Dr Christine Grant et al – Written evidence (YDP0057)
Response to the Public Services Committee inquiry: The transition from education to employment for young disabled people
by
About our research project
Our Remote4All research project conducted an evidence review and interviews with employers and stakeholders to better understand the remote working experiences of people with a disability and/or neurodiversity. Remote working offers both advantages and barriers to working effectively but there is little prior research. We found that much needs to be done to influence organisations, and line managers in particular, to reap the benefits of remote working for this group. Better application of evidence-based, successful interventions, as identified in our research, can support this group in work and help to ameliorate any negative effects of remote working. The project was supported by the ESRC Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (Digit) Innovation Fund [grant number ES/S012532/1],
About the research team
Dr Christine Grant has been researching remote working since 2006, designing and developing psychometrics to measure the efficacy of remote working in the general population. Dr Grant and Dr Tramontano led the project, entitled Remote4All. Dr Russell supported the project as part of the Digit team. Dr Leveroy was a key stakeholder in this project and continues to work as a research partner with the Coventry University team.
Please find below our responses to the questions
General
1) What barriers do young disabled people face when leaving education and entering the job market and workplace? Does this differ between different conditions or disabilities, and if so, how?
In education, a young disabled person may have had some sort of learning support, in the form of pastoral support, a study skills tutor or a mentor to help them with their learning journey. However, once they are outside of the institution and looking for work, there is no obvious support. Although Access to Work can provide support to job applicants, this knowledge is not widely known, and not disseminated to careers advisors in colleges and universities. The other barrier is attitudinal – some disabled young people may not identify as being ‘disabled’ and so do not think to apply for available schemes. For example, some people may view schemes aimed at disabled people as being relevant to visible disabilities (such as a physical, visual or hearing impairment). People with a ‘hidden’ or ‘invisible’ disability (such as mental health, autism, dyslexia), may not realize that there is help available for them. The barrier could be addressed by providing students and educators with awareness and training about the different types of disabilities and barriers in the workplace. For example, some autistic graduates may not realize that a psychometric test may unintentionally discriminate against them, meaning they will find getting a job harder than a non-disabled person. Lastly, job coaches at the Job Centre are not currently trained in how to support disabled job seekers, so may not be able to offer appropriate support or tailor the service accordingly.
a) How far do barriers to young disabled people accessing other public services, such as health and care services, present a barrier to young disabled people accessing the workplace?
If a young autistic person has not been able to access diagnostic and treatment on the NHS, then it means that they might not be able to effectively advocate for their needs in the workplace. An employer may ask for evidence of their disability, and the employee will be unable to provide it due to the long diagnostic and treatment waiting list. Employers need to understand that their duty to provide adjustments is not dependent on the individual having a formal diagnosis of a condition.
Support for Young People
4) How far do employment support mechanisms such as Access to Work or Disability Employment Advisors meet the needs of young disabled people entering the job market for the first time? How could these services be improved?
As mentioned above, there is a lack of awareness of Access to Work amongst job candidates. Even if people are aware of Access to Work then by the time an applicant has gone through the process, they are already several months down the line and have potentially already lost out on employment due to lack of support.
5) What are young disabled people’s experiences of the transition from education-based support to employment-related support? Do young disabled people face barriers to accessing support during this transition? Could these services be better linked, and if so, how?
There is a lack of awareness amongst graduates about Access to Work. Students might have utilised the Disabled Student Allowance, but there is no/little awareness of Access to Work as the workplace equivalent.
Public services as good employers
6) How accessible are careers in public services to young disabled people when they are first entering the job market? Are there public services which very effectively recruit disabled people, and services where significant improvement is needed?
The Civil Service is still using psychometric and online skills assessments, which are not designed for people who process information in a different way.
Support for employers
7) How effective are government programmes which support or encourage employers to employ disabled people, particularly young disabled people? Does this differ by condition or disability? How could they be improved?
neurobox supports organisations and individuals through the DWP’s Access to Work scheme and the Disability Confident scheme. The effectiveness of Access to Work could be increased with more efficient processes and moving the system online. Currently, there is a plethora of reclaim forms that are difficult to understand and put people off applying. Also, the timeframe for supporting individuals is far too long (people wait 8 months for a needs assessment to trigger the process). The Disability Confident scheme is still seen as a tick-box exercise, and there is not enough accountability built into the system at level 1 or 2. The criteria are too loose and ambiguous and need tightening.
a) What steps could be taken to improve awareness and uptake of relevant government support schemes?
There is a lack of awareness about the Government’s Access to Work scheme, and this could be improved by advertising campaigns targeted at candidates/workers and employers. Employers have a very limited understanding of the scheme. HR needs training to be able to support workers through the application process. At the same time, the system needs investment in order to cope with increased demand.
b) What actions could employers be taking without Government support? What barriers prevent them doing so?
