Let opportunity knock for disabled Research partner with Chwarae Teg, Laura Paterson, on disabled women in the workplace and the impact of Covid
THE Covid-19 pandemic has forced rapid changes in many people’s working lives. The sudden impact of coronavirus has meant that many have faced redundancy and financial hardship. The furlough scheme has provided some support and relief, however, the rapid shift to home working has also enabled thousands of people to keep their jobs and protect livelihoods.
Many businesses that were not set up for agile working have now equipped employees at home, with ICT staff providing support systems and virtual communications channels to keep businesses running. Employees, where possible, have played their part – adapting home space, buying desks and chairs among other equipment, sometimes with financial support from their employer. Rapidly, this has become the ‘new normal’ for many organisations and employees.
For many disabled people, however, this has been bittersweet.
In blogs, newspaper articles, and on social media, disabled people have long shared their experiences of being denied access to work and study from home in a range of jobs and career paths.
They have rightly voiced their anger at society, businesses and educational institutions that had previously refused to make the adjustments they needed to work and learn. Those very adjustments – bizarrely, down to a pandemic – now seem widely available.
As Covid-19 has hit our nation, I was completing a report for Chwarae Teg about disabled women’s experiences of work in Wales. Reflecting on that report in this new context – where many workplaces have changed for the foreseeable future – further emphasises the barriers that disabled people continue to face at work. It reinforces the fact that we need essential changes to make working practices more accessible and inclusive for the long term.
Of the disabled women who we spoke to for our research, 76% had requested workplace adjustments, including working from home, which enables many to have greater control over where and how they work. It supports disabled people to manage their health and wellbeing and to find a better balance between paid work and responsibilities like childcare.
Nevertheless, there is no one-sizefits-all approach when it comes to creating accessible roles and places of work. While many disabled women are experiencing the benefits of remote working, for which they have been asking for years, homeworking is not automatically more accessible and inclusive for all disabled employees. Reasonable adjustments are still necessary when the workplace is at home and employers must meet these responsibilities under the 2010 Equality Act.
A key point that disabled women made clear in our research, is that one of the most important changes that employers can make is to start listening to what disabled people need and take action to enable them to thrive in their roles.
Therefore, one of our research recommendations is that Access to Work – a UK Government scheme, which includes funding towards practical help for disabled employees – be expanded to ensure that disabled home-workers have the necessary support and equipment in place. This is even more important in the context of coronavirus and employers should not become complacent in responding to needs.
At Chwarae Teg, we keep saying that this pandemic has thrown into sharp relief and exacerbated the existing inequalities in Welsh society. Disabled women already face barriers as disabled people, and inequality as women. Before the crisis, only 50% of disabled women in Wales were employed, compared to 78% of non-disabled women, and 85% of non-disabled men. Ensuring that disabled women have equal opportunities to quality employment is central to building an equitable Wales. The Welsh Government’s ‘Action on Disability’ plan aims to ‘drive a Welsh economy which spreads opportunity and tackles inequality’ and describes a Wales where disabled people can ‘fulfil their ambitions and enhance their well-being through secure and sustainable employment’. The Welsh economy is certainly poorer without the talents, skills, and experiences of disabled women.
Now, as Wales cautiously lifts lockdown and focuses on recovery, employers and government have an opportunity to build on the changes in how we work, by creating jobs that are more accessible and inclusive to disabled women.
Moving to a person-centred model of working, and focusing on creating an environment in which all can thrive, is paramount.
Essentially this must be informed by disabled women to create employment that is more equitable, close the disability employment and pay gaps and ensure that disabled people are not discriminated against.
Recent history has shown that economic downturns disproportionately affect disabled people’s employment. But this is not inevitable.
Wales’ economic recovery plan must ensure that disabled women are not left behind.
If anything, the Covid-19 experience has shown that organisations can implement and support home working when the will is there.
Employers are now in prime position to ensure that disabled staff – no matter where they are working – can work in a way that works best for them.