Yes I know…

it’s only October and I’m already dropping the “C” word. Believe me – I’m not happy.  There’s a good reason though and as December is fast approaching, the shops are beginning to stock Christmas Trees and stockings and the bars and restaurants are advertising bookings for Christmas parties, it’s a perfect time to offer you some hints and tips that will ensure your workplace party is inclusive for people in wheelchairs.

It can be all to easy to get excited and carried away with finding the perfect venue, arranging the punch, circulating, then ordering the set menu and organising Secret Santa but in all this confusion, it can be easy to forget to ensure your disabled colleagues can have the same experience as everybody else. 

I have been to many Christmas parties where, although I can get in the building, I cannot get to an accessible loo (or quite often a loo at all), there has been no way to get to the bar and the table legs are so narrow that my wheelchair cannot fit comfortably under.

Now I’m not suggesting that all your venues in the past have been inappropriate but I would like to share some tips that will hopefully help you to ensure your venue is inclusive so that everyone can enjoy the festivities. 

1. Physical accessibility of the venue

This might sound obvious but having an accessible venue is the most important factor. If somebody is a wheelchair user, they will need step free access into the building, around the building and to the accessible loo. I recommend that you confirm the access for yourself as a lot of venues only think of access as far as the room you are ending up in is concerned. Ensuring that there is adequate parking outside the venue is imperative, especially if the venue is of driving distance away from any public access.  

2. Noise and atmosphere

 Imagine a loud venue with lots of music and people.  There may even be a coffee machine or cocktail shaker in the background.  Then imagine that you are sitting on a chair whilst everybody around you is standing.  How much can you hear?  My assumption would be not very much.  This will probably be the case for your guests who are wheelchair users.  This may be tricky but finding a venue that is slightly less crowded with less surround sound will support your guests in a wheelchair to fully interact. If you have any guests with sensory disabilities, anxiety related disabilities or neuro-diverse disabilities, (i.e. autism) they will also struggle with overcrowded, overstimulated situations. 

3. A variable menu selection

By this, I am not suggesting that you have anything ranging from foie gras to crab sticks but a menu that is mindful of dietary requirements. Booking a pizza place and then finding out that you have a guest with coeliac disease will cause some issues. An easy way to get around this is by checking the dietary requirements of your guests before seeking a venue. 

4. Enough space to move

Earlier, we touched on venue accessibility for accessing the building. Another thing to consider is whether your guests in wheelchairs can move around the space once in it. Rustic floor tiles, whilst looking authentically old can cause problems for wheelchair wheels.

If there is not enough space for your wheelchair user guest to move around, they are stuck with whichever guests are nearest – and vice-versa. Many a time I have been stuck at the dud end of the table and not been able to move. Ensuring that a person in a wheelchair can fit comfortably under the table will also improve their experience and support them to feel included in conversations. 

The 30 day consultancy audit will support you, your department or your business to ensure any events you put on are accessible for all. To find out more, visit our consultancy page or get in touch

The Business Case

These are just a few of the comments that can be heard when people are talking about part-time employees and workers. Many employers believe that staff members can only be productive if they’re working between the hours of 9 – 5 with a 30 minute break at lunchtime. For many employees this is impractical and nearly impossible. A few reasons preventing a potential employee from working conventional hours may include:

• Having children

• Caring for a family member or friend

• Approaching retirement age and wanting to wind down

• Barriers faced by public transport preventing people from reaching the workplace for a conventional time

• Having a disability

In this blog I will concentrate predominately on disability. However, the points that I will cover can be utilised amongst the rest of your workforce.

There are many barriers that may prevent a disabled employee from working full-time or being able to sustain full-time hours. This doesn’t mean that an individual is not capable of sustaining employment. There are many strategies an employer can implement in order to support a disabled employee to be successful in their role.

 

Flexible working patterns.

As well as offering physical and emotional support to an employee in the workplace, employers also have an opportunity to offer flexible working patterns in environments that are accessible to the individual. For example, an employee with back related issues may not be able to sit at a desk for long amounts of time due to pain. Therefore, the workplace may offer the person the flexibility to move around the office whenever necessary.

A person with an anxiety related disability may struggle to travel in rush hour therefore they may be offered the opportunity to start and finish an hour later.  In particularly busy times of the year, they may be allowed to work from home.  It may be as simple as offering somebody the ability to wear headphones in the workplace in order for them to cancel out noise. An employee with a physical disability may be limited to some extent by the support they rely on to carry out their role; I rely on such support and if my PA is ill, I cannot go to work.  An employer or manager may negotiate with the employee the ability to work from home or extend deadlines in the event of such occasions.