Remote working can provide both opportunities and barriers at work for people with a disability and/or neurodiversity. Our project, Research4All, conducted a rapid evidence review to understand what the current academic literature tells us about people with a disability and/or neurodiversity (PwD/N) needs in remote work. We also conducted case study interviews with employers and stakeholders to gain insight into how to support these groups to be able to remote work as effectively and healthily as possible. The Remote4All study addressed four main research questions:
RQ1: What is the current state of academic knowledge about remote working and PwD/N?
RQ3: What are employers doing to facilitate inclusivity and visibility for PwD/N, who are remote working?
RQ4: What are the emerging issues for PwD/N in public and private sector settings, to remote working, and what are the key next steps to increasing inclusivity and visibility?
Key Findings (linked to the research questions above)
RQ1. There is limited research and it mostly overlooks 'hidden' disabilities and neurodiversity: There is a substantial gap in the academic knowledge on PwD/N’s experience of remote e-working. Further, the limited research is mostly focused on physical disabilities, overlooking other disabilities and neurodiversity. While remote e-working may indeed offer great opportunities to include PwD/N, a full understanding of what works best for this population of workers still needs to be addressed.
RQ2. There is no one size fits all solution for employees: there are both advantages and disadvantages to remote working, which can depend on an individuals’ needs and specific disability and/or neurodiversity. For instance, working regularly from home may help individuals on the autistic spectrum by limiting social interactions and providing a greater control on their environment, but may trigger serious difficulties with work life balance for an individual with ADHD. Online meetings might be particularly effective for employees with physical disabilities but become immensely challenging for people with sensory impairments or neurodiversity. There is no one size fits all solution, and the employees agreed on the importance of understanding and listening to individual needs to make remote working accessible and optimal for all. See animation for a summary of the findings from an employee perspective: https://youtu.be/mhmeMeZkIPc?si=inqkR2fwVbpFuOWz
RQ3. Employers stress the pivotal role of line managers in supporting people with disability and/or neurodiversity: Employers highlighted the need to really understand the challenges that PwD/N face, and the importance of advocacy/support from the beginning of their employment. Promoting self-awareness was suggested to be very important particularly for PwD/N who might not be fully aware of their own potential (e.g. individuals with autism). Understanding and agreeing on what reasonable adjustments are, is not always considered straightforward, as workers’ needs can be complex and very varied. The role of line managers was suggested to be pivotal to promote inclusiveness and to help identify appropriate support. Hence, training and guidance for line managers was considered a key priority. We identify four key steps that employers can take:
RQ4. Stakeholders from charities and private sector organisations stress the need for organisational policies on remote and flexible working for all: Stakeholders claimed that the pandemic ‘put remote e-working on the map’, offering many opportunities for PwD/N but at the same time also creating real challenges. They suggested the need of an overarching policy on remote and flexible work, which has to be properly and intrinsically inclusive for all, disregarding specific disabilities and neurodiversities. Stakeholders underlined the need to rethink recruitment and career development processes for PwD/N, as well as the training offered to optimise the access and use of remote working practices. Although technology can be a great means to enhancing inclusivity and accessibility, it is essential to ensure that people know how to access and use it properly to gain the full benefit from remote working.
The R4All project has given a voice to the disabled/ and or neurodivergent community of remote workers. It has explored the ‘lived experiences’ of employees, whilst at the same time elicited exemplary case studies from employers. Key stakeholders provided grounded responses as to how guidance and policy could be generated to support the digitisation of work for this community. This project consulted of wide-ranging representation from a number of charities and private sector organisations.
Implications for current challenges: Remote working has increased rapidly and the pandemic proliferated the number of workers using this style of working. Remote workers with disability/neurodiversity have been overlooked in the academic research. The Remote4All research findings indicate that much needs to be done to influence organisations, and line managers in particular, to reap the benefits of remote working for this group and apply successful interventions (as found in this study) to ameliorate any negative effects.
Further research is needed into the transition from higher education to employment: The research team are currently planning to research the transition from higher education to employment and as such will be drawing on key stakeholders and recent research into the skills, competencies and self-efficacy of remote workers.
Enforcement of the rights of disabled people in the workplace
8) How effectively are the rights of disabled people upheld and enforced in the workplace? What barriers do young disabled people face in accessing the support (including legal support) that they need and are entitled to? How could enforcement mechanisms be improved?
Lack of awareness amongst HR and line managers. There is still an unspoken hierarchy of protected characteristics in the workplace, and disability is not widely discussed or catered for. Only 10% of companies have a dedicated disability policy. Most organizations rely on Access to Work to ‘deal with’ their disabled employees, without attempting to change their own workplace practices and policies accordingly. Organizations over a certain size should be required to provide access to workplace adjustment services – Occupational Health (OH) often do not have the training or expertise to support mental health or neurodivergent employees effectively. OH needs to be trained in how to support Mental Health and Neurodivergent employees.
a) Is the present legal framework sufficient, in theory and in practice, in dealing with disability discrimination faced by young disabled people transitioning from education to work?
The definition of disability is too vague, and many cases of disability discrimination have failed as they have not met the definition.
September 2023