New survey highlights problems faced by disabled employees

A new survey has highlighted the scale of the problems faced by disabled employees in the UK, revealing shocking levels of harassment, discrimination and bullying.

This survey was conducted by Opinium on behalf of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and it makes for disturbing reading. The organisation surveyed 1,000 employees with disabilities and 39% of them stated that they had suffered harassment, discrimination or bullying in their workplaces. This was during the previous five years, and the treatment meted out to them was directly connected to their disabilities.

One example of that treatment described in the survey was offensive or intrusive questions, which was cited by 15% of respondents. Another 14% stated that they had been forced to endure hurtful jokes targeting them for their disability. 12% told the survey they experienced lengthy periods of abusive and intimidating behaviour.

Over one quarter of those surveyed stated that the treatment had made them wish they could leave their employment. A further 20% had been forced to take time away because of it.

Speaking to Personnel Today, the general secretary of the TUC, Paul Nowak, stated that:

“It’s time to stamp out this pervasive mistreatment. Disabled workers deserve dignity and respect at work, like every other worker does.”

In the majority of cases, this will be a problem with the internal workplace culture. That is something that HR teams and managers must tackle together, but it can sometimes help to bring in culture change consulting services from outside the company.