Part time workers.

Just like above, the barriers faced by disabled people may prevent an individual from being able to work full time.  These barriers may be caused by fatigue, lack of outside support, lack of transportation or barriers caused by physical disabilities to name just a few.  This however does not prevent a person from being a valuable member of a workplace.  By working part-time, an employer can still utilise the experience and skills of the employee. As above, part-time workers do not necessarily equal conventional hours. The part-time hours negotiated can be unique to the job role and what an employer agrees upon.

It is always advisable to talk to your existing and potential employees about their individual needs. Like everyone, no two disabled people’s needs will be identical therefore constant communication should always be the priority. Without the right support, an individual can struggle to achieve so always try to create an open environment.

#PartofMe talks to disabled people who have overcome such barriers. Hear advise they offer to line managers and other disabled people.

Attributes

So let’s think about the attributes needed to be a good, effective manager. These may include:

• Creating open communication
• Fostering and nourishing talent
• Removing the barriers preventing your employees reaching their goals

These are arguably all the skills you need in order to support your disabled employee.

Yes, there are other processes that can be implemented such as reasonable adjustments, flexible working patterns, ensuring access around the building and workspace, formatting documents to be more accessible etc. However, all of this will be a non starter if the 3 points above are not a priority. An open and honest conversation can be the only thing that you need to break down the barriers between you and your employee.

Workplace Adjustments

It is a common misconception that implementing reasonable adjustments will be a financial cost on the business. This is not always the case. In fact, only 4% of reasonable adjustments have a financial implication. Even then, there are quite often funding resources that can be tapped into – Access to Work being one. Most of the time the adjustments that a disabled employee may need are things that can be taken care of in house. For example, a desk that is in a more convenient position, a parking bay that is closer to the entrance, an extra few minutes for lunch time break. This article looks at this in more detail.

Once you have created the environment for your employee to talk to you, seek their advice as to how they can be best supported in their role. As you will know yourself, nobody is better equipped to know what they need than the person themselves. After this, you can work together to source the equipment, add the resource, adapt the environment for the employee to thrive.

Esi’s Final Thoughts

• Every disabled employee is unique –  a one size fits all approach will never work
• Not all disabilities are visible – just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there
• Do not let unconscious bias determine your relationship – get to know your employee as an individual

Celebrating Disability has a 30-day service that starts you on your journey to an inclusive workplace. To find out more and discuss your options, book a 30 minute chat with Esi and check out our services.

Background

Over the years I have consulted on, written and implemented policies that support personalisation and disability equality. I have, alongside colleagues with like minded ideals, delivered training, written workbooks and  created documents that support change to build a positive workforce that actively encourages and supports disabled people. And yet, disability inequality in the workplace is still rife.

Since starting Celebrating Disability, I have been to networking events and exhibitions and even spoken to people in the communal areas in my office space. When asked what I do and what Celebrating Disability is, I have explained that Celebrating Disability is a disability equality consultancy supporting businesses, education establishments and general interest groups to become disability confident. In turn, they can support disabled employees and customers to excel.

It bothers me that much too often people are responding with telling stories of discrimination in the workplace where they themselves or a colleague of theirs has been actively discriminated against for being disabled.

Too many stories in the news of discrimination

 Businesses who are not strapped for cash and have plenty of resources to offer support. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes the support a disabled employee needs does not need hundreds and thousands of pounds but on the contrary, is as simple as offering an employee a quiet place to rest, flexible working time or assistance in cashing up the till.

I can’t help thinking that this only reinforces the reason why Celebrating Disability and consultancies like it must exist. But it still leaves one unanswered question. Because the only people who are going to hire the services of disability equality consultancies are organisations with a positive attitude towards integration, inclusion and equality.

Conclusion

So how do we capture the interest of those who either do not see the aforementioned as an issue or do not care? I have been working closely with sales and marketing advisors to build brand awareness of Celebrating Disability – they have told me that people buy due to fear or greed. Is this the way to convince those businesses less interested to come into the light? The answer that is coming to mind is yes but my only wish is that it does not need fear and greed to convince somebody to do the right thing and treat people as equals. That may be naive on my part but at the same time I don’t think its unreasonable.

As a physically disabled person using an electric wheelchair,

I have been to many workplaces – some clearly more accessible than others. I always find it interesting to hear individual definitions of accessibility; some people feel that a building is accessible if the central room is on one level, even if it took 3 flights of stairs to get there.

