Under the Equality Act 2010, all disabled individuals should have the right to ‘Access to Work’, therefore, will the advent of technology in the workplace enhance this?
The ‘Access to Work’ (AtW) government program is an initiative of the UK government to support disabled people via ‘discretionary grants’ in relation to a disabled persons interaction with the working environment. However, so as to take this one step further, should employers also generally focus more upon bringing technology-assisting equipment into the workplace, so that the working environment is more ‘disabled friendly’ overall?
A recent study found that there are more than 13.3 million disabled people residing within the U.K, in which 18% are at the working age group. Yet despite this percentage, it was also found that only 3.4 million disabled people are currently employed – making a staggering 9.9 million disable people unemployed, which should give a reflection of how ‘disabled friendly’ workplaces really are.
Therefore, so to enhance the ‘disabled friendly’ working environment, what exactly can the further introduction of technology into the workplace do for disabled people nationwide?
For instance, some of the key reasons why disabled people find work not ‘disabled friendly’ is predominantly due to the lack of access into the workplace, lack of facilities to assist with their disability so to function in the day to day working life as well as a lack equipment for a disabled person to work adequately, as well as having an employment team that understands the disability at hand itself so to make work life function better.
On the plus side, most jobs are centered upon the use of technology and therefore automatically disabled people are able to apply for jobs that can cater towards their disability. For example, a person in a wheelchair is still able to use a computer, however the problem is the access the individual has to toilets, lifts, and the general working atmosphere altogether.
Alternatively, employers could also seek to employ more disabled people who can work from home full-time, meaning that the disabled person is able to work in the comfort of their own environment which may have accessible facilities that are able to provide for their needs better.
This is a particularly plausible solution as most offices, due to the rise in technology, are seeking to become completely virtual and office-less, in which most employees now have at least one day per week working from home.
Thus, although the increase in technology in the workplace may assist with the functioning of a disabled person to a greater degree – will this really be necessary in times to come as more turn to the ‘office-less’ environment altogether?
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Author: Portia Vincent-Kirby
Portia Vincent-Kirby is the Legal PA and Public Relations Co-Ordinator at Hudson McKenzie (www.hudsonmckenzie.com)
Portia specialises in handling the firm’s articles and newsletter, as well as managing the general PR of the firm overall.
You may contact Portia via email on pvincentkirby@hudsonmckenzie.com or call 020 3318 5799.