{"id":29123,"date":"2023-05-11T14:51:49","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T13:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?p=29123"},"modified":"2026-03-13T16:25:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T16:25:51","slug":"supporting-people-with-complex-disabilities-to-stay-in-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/blog\/supporting-people-with-complex-disabilities-to-stay-in-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Supporting people with complex disabilities to stay in work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SenseEmployment_Feb24-1622-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"A woman training two men how to use computers\" class=\"wp-image-64374\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SenseEmployment_Feb24-1622-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SenseEmployment_Feb24-1622-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SenseEmployment_Feb24-1622-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SenseEmployment_Feb24-1622-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SenseEmployment_Feb24-1622-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SenseEmployment_Feb24-1622.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone should feel valued in the workplace. We should all be treated with dignity and be given the support we need to excel at our work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I doubt anyone would disagree with that. And while it\u2019s true that employment isn\u2019t right for every disabled person, many people with complex disabilities find that work enriches their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cHad I not had my job, I would not have got through 2020. It was my lifeline even though I was at home for most of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<cite>Person with complex disabilities who took part in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/information-and-advice\/for-professionals\/policy-public-affairs-and-research\/potential-and-possibility-research\/employment-and-volunteering\/\">Potential and Possibility research<\/a> in 2021<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Too many people miss out on the right support<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>But our new research finds that work isn\u2019t a positive experience for every employee with complex disabilities. Some people say they don\u2019t get the right support, while some even report outright hostility from their employers or colleagues.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/information-and-advice\/for-professionals\/policy-public-affairs-and-research\/employment-support-for-people-with-complex-disabilities\/full-research-report\/\">Our polling of disabled people found that<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Almost half (44%) of people with complex disabilities in employment said that they\u2019d been harassed or bullied at work.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Almost 1 in 6 (15%) people with complex disabilities in work didn\u2019t feel their disability was well understood by their employer.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Over half (52%) of people with complex disabilities in work said they\u2019d taken a less challenging role because of their needs as a disabled person not being met.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What the Government needs to do<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/policy-blog\/making-sure-every-person-with-complex-disabilities-gets-the-right-support-to-find-work\/\">We\u2019ve talked before about what the Government needs to do to better support people with complex disabilities to enter work.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But as our findings show, supporting people into work is only part of the solution. Employers need to do more to make sure that disabled people get the support they need to stay in the workplace and to progress in their careers. The Government, too, has a key role to play in encouraging employers to do the right thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reforming Disability Confident<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThey said they were disability friendly, and when it came to it, they were useless.\u201d<\/p>\n<cite>Person with complex disabilities who is supported by Sense<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The Government\u2019s Disability Confident scheme aims to make workplaces more inclusive of disabled people. But our research suggests that it too often fails to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Disabled people tell us that they feel Disability Confident is a box-ticking exercise. Some even say that they have still experienced bullying and harassment despite their employer being part of the scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sadly, that\u2019s no surprise \u2013 after all, the scheme sets a pretty low bar for entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Employers can sign up to the first two levels of Disability Confident using only self-assessment forms. Even the external audit for Level 3 is carried out by another Level 3 organisation, rather than by an independent inspection body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Disability Confident scheme needs to be made more accountable. We\u2019re calling for organisations signed up to Disability Confident to be undergo independent auditing based on the real experiences of their disabled employees.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Raising awareness of Access to Work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Many disabled people in work receive vital support through the Department for Work and Pensions\u2019 Access to Work scheme. The scheme provides practical and financial support to help disabled people overcome the barriers to work they face. This can include assistive technology, workplace adaptations, and travel expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Access to Work is a fantastic scheme. But it\u2019s not perfect. People who benefit from it say the process of making claims is slow and bureaucratic, and that it doesn\u2019t work with their assistive technology. This is something the Government needs to address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s more. not enough people have heard about it. Our polling found that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/information-and-advice\/for-professionals\/policy-public-affairs-and-research\/employment-support-for-people-with-complex-disabilities\/full-research-report\/\">43% of people with complex disabilities weren\u2019t aware of it<\/a>. <strong>The Department for Work and Pensions should be doing more to promote  Access to Work to employees and employers.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mentoring by disabled peers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Support from people who face the same barriers as you can be just as important as equipment like assistive technology. Our research found that a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/information-and-advice\/for-professionals\/policy-public-affairs-and-research\/employment-support-for-people-with-complex-disabilities\/full-research-report\/\">quarter of people with complex disabilities<\/a> would like opportunities to be mentored by disabled peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While charities can provide some of those opportunities, only the Government has the resources to offer mentoring to disabled people all over the country. By doing this, the Department for Work and Pensions could help more disabled people enter and stay in work.  <strong>We&#8217;d like to see a national commitment to peer mentoring for disabled jobseekers.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">More needs to be done<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It simply isn\u2019t right that almost half of people with complex disabilities in work have been bullied or harassed. It will take action from employers and colleagues to address that fully. But the Government does have a role to play in making sure companies take steps to make workplaces more inclusive. And, at the moment, it\u2019s not doing nearly enough.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you read our new research on employment support for disabled people?  You can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/information-and-advice\/for-professionals\/policy-public-affairs-and-research\/employment-support-for-people-with-complex-disabilities\/\">read the report and key findings on the Sense website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everyone should feel valued in the workplace. We should all be treated with dignity and be given the support we need to excel at our work. I doubt anyone would disagree with that. And while it\u2019s true that employment isn\u2019t right for every disabled person, many people with complex disabilities find that work enriches their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1393,7],"tags":[],"display_author":[100],"class_list":["post-29123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-policy","category-blog","display_author-evan-john"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29123\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29123"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=29123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}