The Importance of Small and Medium Size Employers for Closing the Disability Employment Gap

What role do small and medium size employers (SMEs) play in reducing the ‘disability employment gap’ (the difference between the number of disabled and non-disabled people in paid employment),  and what are the experiences of SMEs in hiring and retaining disabled people (including workers with  long-term health conditions)? 

So often the SME employer voice has been missing from studies into the disability employment gap, with far more attention given to the needs of large employers. However, there is now an emerging  body of new research which is providing a clearer picture of UK based SME employer experiences from across various different industrial sectors. For example, my thesis Disabled People, Work and Small-Medium-Size Enterprises explores the barriers and challenges that both disabled people and SME employers face. 

The research found evidence that small employers often worry unnecessarily about the cost implications for their business, which might be associated with making adaptations. To alleviate such fears, promoting schemes such as Access to Work (AtW), which offers practical advice or financial support to businesses as well as workers, may encourage more small employers to recruit disabled people. Private-sector employers tended to report a lack of clarity on their legal duty to make reasonable adjustments, which makes them reticent about hiring people who they perceive to require  ‘special’ treatment. They worried about the impact of adjusting the organisation of work on other employees. It was also the case that informality in recruitment processes can unwittingly lead to hiring decisions based upon notions of who will ‘fit’ into the existing workplace culture. SME employers should therefore be encouraged to draw upon all available advice and support available to them including the Disability Confident scheme as a basis to develop their inclusive practice. Ensuring that SMEs are accessing the full range of support provided by disability organisations, government departments, trade unions and other stakeholders will help to counter concerns. Despite some weaknesses, on balance, the evidence from discussion with SME employers in combination with the government statistics highlights the important role that SMEs are currently playing in offering employment to large numbers of disabled people. Therefore, SMEs should be asked to share their good practice with the wider business community, with researchers, and with policy makers if we are to finally make the disability employment gap a thing of the past.