Research on the employment support available to people with complex disabilities

Looking for work is never easy, but for many people with complex disabilities, finding and staying in work is much harder than it should be.

Sense’s previous research into the financial security of people with complex disabilities found that 82% of people with complex disabilities were unemployed in 2020-21. 

Unsympathetic employers, a lack of support while looking for roles and inaccessible recruitment practices are just some of the barriers people with complex disabilities face in the labour market. 

This research sets out some things the Government needs to do differently to successfully close the disability employment gap. 

On this page:

• About this research

• How Sense supports jobseekers with complex disabilities

• Key findings

• How the Department for Work and Pensions could better support people with complex disabilities

• Conclusion

“At the jobcentre, the person who supports you is nice, they do listen sometimes, but listening is different from acting. I was ill four months ago, I couldn’t go to the centre, and he said “No, you have to come into the Jobcentre.” I couldn’t walk properly…I had to go in, I had to physically go there.”

Disabled jobseeker who is supported by Sense.   

“Frustration has been a key word in my vocabulary for a good few years.”

Disabled jobseeker who is supported by Sense.   

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Even for those who do manage to secure paid work, there are barriers to them holding down the role. Our polling found that:  

• Almost 1 in 6 (15%) people with complex disabilities in work didn’t feel their disability was well understood by their employer.   

• Over a third (44%) of people with complex disabilities in employment said that they’d been harassed or bullied at work. 
• Over half (52%) of people with complex disabilities in work said they’d taken a less challenging role because of their needs as a disabled person not being met.    

Here at Sense, we are committed to tackling the barriers people with complex disabilities face across their lives, including barriers to looking for and holding down work. We do this through our specialist employment services in Birmingham and Loughborough. It’s an offering we’re rolling out to more Sense Centres across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.   

But we can’t make the jobs market fairer for disabled people on our own.   

In the Spring Budget, the Government committed to tackling employment barriers faced by disabled people. Sense welcomes this ambition.  

This research sets out some of the things the Government needs to do differently if it wants to be successful in closing the disability employment gap.  

Jobcentres, which are run by the Department for Work and Pensions, help people to access unemployment benefits and look for work. Those who are required to look for work go to their local jobcentre for regular appointments with their Work Coach.   

At jobcentres, disabled people can also access other kinds of support, such as employment and training opportunities, or meetings with specialists such as Disability Employment Advisors. Jobseekers can also visit jobcentres to use the computers there to look and apply for work.   

Given that the initial training course for Work Coaches doesn’t seem to include disability equality training focused on disabled people – let alone cover the barriers to employment faced by people with complex disabilities – these jobseeker responses are hardly surprising. 

People with complex disabilities have told us explicitly that jobcentre staff needed to be better trained. In our polling, over a third of jobseekers with complex disabilities (35%) said that they’d be better supported in their employment search if jobcentre staff were more aware of the unique barriers they were facing. 

Disability Employment Advisors  

Work Coaches can refer disabled jobseekers to Disability Employment Advisors, who should be able to offer more specialist support.

While we’ve heard some positive stories about Disability Employment Advisors, our polling found that 46% of jobseekers with complex disabilities don’t feel supported by them.

While Disability Employment Advisors do receive training that covers disability employment, our research revealed clear gaps in what they’re taught. They don’t, for example, receive any specific training on assistive technology.  

Other issues we uncovered related to a lack of staff, or issues with Disability Employment Advisors simply being unhelpful. One deafblind jobseeker, for example, said that there was only one Disability Employment Advisor at her jobcentre, and that they were never there.   

Even after meeting with the Disability Employment Advisor, she found that they didn’t seem to have listened to her, recommending jobs that she wouldn’t be able to do, such as hairdressing. She eventually disengaged completely from the jobcentre, deciding that “No one wants to listen to the fact I want a job; I’d just have to accept that.”  

Jobcentres do not offer specialist assistive technology  

Jobcentres should be places where disabled people can access everything they need to look for work. But according to our polling, half of jobseekers with complex disabilities (50%) said they didn’t have the support and equipment they needed. 

Some disabled people rely on assistive technology to use computers. This can take many forms, such as text to speech screen readers, dictation software and braille displays. But this technology can be expensive, with one popular screen reader costing £700. As a result, not everyone who needs assistive technology owns it personally.  

While someone in employment can usually get this funded through Access to Work, those who are looking for work often can’t afford to buy it for themselves. This means that they need support from external services to look and apply for work.    

Our correspondence with the Department for Work and Pensions also revealed that no jobcentres have computers with specialist assistive technology installed. Instead, they only offer Microsoft’s ‘standard accessibility features’. Our employment services team tells us that this is inadequate.   

As a result, some disabled people can’t use the computers when visiting a jobcentre. With most of the recruitment process being online, this makes it harder for disabled people to look and apply for work.     

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How the Department for Work and Pensions could better support people with complex disabilities 

Improving training for jobcentre staff

The Department for Work and Pensions needs to make sure that everyone working at a jobcentre receives comprehensive disability equality training, covering complex disabilities. People supporting disabled jobseekers directly should be made aware of the unique barriers that disabled people face when aiming to enter and stay in work. 

Training should also cover the support available to disabled jobseekers and employees, such as the reasonable adjustments employers should make for workers with disabilities, assistive technology and Access to Work.   

Our research suggests this is currently not the case. It also seems that disabled people and disability charities aren’t involved in developing the training for Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisors.  

We believe that the Department for Work and Pensions should work more closely with disabled people and disability charities. Together, they could co-produce effective training programmes for Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisors. Such training should then be delivered by disabled people.   

Disabled people and disability charities should also be given the opportunity to review the content of the training regularly, highlighting any gaps in the programme.

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  All Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisors should receive specific training on the barriers to employment faced by disabled people, including those with complex disabilities. This should be designed and led by disabled people.

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  The Department for Work and Pensions should urgently review and revise the training materials they have and ensure they are fit for purpose.

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Rolling out assistive technology  

All disabled jobseekers should have the equipment they need to look for work. Our polling shows that disabled people themselves want this. 26% of people with complex disabilities felt that access to assistive technology would support them in looking for paid employment. But not even jobcentres offer the specialist assistive technology that some disabled people need. 

The Department for Work and Pensions should introduce a £5 million Jobcentre Assistive Technology Fund.  

This fund would cover: 

1. Additional software for every jobcentre including screen readers, specialist screen magnification software and speech-to-text software. 

2. Assistive hardware for every jobcentre including refreshable braille display and headphones. 

3. A £1.1 million support fund for jobcentres to access if they need any additional pieces of assistive technology they need. 

While specialist support from jobcentres is a vital part of supporting disabled jobseekers into work, the opportunity to build relationships with disabled people already in work can also be invaluable. This is something that the Department for Work and Pensions should facilitate.  

Our research has found that 25% of people with complex disabilities would like opportunities to be mentored by disabled peers. 

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Supporting people with complex disabilities in work 

Disabled people often tell us that support they receive from jobcentres ends after they start work. But the challenges faced by someone with complex disabilities do not stop once they enter the workplace.  

Sense’s employment services continue to work with both disabled people, as well as their employers, after they start work.  

While there are schemes like Disability Confident that exist to promote disability employment, many disabled people do not feel that these initiatives are effective. 

The Department for Work and Pensions should partner with organisations such as Sense to support disabled people who have just started work, as well as those employing them.   

The Government should make the requirements for Disability Confident accreditation more rigorous. Disabled people should be given a role in holding Disability Confident employers to account.