The employment of disabled people in the public sector: a review of data and literature

Authors:
HIRST Michael, et al
Publisher:
University of York. Social Policy Research Unit
Publication year:
2004
Pagination:
169p.
Place of publication:
York

The proposed duty on the public sector to promote disability equality will require employers to take action in areas which are currently under-developed such as: involving disabled staff; training and awareness raising; monitoring disability within the workforce and among job applicants; and taking an organisation-wide strategic approach. Guidance needs to convince employers of the value to them of taking action, involving a prior understanding of what motivates them to change.

Extended abstract:

Author:

HIRST Michael; et al.;
 
Title

The employment of disabled people in the public sector: a review of data and literature.
 
Publisher

University of York. Social Policy Research Unit, 2004

Summary

This review, in summer 2004, covers recent trends in public sector employment, employment circumstances and characteristics of disabled public sector employees, research on employers' attitudes and practices in employment of disabled people, sickness absence, disabled people's employment experiences, the role of services in promoting employment in the public sector, and evidence from employers' documentation of effective policies and practices.

Context

The proposed duty on the public sector to promote disability equality will require employers to take action in areas which are currently under-developed such as: involving disabled staff; training and awareness raising; monitoring disability within the workforce and among job applicants; and taking an organisation-wide strategic approach. Guidance needs to convince employers of the value to them of taking action, involving a prior understanding of what motivates them to change.

Contents

Chapters 2 and 3 draw on secondary analysis of the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Chapter 2 describes trends in the number and proportion of disabled people employed in the public sector in Great Britain from spring 1998 to spring 2003. Chapter 3 uses the most recently available LFS data to describe the employment circumstances and characteristics of disabled public sector employees. In both chapters data are presented on disabled compared with non-disabled employees in the public sector only. Chapters 4-7 summarise the available published research literature on the employment of disabled people in the public sector in Great Britain . Much of the literature in the field of employment and disabled people was already known to the research team, as a consequence of having undertaken searches for several previous reviews as well as being active researchers in the field. Existing knowledge was up-dated and extended by searches on Academic Search Premier (EBSCO), selected academic publishers websites, government and industry websites, media databases and library databases. It is important to note that almost no British research literature specifically on the topic of public sector employment of disabled people was found through searches. To identify material of relevance to the review it was necessary to trawl through the literature on the wider topic of employment of disabled people. As will be explained further, it was sometimes found necessary to present the wider context to the findings relating to the public sector.

Chapter 4 reports the research on the attitudes and employment practices of public sector organisations. Chapter 5 looks at sickness absence among disabled people and employer perceptions that they will take more sick leave, examines recent evidence on sickness absence in the public sector and reports findings of an important analysis that takes account of sector in characteristics associated with increased risk of job loss. Chapter 6 reviews the limited literature on the public sector employment experiences of disabled people, people with chronic and mental health conditions, and deaf people. Chapter 7 examines research on practical interventions, such as government programmes, to improve the chances for disabled people to enter, retain and progress in public sector jobs. It should be noted that there is no uniformity in how ‘disabled people' is defined in the studies reviewed. Wherever possible the definitions used in the studies are used. It should also be noted that the scope of some surveys extends to include Northern Ireland . Chapter 8 presents findings from a trawl of public sector employers to identify effective employment policies and practices based on their own documentation. Chapter 9 concludes with the main messages from the research and recommendations to the DRC.

Conclusion

It is encouraging to find, from the analysis of the LFS, rather few apparent differences in the characteristics of disabled and non-disabled employees in the public sector, though disparities in earnings and occupying senior positions need further investigation and when the quality of employment is considered disabled employees in certain sub-sectors of the public sector are disadvantaged. It is also encouraging that the public sector outperforms the private sector in some respects, though it is hard to explain why. The proposed duty on the public sector to promote disability equality will require employers to take action in areas which are currently under-developed such as: involving disabled staff; training and awareness raising; monitoring disability within the workforce and among job applicants; and taking an organisation-wide strategic approach. Guidance needs to convince employers of the value to them of taking action, involving a prior understanding of what motivates them to change. Development work might include further investigation of effective practice through equality, diversity and disability networks and recipients of award and accreditations. At the same time, steps must be taken to counter misunderstandings about disability, with active campaigning to educate the public about disability in general and legislation on disability in particular, and specifically to promote awareness of which conditions are included under the DDA and help to dispel myths about employing disabled people. There is scope for further analysis of the LFS to fill gaps in knowledge: multivariate analysis to investigate reasons for the reported differences between disabled and non-disabled employees, with priority given to pay differentials; comparison of disabled people's employment experiences across sectors, to provide the context within which to evaluate and interpret findings related to the public sector; longitudinal analysis to explore employment trajectories of disabled people, including movements in and out of the public sector; and longitudinal analysis to investigate in more detail the finding that public sector employees have a lower risk of leaving employment following onset of disability compared with those working in other industry divisions. There is a role for the DRC to influence the design of further research to introduce consistency in the definition of the public sector and in survey design so that the impact of the public sector duty can be tracked over time. There is a need for research that establishes what leads to change and which takes account of the perspectives of disabled and non-disabled staff in different positions within public sector employing organisations.

54 references

ISBN 0 9549327 0 6

Subject terms:
learning disabilities, literature reviews, physical disabilities, public sector, employment;
Content type:
research review
Location(s):
United Kingdom
Links:
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ISBN print:
0 9549327 0 6

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