Then and Now: Disability Legislation and Employers' Practices in the UK

Abstract

Using a longitudinal research design, this article considers employers' human resource management practices in respect of disability equality: in 1995 under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act and in 2003 under the Disability Discrimination Act. The article analyses whether there has been a change to employers' practices and whether or not this change is associated with increased employment of disabled persons. The findings show that proactive HR measures to encourage disabled employment, including positive discrimination, had a significant impact on disabled employment in 1995, whereas HR measures centring on managerial responsibilities and making adaptations had a similar result in 2003. We argue that, for optimum effectiveness, HR departments should employ the full range of HR measures that are available, including positive discrimination, and that this approach should be underpinned by a range of enforcement measures. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2007.

Do employment protection policies reduce the relative disadvantage in the labour market experienced by unhealthy people? A natural experiment created by the Great Recession in Europe

“…However, our results do indicate that they are much more prone to do so during recessions. Second, while the longitudinal data document clearly that women were more likely to lose jobs during nonrecessionary periods, consistent with other evidence from Europe (Jones et al, 2006;Kruse and Schur, 2003;Woodhams and Corby, 2007), we were unable to disaggregate different economic sectors that may account for these gendered patterns, such as the traditionally female service industries. Similarly, we are unable to ascertain why men with poor health have become more likely to lose work during the crisis but the most likely explanation is the differential impact of the crisis on sectors dominated by men, for example construction and manufacturing sectors.…”

“…Yet, others have suggested that these results were artefactual, since the Americans with Disabilities Act increased the numbers of persons designated as disabled (Jolls and Prescott, 2004;Kruse and Schur, 2003). Further studies that have investigated the longer-term effects find that anti-discrimination policies improved employment rates among disabled people although, in the UK, there is suggestive evidence that they have benefited men more than women (Jones et al, 2006;Kruse and Schur, 2003;Woodhams and Corby, 2007). These observations are thought to be a product of women's overrepresentation in precarious employment, including part-time work and the service sector.…”

Disability and earnings: Are employer characteristics important?

“…In the UK, evidence on issues such as employer awareness of the DDA, perceptions of disability, prevalence of adjustments and disability-related practices has largely come from specialized surveys of employers (Simm et al, 2007;Woodhams and Corby, 2007). The approach used here, which deploys a large-scale matched employee-employer dataset in 1 Direct evidence relating to workplace accommodations is limited.…”

Estranged but not strangers: Challenging organisational norms of access for people with disability and people from a NESB

“…More critically, a communicator's abilities require a mix of priorities arising from the organisation and their own ethnocentric perspective embedded through historical, political, social and cultural experiences to affect their ability to include (Woodhams & Corby, 2007). By proactively exploring inclusion in policy and process, communicators can compare outcomes with their publics and address deficiencies.…”

“…This methodology aimed to interpret the beliefs and lived experiences of multiple publics to isolate effective communication processes. The investigation used principles of constructionism as 'constructed reality' informed by historical, political, social and cultural experiences that affect inclusion (Woodhams & Corby, 2007, Weerakkody, 2015. It is limited by the communicators' ethnocentric perspective as informed by their experience.…”