Shut out of work: How workplaces are excluding disabled people
A summary of this report, by Becca Stacey and Victoria Anns, is below. Click here 513 KB for the full report, and here for an editable Google doc version.
Many of the disabled people we support are excluded from the labour market because workplaces remain inaccessible and unsupportive. Despite the Equality Act intending to protect disabled people from facing disadvantage at work, we helped 5,393 people with health-related employment discrimination in 2025. On average, this means every 1.5 hours our advisers help someone who has faced workplace discrimination due to their health.
What’s more, health-related discrimination was the leading issue in our employment discrimination cases last year, making up more than half of cases.
As we outline in this report, the disabled people we help face barriers to work at every stage of the employment journey:
When searching for jobs, they can struggle to find suitable roles that accommodate their health condition or disability.
When applying for jobs, they are routinely met with bias and discrimination, which can lead to repeated rejections.
When in work, getting the required flexibility and reasonable adjustments can be a big challenge and many report encountering stigmatising, misguided, and offensive attitudes about disability in the workplace.
And when trying to enforce their rights, the current resolution process can be inaccessible and an ineffective way to support disabled people to stay in work.
Our frontline evidence exposes the current reality of the labour market for many disabled people, who are routinely shut out of employment. Our research also offers early indications of where interventions could help address these issues:
Greater support for disabled jobseekers. Too often, disabled people are left trying to secure the workplace support and adjustments they need alone. We therefore urge the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to consider how it can make better use of the tools at its disposal to support disabled workers in accessing what they need. For example, by investing in Access to Work, and better utilising Disability Employment Advisers and Pathways to Work advisers so they liaise with employers and help disabled people secure workplace support and adjustments. We also encourage exploration of how the Health Adjustment Passport could be expanded so that workers can take their existing passport to new employers, helping them to request the adjustments they need.
Greater support for employers. In recognition of the fact that employers can face fiscal and capacity constraints to hiring disabled people, the Keep Britain Working review is right to acknowledge that targeted incentives such as employer tax relief and sick pay rebates will be needed to support employers in hiring disabled people. However, consideration should be given as to how these can be delivered as a more urgent priority.
Earlier resolution. It’s also essential that when disabled workers don’t receive the support or adjustments they need and are entitled to at work, there are effective mechanisms so this can be resolved quickly. Key areas for consideration include how to deliver more proactive enforcement of the Equality Act; embed greater health and disability expertise within the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS); and speed up access to employment tribunals for people who want to stay in work.