on an increased use of alcohol, drugs or smoking. A normally punctual employee might start turning up late or experience problems with colleagues. Regular 121 meetings are management processes that provide a neutral opportunity to find out about any problems the individual may have.
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