How to create an accessible work place

Written: August 2020

When I started working at the University, everyone told me I was lucky: “They treat their workers so well!”. This perception is interesting and something I’ve thought about as time goes on. At my place of work you can be denied flexible working due to the “burden of additional costs'. The message is clear. Money is more important than worker well-being. I inherently oppose the idea of a 9-5 work culture where you must sit at a desk and only leave during your allocated lunch hour, or for a string of meetings which could have been an email. I stand by the concept that employees should not have to prove ill-health or disability in a way which is institutionalised and impersonal. You also should not have to have a formal diagnosis of a disability to receive support in your workplace. We have a right to advocate for our needs even if this means having uncomfortable conversations about the way a workplace is structured to suit the needs of a slim range of people. 

When I asked for adjustments I felt like I had to downplay what I needed. As someone with a mental health condition I often need to work different to neurotypical people. My brain works a little differently and my condition takes a toll on my physical health. But despite this, I wrote in my request for adjustments that I wouldn’t need to work from home very often to make sure I wasn’t causing too much of a fuss. But I want to make a fuss. I want to fight for my right to work in a way which suits my needs. I have a number of suggestions. Call it a manifesto for radical flexible working. 

1. Transparent policy around disability 

I searched for a while to find policy around disability on the work website. It is hidden within the pages of HR with most search results relating to support for students with a disability. And it mostly consists of the process of disability leave. Which helpfully says that sickness absence related to disability will be discounted in relation to redundancy. This implies that sickness absence could lead to putting you first in line for redundancy. How ethical!  It also directs you to the staff and disability network which has just started up again, and I hope will be a place staff can get advice and learn more about their rights.  I noticed a page entitled “Disclosing your Disability” and was disappointed to see this was about equality monitoring, not getting support. I want an easy to read and understand document about exactly what support is available for me, what can I expect when I disclose a disability, who I can talk to, why do I need to speak to a third party about my disability. Without this, I feel lost in a system.  

2. Health questionnaires and requests for flexible working should be managed internally by trained staff, with an option for either phone, email or face to face consultation

All employees have to submit a health questionnaire to check if they are fit to work. I noted in mine that I had a mental health condition. I then had to speak on the phone with a stranger and explain my condition, and when I mentioned I went to therapy fortnightly, I was met with the response “That’s quite a lot isn’t it?” and told me I was more vulnerable because of my mental health condition. I cried after the phone call because I felt so upset and invalidated. The process feels like a box checking exercise done by a stranger who had no idea what kind of comments could upset me. I recently asked for adjustments at work, as is my right as a disabled person, and as I expected, it’s not a simple case of asking, discussing and receiving. I’m currently awaiting a call back from the same people who told me I go to therapy too much. It’s been a week. There is no easy access, no direct email, no person I can go speak to in a building I can walk to. I simply must wait and I suppose my illness must wait too. 

3. Commitment to respect the individuality and personal circumstances of disabled staff. 

Not all disabilities affect us the same way. Everyone is at a different stage in accepting and managing their condition. You may develop new symptoms unexpectedly which shift the support you need. You may see other symptoms lessen and have periods of easy to manage symptoms. There is no one size fits all for managing disabilities in the workplace. When I requested to be able to work from home, it was suggested to me that this was possible with prior notice. But asking someone to give prior notice to when they need to work from home is not how it works. I cannot predict when I feel exhausted or have a day where panic attacks seem to be never ending. Some disabled people may be more able to identify when symptoms may be about to worsen and give prior warning. But again, we are not a single lump of disabled workers and deserve to be treated as individuals. 

4. The implementation of a radical flexible working policy

I can see the concern about working flexibly from a workplace point of view. Meetings happen which you need to be at (although the option of appointing a deputy or video calling in can always work). There are concerns with privacy and confidentiality (although giving people work laptops and creating secure systems can solve this). But ultimately, if I do my work and I do it well, why do I need to sit at a desk for seven hours a day? I should work in a way which suits me. Maybe that means working outside for an hour to get some sunlight. Maybe it means moving to the quiet of the library to focus. Maybe working from my desk at home will make me feel safer and more able to concentrate. Maybe I only work until 3pm or start at 11am, with no expectation to make those hours up because I do my job well. We should be paid for the work we do irregardless of whether this is done sat at a desk or in a 35 hour work week. We should be able to chose the environment we work best in as well as the hours in a day we work. The current system makes me feel as if I have to fit into the job, not that the job can be crafted to work for me. 

I doubt I will be able to change much in my place of work. I am on a temporary contract and in the “lower” pay grades. Currently the UCU strikes are taking centre stage in the dispute between worker and employer, with pensions being the dominating topic. The spotlight remains on the strike, as it should, but it raises a concern about other welfare issues experienced by staff being put on the back burner. While the UCU dispute includes “equality” in its demands, campaigning for improved support for disabled employee deserves an individual campaign which is grassroots. It is not simply a matter of equality. It is a matter of changing the whole damn system.