Working full time with a disability

There seems to be an assumption that if you are disabled that you are incapable of working, when in fact over 3.4 million disabled people are in employment in the year 2017, according to the leading charity Scope. Yet if you were to simply google “working full time and disabled”, there are very few websites that offer support or advice for disabled people that are well enough to work.



So I thought I would do a post on it, offering advice and guidance as well as my own personal experiences of working full time with a disability.
If you are either searching for work, or considering tell your employer your disability if you are newly diagnosed, one of the biggest tips I can give is RESEARCH.



Research your prospective company- What are their views on disability? What is the company like to work for? Do they have a good reputation? Are they apart of the disability confident employer scheme?

Do I have to tell my employer?

Well....that depends.



In some situations, depending on the nature of your job and disability you might be legally required to disclose. However, in most cases, you don’t have to tell your employer. In my own experience, I was quite concerned in telling my employer about my disability, but having been attending the educational institute, I felt comfortable knowing their attitudes towards disabilities and disclosed it from the application to interview and induction. I even attended occupational health for an assessment and left there feeling confident that if I needed reasonable adjustments that they would be provided without hesitation. Disclosing my disability to my employer and colleagues has allowed me to have the confidence to educate others regarding invisible disabilities, and show what I am capable of. For me personally, only positive things have happened as a result of the disclosure.

Reasonable adjustments

It is a legal requirement for your employer to provide any form of reasonable adjustments within the workplace to eradicate any barriers that prevent you from working.



Their duty to make reasonable adjustments aims to make sure that, as far as is reasonable, a disabled worker has the same access to everything that is involved in doing and keeping a job as a non-disabled person. They can be anything from changing departments to a less physically demanding role; access to disabled parking; mentoring/ counselling or allowing rest breaks. This list isn’t exhaustive, and it is worth researching what adjustments can be made.
My reasonable adjustments include; an adjustable foot stool, soft cushions to use when my hip pain gets too much and rest breaks to include a few.



Under the Equality Act 2010 and the Disability Discrimination Act, it is your legal right to ask for any reasonable adjustment.

Access To work

Alternatively, the government-funded service that offers financial support to pay for any equipment you need, which is known as Access to Work
An Access to Work adviser works with you and your employer to see what help you need at work, and how best to meet that need. For more information: https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work

What you can get through Access To Work

Access to Work can help pay for any equipment or support you need in order to be able to do your job. This can include:

• adaptations to the equipment you use
• special equipment
• fares to work if you can’t use public transport or drive
• a support worker or job coach to help you in your workplace
• disability awareness training for your colleagues
• a communicator at a job interview
• the cost of moving your equipment if you change location or job

What you get will depend on your circumstances – there’s no set limit.
And finally, the most important bit of advice I can give to any person young or old looking for work is that it is not worth pushing yourself for anyone or anything. No job is worth sacrificing your health over.