EmployAbility Webinars for Disabled Students

links to the Next Generation Inclusive Thinking webinars for disabled students run by EmployAbility can be found here.

Cindy McAlister from Employability has also shared some FAQs they’ve received –

1. At what stage of the recruitment process should I disclose my disability? 

You don’t have to disclose your disability, and employers are not allowed to ask you any disability or health related questions during the recruitment process. They may ask whether you need any adjustments, and you can ask for adjustments without having to provide any additional disability information. If you are unsure of what adjustments you may need or can ask for, we can advise you on these. Employers are not allowed to ask what adjustments you’ll need to do the job, until they have made you an offer.

2. If I disclose my disability to access adjustments, do I risk being discriminated against? 

The ban on asking questions about disability during the recruitment process was included in the legislation to prevent discriminatory assumptions about a person’s ability to do the job, based on their disability. It is impossible to say whether any individual employer will discriminate in any given situation. What we can say is that if they don’t know about your disability, they have less basis on which to engage wrong assumptions. There remains a risk that asking for adjustments will cause an employer to discriminate, though this is illegal. In practical terms, it is worth focusing your efforts on employers with reputations for being genuinely disability inclusive.

3. What do I do if any employer doesn’t give me the adjustments I asked for? 

Employers are required by law to provide you with adjustments which are reasonable. They cannot hold a prescribed list of adjustments that they will make. You must be provided with what you need, not what they want to give you. If you do not receive the adjustments you ask for, contact us and we will advocate on your behalf to that employer.