Monitoring of employment discrimination must be strengthened, and workplaces must design processes for disabled people first, not last, says Kathleen Foster
Chloe Jepps’ letter on Britain’s missing workforce and discrimination in the workplace was very informative (26 December). However, it lacks any mention of disability. About 20% of adults in Britain are disabled in some way. Only 50% of disabled adults are in paid employment. Largely this is not because we do not want to work, it is because the workplace is inaccessible and reasonable adjustments never happen in practice. There are few legal remedies and limited assistance to assert the legal rights that disabled people have.
Employers often design workplaces to be as inaccessible as possible, especially in lower-paid work. Few places to sit down, few breaks, little chance to use the loo. Employers need to do better and design their processes for disabled people first, not last. This needs to be true for all employers, large and small, regardless of prestige.