Recently,  I visited some office space where, although on first glance they were  wheelchair accessible with ramp, lift or level access into every part of the building, they still  presented as only 50%  accessible for me.

This is an office space that I was considering renting. The owners of the building are enquiring into automatic doors throughout the areas that I will be frequently using.

It is commonly thought that a workplace is accessible if they have a low desk for a physically disabled person to sit at. Forgetting that the low desk is at one end of the room when the workplace community is predominately at the other end of the room.

Often, the barriers to accessibility in the workplace can be relatively easily rectified: ensure that there is level access from the front entrance – including the entrance itself. Strive to make your office space inclusive for every ability; scatter your desk sizes throughout the workspace, make all your desks height adjustable so that a disabled or non-disabled person can use them. Where possible, replace your standard push/pull doors with automatic ones or take out the door altogether. Ensure your disabled parking bays are at an appropriate distance from the building and that they are wide enough.

The Shaw Trust have listed several pieces of equipment that can be installed in your workplace to ensure your disabled employees can have equal access to their surroundings. These items are simple to install and do not have to be isolated to your disabled employees but can in fact be part of your overall upgrade plan. For example, easy reach, accessible plug sockets and flexible monitor arms can be installed at every workstation.

Adjustments like those listed above are relatively easy to implement and can support your disabled employees to feel welcomed and valued in your organisation.

Alongside these, I would like to talk briefly about a few other relatively basic designs that can be implemented within your organisation to support your disabled employees to feel part of your workplace community:

Accessible communal areas.

We all know that the workspace is only one part of your business’ productivity. A big part of what keeps your employees productive is your workplace community that employees naturally become a member of when they join your organisation. This is not any different for your disabled employees but due to restrictions on accessibility, it can feel more of a challenge to be an active member of these communities. Places like kitchens, toilets, breakout areas and even smoking areas can present as barriers to physically disabled employees if appropriate planning has not been implemented.

A popular sitcom highlighted this issue when the protagonist was left out of strategic decisions because those decisions were always made during the smoking breaks. As she did not smoke, she was segregated from these discussions.

Although we are not teenagers, toilets are seen as communal areas. Accessible toilets are quite often separated from general toilets therefore separating a physically disabled person from their non-disabled peers. If possible, try building your accessible toilet within the standard toilets.  To ensure you are being inclusive of even more access requirements, you may think to install Changing Places.  When it comes to design, if you do not have experience of using accessible toilets, do not design them yourself. Commission somebody with lived experience.

Kitchens are quite often designed to take up minimal amount of space possible. This can create a barrier for a physically disabled person; not only will they not be able to reach equipment, it will be harder to take part in conversations. I have been in situations many times where the congregated group have agreed to move into a more accessible area so that I can be part of the conversation. However by the time the group has moved, the conversation has ended.

As a manager, you may not be thrilled by the idea of your employees talking about their weekend during office time. However, we all know that a happy employee is a productive employee. Therefore communal breakout time is arguably essential.

Positioning of the office workspace.

Earlier, we discussed workspace equipment that can be inclusive of all abilities and disabilities. However, depending on budget, it is not always possible to upgrade all office equipment to be accessible for all. In these cases it is worth considering where you’re physically disabled employee will be located: if you have an open plan office space, you may consider how easy it is for an employee in a wheelchair to navigate to their desk. Equally, if that person needs to have frequent contact with their line manager and team, consider where everyone in that team is located.

Hot desking is becoming popular within the workplace. This is possible for disabled employees but would be easier in a workplace that has the ability to make the office space equally accessible for all.

Employee benefits.

Finally, I would like to touch upon employee benefits. Depending on your business’ financial position, you may offer a generous and extensive employee benefits scheme. It is worth considering whether these benefits are accessible for your physically disabled employees. Some examples of this can include:

– company cars,

– gym memberships,

– travel vouchers,

– cycle to work scheme.

It is worth considering that your company cars may not be accessible for a physically disabled person. Therefore you may want to offer a wheelchair accessible vehicle as an alternative. You may want to consider whether the gym you have a contract with has any accessible equipment. Does the company that you get your travel vouchers from have information about accessible accommodation/ destinations? If a physically disabled person is not able to access the cycle to work scheme, do you have an alternative for them?

All of the above are only some suggestions, it is impossible to predict an individual’s circumstances. Therefore, you should aim to talk to that person at the earliest opportunity but always after you have offered them a position.

For more information, support and advice about how to make your workspace into an inclusive environment for your physically disabled employees, send an email to esi.hardy@celebratingdisability.co.uk or speak to Esi on 01256 578016.