What to Do When You Are Faced With Disability Discrimination

Disability discrimination is a stressful and upsetting thing for anyone to have to deal with at work. It is something that should never happen but, unfortunately, it happens more often than we might think.

When you are faced with disability discrimination either at work or during a recruitment process, it can come as a shock and it can be difficult to know what to do about it. It can be isolating and extremely challenging.

At Careers with Disabilities, we care about disabled employees and job seekers getting the support and guidance that they need. In this blog, we are going to contribute to that by discussing what you can do when you are faced with disability discrimination in recruitment and/or work. 

Let’s start by defining what exactly we mean by disability discrimination and describing a few examples. It is always key to know what to look out for.

What is Disability Discrimination?

Disability is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act of 2010. This means that people who are disabled are specifically protected from discrimination by law. It also means that they are entitled to extra support in the workplace to help counteract any disadvantage, usually by the means of reasonable adjustments.

The Equality Act outlines the different forms of discrimination that can play a part in this. They include:

• Direct discrimination 
• Indirect discrimination
• Harassment
• Victimisation
• Discrimination by failure to provide reasonable adjustments 
• Associative discrimination

Each of these forms of discrimination is damaging to the person involved, both in terms of their career and their personal health and well-being. 

In this section, we are going to look at some examples of the above forms of discrimination to best describe how these situations may look in recruitment and work 

Examples of Disability Discrimination 

• An employee is going for promotion. In the promotion description, it states that the desired employee must have no more than three absences in the last twelve months. Disability Leave is not considered and there are no exemptions. This means that a disabled employee who has had to miss work directly due to the disability more than three times in the last year can no longer be considered even though they are the best person for this particular job. This is indirect discrimination.

• A disabled job seeker applies for a job, letting the employer know they are a wheelchair user. They ask for reasonable adjustments to be made in advance if the physical working environment is not wheelchair accessible. However, when they arrive, they see that the interview room is completely inaccessible to them and no reasonable adjustments are being offered. This is disability discrimination via failure to provide reasonable adjustments. 

• A disabled employee speaks out about the fact that their workplace is not accessible enough for a range of disabilities. They draw attention to a lack of disabled parking and disability-friendly toilet facilities. After they do this, they are shunned from social events and left out of important meetings. This is victimisation. 

The Steps of Dealing with It

If you are ever in the unfortunate situation of experiencing disability discrimination at work, it is key to know what to do about it. Not knowing what to do can leave you stuck and isolated. 

Our recommended steps for dealing with disability discrimination are as follows…

• Start Internally and Informally 

First things first, always start internally and informally when it comes to approaching any problem related to your disability. Sometimes, an employer or colleague may make an honest mistake that they are willing to rectify when prompted. Other problems may be fixed with internal mediation or disciplinary measures too. Before you escalate anything to an external or more formal source, give informal measures a good go first. If things can be resolved in this way, it is easier for everyone involved, including you as the victim.

• Make a Formal Grievance

If this first option does not work, you can move on to making a formal grievance. The best way to do this is to consult a workplace’s formal grievance policy and/or approach HR. This normally takes the form of a letter of grievance that is processed in a more formal matter. Taking things to this level may demonstrate how serious the issue is to the people involved and this may lead to you getting the results that you want. 

• Get Advice on Any Further Steps 

If these first two options do not bring the results you want, it is time to get external advice on further steps you can take. Two great places for this are Citizens Advice and the EASS. Both of these resources can help inform you on what you should do next and what further policies and protocols typically include. It is always good to get as much advice as possible so that you can make a completely informed decision on how you might like to proceed. 

You can also consult a solicitor at any point to figure out what your legal options are. You may be entitled to legal aid to help with your costs, so it is worth checking this out too. 

• Make a Claim at an Employment Tribunal 

Finally, if nothing has proved successful and you want to take firm, legal action against the employer or colleague involved, you will need to make a claim of disability discrimination at an employment tribunal. This is a legal process that can take a long time to complete, and you may not always get the outcome that you want. However, in serious cases, this may be your only option and it can lead to positive outcomes and compensation. 

You will need to make your claim within 3 months of your contract ending or of the problem occurring. To find out more about how to do this, check out this government page. 

• Get the Support You Need

At any age of the above stages of dealing with disability discrimination, it is important that you get the support you need. It is key to look after yourself and your mental health during such a process, as it can be incredibly challenging. Make sure you talk to friends, family, and professional services such as your GP or a counsellor if you need more help. Never keep things bottled up, always reach out and get the support that you need for what you are going through. 

Finding an Accessible and Inclusive Job

If you have experienced disability discrimination in your workplace, it is likely that you will want a new job, especially if the situation has escalated to an employment tribunal. 

At Careers with Disabilities, we can help you with disability-friendly jobs and Disability Confident employers who will offer the best possible working environments for disabled employees. 

Although you cannot guarantee that discrimination will never happen again, you can find a place where it is much less likely to occur and, if it does, it would be dealt with quickly and appropriately. You can find somewhere you are accepted, supported, and respected as an employee with a disability. That is what every disabled person deserves.

Find the right job for you with our tools and find any further guidance you need in our Disability Advice Hub. 

Anything else? Give us a shout.