With over a million registered disabled people not actually working, discrimination within the workplace could still be considered to be a problem.

Recent figures suggest that 250 disabled people are placed or find work each week. There are no figures available to advise us of those losing or leaving work.
Even with the above figures, with no one leaving work, it would take 4000 years to reduce the volume of disabled people not able to find work.

Employers should be advised that there are government grants available to help them pay for any building modifications or equipment required to enable them employ a disabled work force. Legislation also means that those employing over 15 people should have a percentage of employees that are registered as disabled.
Most of the legislation currently in force only applies to companies employing 15 people or more.

There is a Government telephone Helpline on  0345 622 633
The hard of hearing telephone Textphone  is on 0345 622 644

Further government information is available,
by following this link Government Disability Information

Companies can profit by ensuring that their premises are accessible by all. Wheelchairs, push chairs etc. Why not contact Access Auditing, who can check out your building and ensure that customers and employees can access all the areas they need to. access-auditing

Disability benefits are actually paid for reasons well beyond actual ability to work these days and can be claimed from age five years to age 60.

Virtually all aspects of disability are aimed at the abilities of the disabled and their willingness to work harder and offer more loyalty to an employer, all for less remuneration than their abled counterpart. Government grants too provide further incentives for employers to employ the disabled.

Even with these attitudes, disabled people still find it much more difficult to gain employment that abled people. Employers are obviously guilty of severe discrimination against those with disabilities.

A disabled person who wishes to gain employment should be well armed with all the facts and offers of grants available when replying to advertisements or attending interviews, such as the Access to Work scheme. It is apparent that the emphasis lies with the disabled person to point out that law and not with the employer to keep to the letter of any discrimination law that applies. Those regulations are just as strong as the race or sex discrimination employment laws currently in force in the UK.

The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) are now sitting and laws related to the rights of disabled people and work should be changed soon, hopefully for the better.

Meanwhile, we at DDLG can not emphasise enough the need for all, not only government ministers, to see to the needs of many disabled people and not show discrimination in other ways.

Attitudes have changed since it has been suggested that most of those claiming disability benefits are scroungers and cheats. While there is room for fraud in every aspect of monetary income, be it benefit claims or salary, the least able to fend for themselves are the most likely to suffer.

Most of our members are actually to ill to work and the rest, disabled or not are working, some claim benefits, mainly because their salary is too low, or to help get to and from work or pay a carer.

Having a disability does not automatically mean you can not or are unfit to work, however we must always show the greatest consideration to those who are actually too sick to work.

More consideration should be given to part time work, support should be available to those wishing to work from home, grants for small business ventures etc.
There are many avenues as yet totally unexplored by anyone.

Meanwhile if you have any stories to tell about work or the workplace, do email us the story and we may well publicise it for you.

Disabled Data Link Group 1984 - 2005(c)