
Barriers to Employment for People with Disabilities.
There are many barriers faced by people with disabilities when seeking employment. According to the social model of disability, disability is caused by the way society is organised, rather than focusing on someone's impairments or differences. This model of thinking may be specifically applied to recruitment and employment, as many people feel disabled by the processes of recruitment, job retention and promotion within Irish workplaces. While current employment practices enable most, they certainly disable others.
A recent study of the lived experience of over 700 disabled people in the UK conducted by British company 'Evenbreak' in November 2019, demonstrated that 82% of job seekers with disabilities believe the main barrier to sourcing suitable employment is finding employers who are genuinely disability friendly. Comments such as "I don't know how to find an employer who will take me seriously" were all too common. Employers were rated poorly by 71% of those surveyed, when it came to their empathy and understanding of disability.
In the same survey, the second biggest barrier was the complete lack of confidence in the recruitment process. This included a fear of discrimination, as well as conscious and unconscious bias.
According to a ComRes Survey of more than 1,600 people in the UK, carried out between June and July 2018, 24% of British employers said they would be less likely to hire someone with a disability. 60% of those employers reported concerns that a person with a disability would not be able to do the job advertised.
Consistently, negative attitudes and a lack of disability awareness are systematically involved in the creation and sustaining of barriers for people with disabilities. People with disabilities are not a homogenous group. They are as diverse as those without disabilities. For an employer to express concerns that a person with a disability would not be able to do a job advertised is like saying someone from Dublin would not be able to competently do a role! This is a wholly negative homogenisation of a hugely diverse group of people.
Because people with disabilities are so diverse, there are wide ranging barriers when employed or when seeking employment. Here are some of the most common:
1. Accessibility barriers in built environments. This includes transport, products and services.
2. Lack of awareness of disability in the workplace leading to misrepresentation and stigma.
3. Welfare systems which discourage people from entering employment.
4. Inadequate provision of workplace adjustments. The system for securing grant aid and subsidy schemes in Ireland is not fit for purpose. Process is disjointed and lengthy.
5. Insufficient disability support services and a lack of inter-agency liaising.
6. Non-inclusive education and vocational training leading to lower levels of education and training among persons with disabilities.
7. Lack of structured support for younger people with disabilities when making the transition from school to work.
8. Low level of capacity of publicly funded bodies to effectively support persons with disabilities.
9. Lack of wholesale commitment from some public bodies towards government initiatives such as the Comprehensive Employment Strategy and National Disability Inclusion Strategy, leading to a lack of compliance with employment quotas.
10. Lack of awareness and confidence on how to include persons with disabilities in the workplace.
11. Misplaced fear of legal challenges by employees with disabilities if employment does not work out.
12. Misplaced fear of insurance issues when hiring a person with a disability.
13. Inaccessible work premises and work tools, including Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).
14. Lack of support for persons with disabilities to secure and maintain employment.
15. Lack of information and support for companies considering the employment of persons with disabilities.
16. Societal views of disability heavily stigmatised.
Barriers which disable people from even being afforded equitable opportunity of employment or promotion are systematically attitude based. At Ability Focus, we believe stigmatised attitude and lack of awareness are the primary barriers which disable people in Ireland.
As primary barriers, stigmatised attitudes and lack of awareness towards people with disabilities permeate throughout built environments, welfare systems, employment and education, preventing true equality. By removing this attitudinal barrier, there will be a direct and positive impact on all other barriers for people with disabilities in Ireland.