Adult and Community Services

Disability Employment

The information below gives you details on how to contact organisations that offer advice and support on employment and training issues for disabled people and Carers.

Disability employment

The law now makes it unlawful for businesses and organisations providing services to treat disabled people less favourably than other people for a reason related to their disability.

This means that employees now have to make their premises accessible to disabled people to use their services. It also means that it is unlawful for any employer to discriminate against a disabled person when choosing someone for a job or considering people for promotion, dismissal or redundancy.

Information about employing disabled people and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is available from Equality Direct. They provide anyone who is an employer easy access to a wide range of equality issues.

The helpline is available across England for the cost of a local call: 0845 600 3444, 9am - 4.30pm, Monday to Friday. Your conversations will be in complete confidence.

The Disability Rights Commission offers advice and support for both employers and employees regarding disability.

The Directgov disabled people web page provides a single point of access to government information and services for disabled people including financial support, rights and obligations, education and training and much more.

The foundation for people with Learning Disabilities works with people and their families to ensure they can use effective services, play a fuller part in communities and society, and enjoy equal rights.

New Deal for Disabled People is for those getting a disability or health-related benefit who want to work but need some help and support along the way.

Tel: 0800 137 177

Fax: 0800 435 550

Mental Health employment and training

Under the Disability Discrimination Act, employers of 15 or more people now have a legal duty to make their workplace accessible to people with mental health problems.

The Mental Health Foundation aims to help people survive, recover from and prevent mental health problems. They bring together teams that do research, develop services, design training, influence policy, and raise public awareness - all under 1 roof.

Caring and employment

Almost 2 thirds of working age Carers are in some sort of paid employment. A third of those work full-time and provide care for more than 20 hours per week. Combining work and caring can be difficult especially if time needs to be taken off work to look after the person in need when an emergency occurs.

The government has acknowledged the importance of the Carer being able to do this and at the same time have their rights to employment protected.

The right to have time off

The Employment Relations Act of 15/12/1999 gave Carers in paid work the right to have time off to deal with a family emergency. Carers cannot now by law be penalised by their employer for taking time off so long as that time off is fully justified. Further information on 'time off' can be found at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (right to have time off).

Work-life balance campaign

In March 2000 the Prime Minister launched the government's Work-Life Balance campaign. This was to encourage employers to recognise the benefits to their organisation of flexible working arrangements and the responsibility that Carers have out of work.

The campaign is for everyone, whether you are an employer, carer, parent or job seeker. It is about changing working patterns so that everyone can find a way to help them combine work with 'out of work' responsibilities.