More than nine in 10 (95.3%) of organisations surveyed for the
LexisNexis Butterworths publication said they now have a formal
policy on disability, typically as part of a wider equality or
diversity policy.
Employers are increasingly allowing absence for rehabilitation
and treatment (cited by eight in 10 employers), acquiring or
modifying equipment, altering individual working hours, assigning a
person to other work and providing flexible working
arrangements.
Over the past five years, the proportion of disabled people in
the workplace has either increased or remained constant in most
organisations – although this was largely attributable to an
increase in disability reporting.
In more than eight in 10 organisations able to provide an
answer, the change was thought to be at least partly attributable
to an increase in the number of people defined as having a
disability. And nearly two-thirds mentioned that, in part, it was
due to a rise in the reporting of disabilities.
The IRS study of disability at the workplace was conducted
through a postal questionnaire during summer 2005.
