Written evidence from Fatemeh Hajiali, Independent Researcher | Former Midwife | Educational Psychology [FWD0030]

**Introduction**

I submit this evidence in a dual capacity: as an independent researcher with a focus on educational equity, school readiness, and the development of children from migrant and bilingual backgrounds; and as a former practising midwife with direct clinical experience of working with disabled women, mothers with perinatal mental health conditions, and families from racialised and migrant communities. My perspective is shaped by both academic inquiry and frontline practice across two health and education systems.

Flexible working is not merely a workplace convenience. For many disabled workers — including those with fluctuating or invisible conditions — it is a prerequisite for participation in employment at all. Yet the evidence consistently shows that disabled workers, particularly those from minority ethnic backgrounds, those with caring responsibilities, and those in lower-paid or less secure roles, face the greatest barriers to accessing flexible arrangements.

**1. Cultural Shift and the Disability Employment Gap**

The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated that remote and flexible working arrangements are operationally viable across a far wider range of roles than was previously acknowledged by employers. Disabled workers and disability organisations had long advocated for such arrangements as reasonable adjustments; the pandemic effectively removed the standard objection that the nature of the work made this impossible.

Despite this, the disability employment gap has not closed commensurately. This suggests that the barrier is not only structural but also cultural: rooted in assumptions about productivity, visibility, and the meaning of "presence" at work. Employers' return-to-office mandates disproportionately disadvantage disabled workers for whom commuting, open-plan environments, or rigid schedules present significant functional difficulties.

Key concerns:

• The cultural normalisation of presenteeism continues to disadvantage workers with fluctuating or non-visible conditions, including chronic pain, neurodivergence, and mental health conditions.

• The Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms to flexible working requests are welcome but may be insufficient without accompanying culture change and robust enforcement mechanisms.

• The right to request flexibility does not equate to the right to receive it; without clearer guidance on what constitutes an acceptable refusal, the gap between legal entitlement and lived experience will persist.

**2. Intersectionality: Disability, Race, Migration, and Gender**

My research and clinical experience highlight a group that is often rendered invisible in policy discussions: women from migrant and minority ethnic backgrounds who are also disabled, or who are caring for disabled children or family members. For this group, access to flexible working is shaped not only by the Equality Act 2010 but also by language barriers, cultural misunderstandings with line managers, precarious immigration status, and concentration in low-paid sectors with the least flexibility.

In my former role as a midwife, I regularly worked with women who did not disclose disabilities or chronic conditions to employers because they feared that doing so would jeopardise their employment or their visa status. The concept of a "reasonable adjustment" often felt inaccessible to women who did not know their rights, did not feel safe asserting them, or worked in environments where informal power dynamics made formal requests feel impossible.

Recommendations:

• The Committee should ensure that intersectional data on flexible working access is collected and published, disaggregated by disability type, ethnicity, gender, and sector.

• Guidance on reasonable adjustments should be made available in multiple languages and formats, and proactively shared with workers rather than placed solely on the individual to request.

• Employers in sectors with high concentrations of migrant workers (social care, hospitality, domestic work, NHS) should be subject to targeted outreach and accountability measures.

**3. Disabled Parents, Children, and the School Interface**

A dimension frequently overlooked in workforce flexibility discussions is the experience of disabled parents, or parents of disabled children, navigating school systems that operate on fixed schedules. School drop-offs, medical appointments, EHCP review meetings, and the unpredictable nature of some conditions mean that rigid working hours are simply incompatible with parental responsibilities for this group.

Flexible working in this context is not about preference — it is about being able to remain in employment at all. Women disproportionately carry these caring responsibilities and are therefore disproportionately affected when employers fail to accommodate them. The intersection of disability (whether the parent's or the child's), gender, and caring responsibilities creates compounding disadvantage that the current legal framework does not adequately address.

**4. The Role of Enforcement and the EHRC**

Enforcement of Equality Act duties around reasonable adjustments and flexible working remains weak. Many disabled workers who experience unlawful refusals do not pursue claims, due to the cost, complexity, and emotional burden of employment tribunal proceedings, and because legal aid in employment matters has been severely curtailed.

I would urge the Committee to consider recommendations that strengthen the EHRC's proactive enforcement capacity, and that explore non-adversarial mechanisms — such as workplace mediation schemes and sectoral guidance — that make it easier for disabled workers to secure adjustments without recourse to litigation.

**Conclusion**

Flexible working is a matter of equality, not of preference. For disabled workers — particularly those at the intersection of multiple disadvantaged characteristics — the gap between legal entitlement and lived experience remains wide. Closing this gap requires legislative strengthening, cultural change within organisations, targeted enforcement, and a commitment to intersectional data collection and analysis.

I would welcome the opportunity to give oral evidence to the Committee if that would be helpful, and am happy to provide further information or references upon request.

June 2026