Our frontline evidence exposes the current reality of the labour market for many disabled people, who are routinely shut out of employment

Our research also offers early indications of where interventions could help address these issues

shorturl.at/l6YhB /4

- When in work, getting the required flexibility and reasonable adjustments can be difficult and many report offensive attitudes about disability
- And when trying to enforce their rights, the current resolution process can be inaccessible and an ineffective way to support people to stay in work /3

The disabled people we help face barriers at every stage of the employment journey:

- When searching for jobs, they can struggle to find suitable roles that accommodate their health condition or disability
- When applying for jobs, they are routinely met with bias and discrimination /2

Blog outlining more detailed response is now available here wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/our-response...

And the focus is largely on preventing people from falling out of work. While this is crucial, it’s equally important to address the barriers that prevent disabled people from entering work in the first place. We have further work on this coming out in the months ahead

It continues to echo some of the DWP’s misguided rhetoric around health conditions and disability. A clear example is the line: “frustration with work, still less ‘I hate my boss’ syndrome, are not health conditions.” This framing undermines genuine experiences of health-related barriers to work

However, it feels a bit too focused on the ‘carrot’. My concern is that this might simply reward employers already doing well on disability employment, without doing much - at least in the initial stages of the plan - to shift the behaviour of those falling short

Overall, it opens up an important conversation and puts forward some interesting proposals on how to better support disabled people and those with health conditions in the workplace. It also provides a good opportunity to showcase employers who are leading the way

Many thanks to @cjayanetti.bsky.social for their write-up of this piece in the @bigissue.com tinyurl.com/2rvs3n4t