People with disabilities could be helped back into work with similar protections as those for women returning from maternity leave.
A new right to reintegration for workers on sick leave could see firms prevented from dismissing someone unless it is shown the employer has made sufficient efforts at reintegrating the person, the Resolution Foundation think tank said.
They said such a right would “would clarify and strengthen existing legal protections” under the the Equality Act and “provide a much stronger message to workers about what they are entitled to”.
The report warned that the government risks failing to meet its aim to raise the employment rate to 80 per cent without a “serious strategy to shift employer behaviour” and argues employers must be incentivised to reintegrate existing workers back into jobs.
The report comes in the same week as the Universal Credit Bill cleared the House of Lords, aimed at rebalancing the benefit “to remove work disincentives”, according to a government minister, while giving existing claimants “the security and certainty they need”.
Separately during the debate, Paralympic champion Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, who sits in the Lords, said disabled people have been portrayed as “benefit scroungers and a drain on society” in the conversation on welfare reform.
In its report, the Resolution Foundation said around 12% of disabled staff leave work each year – consistently 1.5-times the rate of non-disabled workers.
It added that twice as many people move from work into inactivity due to ill health – around 304,000 each year – than those moving the other way (around 151,000).
But the think tank said despite there being “strong” legal obligations in place already on employers, they are “simply not doing enough to retain existing workers”, with fewer than half of disabled workers who request a reasonable adjustment – which can include a change to working arrangements or provision of equipment, services or support – having this granted in full.
With 15% of disabled people reporting workplace discrimination relating to their disability in 2022, the report said this remains a “pressing issue”.
The think tank said: “Boosting disability employment is not straightforward: it will involve improvements to the health system, benefits system and world of work. But action to incentivise and support employers is a vital piece of the puzzle.”
Louise Murphy, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “The Government should do more to incentivise firms to employ disabled people – especially those who have been out of work for long periods – but employers need to do more in return.
“A new right to reintegration could help disabled workers back into work in the same way that maternity rights transformed women’s employment prospects a generation ago.”
The foundation said the new right could be enforced through employment tribunals, but urged the Government to also consider “more proactive enforcement mechanisms, whether via the Equalities and Human Rights Commission or connected to a new system of caseworkers that are expected to be covered in the forthcoming Mayfield Review”.
Former John Lewis boss, Sir Charlie Mayfield, is undertaking a review to investigate how government and businesses can work together to support ill and disabled people into work, with a report expected in autumn.
The government has been contacted for comment.
