Supporting Disabled Employees during the Cost of Living Crisis

The cost of living crisis is one of the biggest problems currently facing our society. Due to the increasing energy and heating costs, alongside a range of other increases and influxes, many people are struggling to live on the income they have. Many people in the U.K. are struggling to even pay for food or to heat their homes. 

This crisis is particularly difficult for disabled people. Disabled people are very often on lower incomes than their non-disabled counterparts, due to working part-time or reduced contracts. Others are fully unemployed and require government benefits. There is currently still a significant disability employment gap, and so this stands for a large community of people. 

In general, it is also more expensive to be a disabled person. Disabled people require specific equipment, medication, and adjustments that cost them money throughout the year, every year. Even with financial help from the government, there can still be a struggle just to pay for the everyday essentials a disabled person needs to get by, even without a cost of living crisis. 

It is important that employers understand why the cost of living crisis is particularly harmful to the disabled community. It is also key that they know what to do to help and support their own disabled employees. 

Let’s talk more about that in this blog. 

1. Understand the Problem

First things first, if an employer is to fully support their disabled employees during the cost of living crisis, they need to understand what their employees are going through and why. 

Taking the time to both listen to your employees and to do your own research on the wider context are both critical activities in gaining this understanding. Different disabled people will have different situations and perspectives and so learning as much as you can from different sources will also be beneficial here. 

Many disabled people feel consistently misunderstood and misrepresented in different areas of their life. They can’t begin to expect the right kind of support and guidance from their employee if first and foremost their employer does not understand them and what they are going through. 

2. Watch Out for Tell-Tale Signs of Stress and Overwhelm

Not every employee will feel comfortable discussing what they are going through at home. Many people feel that is inappropriate to talk about money at work and others may not even feel comfortable disclosing their disability in the first place. 

Because of this, there may be people in your workplace struggling under the radar. It is important to be aware of this and be able to spot the signs of when an employee may be really struggling so that you can appropriately intervene. Financial struggles can cause some people to feel very low and even suicidal, especially if they are in debt of any kind. 

Signs of low mood, stress and overwhelm in work include: 

• Frequently calling in sick
• Seeming withdrawn and not interacting as usual with others
• Anger and irritation
• Decrease in quality of work and increase in mistakes and errors
• Not eating
• Signs of not sleeping well or crying
• Seeming generally out of character

If you have an employee who is meeting these criteria, make sure to speak to them directly. Ask them about their mood and ask what kind of support they have at home. You should also recommend that they talk to their GP about their mood and provide contacts for emergency care, such as crisis helplines. If you feel severely concerned about an employee’s well-being, don’t hesitate to ring your local emergency department. 

3. Provide Access to Avenues for Support

There are different options for financial support for disabled people either in or out of employment. To help support your employees, it is a good idea to make them aware of these different avenues of support and how to reach them. Knowing that help is out there can help to reduce those aforementioned feelings of stress and overwhelm, and a boost in income can also help to reduce financial problems. 

To find out more about what financial support disabled people can be entitled to, check out our pages on grants and schemes and how to find financial support in your area. 

There may be other avenues of support you can offer as an employer, including paid counselling for employees through their insurance, dental care, healthcare, and so on. Make sure you make every avenue of support visible and usable for your disabled employees. 

4. Create a Supportive Working Environment

There are no quick fixes for the cost of living crisis, especially not for the disabled community. Long-term and sustainable support will be needed to help your employees navigate this complex situation. As such, one of the very best things that you can do for all of your employees is to create a supportive and accessible working environment where they feel comfortable discussing their issues and receiving support. 

When employees feel safe at work it improves their well-being and increases their productivity. If your employees feel that they can talk to their colleagues about their issues, receive support, and be understood for what they are going through, they are less likely to withdraw and be absent from work. Where they can feel connected, they can stay engaged. 

To help create such an environment some options you might consider are: 

• Running disability-awareness training for all members of staff, including how the cost of living crisis significantly impacts disabled people 
• Having an open policy on discussions of finance and income
• Offering reasonable adjustments
• Holding open meetings and listening to employee feedback
• Running social events and de-stressing opportunities inside of work for free
• Offering flexibility wherever needed

A stable working environment can help employees feel secure inside and outside of work, so it is key to do what you can to provide one, especially in such trying times. 

How We Can Help

At Careers with Disabilities, we have lots of tools and resources available to help you support your disabled employees. 

You can check out the Guidance for Employers section on our site and learn about everything from non-visible disabilities to the Disability Confident Scheme. 

Then, you can take a look at our services for employers and see what we can offer you. We can help you improve your social media presence as an equal opportunities employer, screen your job adverts for inaccessibility, and help you reach a wide and diverse pool of candidates via our disability-friendly job board. 

Whatever you need to be the best employer you can be, we have it right here on Careers with Disabilities. 

And if you don’t see the information you need, don’t hesitate to get in touch.