Pathways to Work for disabled people: Employers hold the key

In this article, Head of Policy and Research Sarah Welfare looks at recent developments in employment support and benefits reform for disabled people and those with health conditions.

“Work for those who can, support for those who cannot” has long been a principle of successive governments when it comes to welfare reform. While the critical second part of this principle was what was under most scrutiny in Parliament last week, there has been less media focus on exactly how we support the 200,000 or more people in receipt of either the health element of Universal Credit (UC) or Personal Independence Payments (PIP) who would like to work right now, if they had the right support to do so.

High-quality, personalised employment support is critical to delivering the Government’s vision of an inclusive economy where all those who want to can secure a good job. Currently it seems such a missed opportunity for many people in receipt of UC Health or PIP not even to be offered a conversation exploring their ambitions and the skills, work and health support they can access to help them achieve it. In our response to the Government’s consultation on its Pathways to Work Green Paper, we welcomed the Government’s commitment to removing barriers to trying work, and set out our vision for using the decades of expertise built up by the specialist employment support sector to support disabled people and those with health conditions whose potential has been discounted or neglected in the past.

The opportunity

The Government’s proposed significant new investment in employment support over the next few years gives the UK an opportunity to think big and scrap outdated silos between health, skills and employment support, focusing on the individual - and employers’ recruitment needs - in the context of their local area, support networks and economy. All over the country, different areas are testing out which approaches are most effective for their residents, from the Pathways to Work Trailblazer supported by Reed in Partnership in Sheffield, to the Youth Trailblazer in Central London focusing on supporting care-experienced young people, where Reed in Partnership’s Central London Careers Hub for the London Government is there to support as a local partner.

Changing big systems boldly comes with risk, however, and with some major employment support services such as the Refugee Employability Programme or the Work and Health Programme coming to an end, there are risks of gaps in support opening up (for refugees, for example) and employer relationships being disrupted. There is also a risk of confusion amongst both individuals needing support and employers who want to recruit inclusively and flexibly to harness diverse talent. We need to work together to make it obvious and easy for both the public and employers (and indeed local signposting organisations) to know where to go for support or where to refer people.

Meanwhile, need for support continues to rise. The need to make sure health support is built into all forms of employment support is higher than ever. The prevalence of mental ill health, for example, continues to increase, with one in five adults (20%) having a common mental health condition, rising to one in four (26%) for people aged 16 to 24. On our Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Restart Scheme, Work and Health Programme and Pioneer services, for example, Reed in Partnership has embedded specialist, speedy mental health support.

Engaging employers

Ultimately, it is employers that hold the key here to opening up opportunities for people managing health conditions. Reed in Partnership works with hundreds of incredible employers every day, supporting them to tweak their recruitment practices to open up better opportunities for disabled people, or helping to deliver careers events that inspire the next generation of autistic scientists or creative sector workers.

We fed in our learning to the Keep Britain Working Review led by Sir Charlie Mayfield, which is seeking to identify some smart, deliverable changes that can take what the best employers do to recruit and support disabled people and incentivise or encourage many more to do the same.

Our message was a simple one - an open mind to talent and a supportive and flexible attitude is the main thing employers need. Help is then on hand to increase employer confidence, knowledge and know-how. Most adjustments are inexpensive and straightforward if they are done in a timely manner. While we think a new support service for employers is needed at key points (where an employer is managing an employee on long-term sick leave, for example) supporting more disabled people to thrive in the labour market is about good management and an inclusive attitude that encourages people to talk routinely to their employer about what support they need to thrive at work. As the Employers Disability Forum says, we need to make these support conversations “business as usual” in the UK workplace.

You can read Reed in Partnership’s response to the Keep Britain Working Review here.