A report said that mental health problems among staff cost businesses £26 billion per year – or £1,035 for every employee – and that it made financial sense for employers to introduce measures to help employees with recovery.
Source: Mental Health at Work: Developing the business case, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (020 7827 8300)
Links: Report | SCMH press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2007-Dec
The government began consultation on proposals aimed at helping more disabled people into work by improving the specialist employment support available to people with disabilities.
Source: Improving Specialist Disability Employment Services, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7962 8176)
Links: Consultation document | Hansard | DWP press release | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Dec
The government announced (following a review) details of a new medical test that would score a person's capability to work. It said that 50 per cent of those who took the new assessment would not pass it, meaning that 20,000 fewer people each year would enter 'sickness' benefits as a result, and would instead be given the support and skills they needed to get a job. The 'work capability assessment' would be introduced in October 2008 alongside the new employment and support allowance, and would be applicable for all those people claiming the new allowance. It would replace the existing personal capability assessment, which was weighted more towards a person's physical disability and incapability for work.
Source: Press release 19 November 2007, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171) | Moira Henderson, Transformation of the Personal Capability Assessment: Technical working group's phase 2 evaluation report, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7962 8176)
Links: DWP press release | Report | Mind press release | CPAG press release | Shaw Trust press release | CIPD press release | REC press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report | Personnel Today report | Community Care report | FT report
Date: 2007-Nov
An article examined the changing profile of men on incapacity benefit in one town (Barrow in Furness) where the claimant rate was especially high. Although the overall numbers had declined only modestly between 1999 and 2007, the characteristics of the stock had altered radically. The proportion with no formal qualification had increased, and far fewer expressed an interest in returning to work.
Source: Christina Beatty and Steve Fothergill, 'Changes in the profile of men claiming incapacity benefit: a case study', People, Place & Policy, Volume 1 Issue 3
Links: Article
Date: 2007-Nov
Adult 'customers' were surveyed in the first seven 'Pathways to Work' pilot areas. The characteristic found to be most strongly related to finding work was the self-assessed trajectory of health from the time of the claim for benefit, which was consistent with what customers said about their situations. Health conditions and disabilities, or at least the way that these were perceived and managed, dominated the likelihood of being in work.
Source: Rossy Bailey, Jon Hales, Oliver Hayllar and Martin Wood, Pathways to Work: Customer Experience and Outcomes – Findings from a survey of new and repeat incapacity benefits customers in the first seven pilot areas, Research Report 456, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2007-Nov
An article examined the extent to which the government's aspiration to reduce the number of incapacity benefit claimants by one million within 10 years was deliverable. Without an accelerated revival in the economies of the North, Scotland and Wales, Labour looked set to fall short of the target.
Source: Steve Fothergill and Ian Wilson, 'A million off incapacity benefit: how achievable is Labour's target?', Cambridge Journal of Economics, Volume 31 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Nov
The government announced a package of reforms to the benefits system, aimed at reducing the number of people who were capable of work but claiming benefits. After six months of claiming jobseeker's allowance, it would be mandatory to undergo a full skills 'health check' by a new adult advancement service, which would refer individuals for training. The government proposed to remove disincentives for jobseeker's allowance claimants to study more than 16 hours a week. The Pathways to Work programme for incapacity benefit claimants, including regular interviews with advisers, would be extended to all claimants under the age of 25.
Source: Opportunity, Employment and Progression: Making skills work, Cm 7288, Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Hansard(1) | Hansard (2) | Shelter press release | Scope press release | CBI press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report | FT report | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Nov
A survey found that over 90 per cent of employers might be putting themselves at risk under disability discrimination laws for failing to have an effective reasonable adjustment policy in place.
Source: Disability Standard: Benchmark Report 2007, Employers Forum on Disability (020 7403 3020)
Links: Report | EFD press release | Personnel Today report
Date: 2007-Nov
The government gave its approval to a plan by Remploy to close 28 of its 83 factories, collectively employing 5,000 disabled people. It said that the company's restructuring plan would enable it to bring its budget under control and support many more disabled people into mainstream employment. No disabled workers would be made compulsorily redundant.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 29 November 2007, columns 447-463WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | DWP press release | Scope press release | EFD press release | Community Care report | Guardian report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2007-Nov
A report examined the relationships between health, disability, caring, and employment in families with children. Similar proportions of working and non-working parents reported long-standing health conditions among children: but those who were not working were more likely to describe the condition as limiting.
Source: Adele Atkinson, Andrea Finney and Stephen McKay, Health, Disability, Caring and Employment Longitudinal analysis, Research Report 461, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report | Summary | DWP press release | Bristol University press release
Date: 2007-Oct
The final report was published of an official review of statutory sick pay (in response to the failure to achieve consensus on proposals to simplify the scheme in the 2006 Green Paper). It concluded that the reform of policy was less critical than effective attendance management. The government should concentrate on helping employers to manage attendance more effectively, supporting this with modernization of medical certification arrangements and by facilitating vocational rehabilitation.
Source: Report of the Statutory Sick Pay Review Working Group, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7962 8176)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Oct
An article summarized an evaluation of 'Pathways to Work' – a package of reforms aimed at encouraging employment among people claiming incapacity benefits. The results showed an increase of over 7 percentage points in the probability of working about a year and a half after the start of claim. The probability of not claiming incapacity benefits was also increased initially: but this effect later reduced to just 1 percentage point. The findings suggested that the reforms might contribute to the government's aim of increasing the employment rate: but they provided less encouragement with regard to the aim of reducing by 1 million the number claiming incapacity benefits.
Source: Richard Dorsett, 'The effect of Pathways to Work on labour', National Institute Economic Review Volume 202 Number 1, National Institute for Economic and Social Research (020 7654 1901)
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Oct
A briefing paper said that family doctors should do more to help people with depression keep their job, and should avoid keeping them off sick for too long. A linked paper looked at the barriers to employment for people with common and severe mental health problems.
Source: Work and Wellbeing: Developing primary mental health care services, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (020 7827 8300) | Mental Health and Employment, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health
Links: Briefing paper (1) | Briefing paper (2) | SCMH press release
Date: 2007-Sep
A report said that legislation aimed at tackling institutional discrimination in the public sector against disabled people had had a positive impact.
Source: OPM, Involvement for Real Equality: The benefits of involving disabled people for public services, Disability Rights Commission (08457 622633)
Links: Report | DRC press release
Date: 2007-Sep
An article examined employers' human resource management practices in respect of disability equality over the period since 1995. For optimum effectiveness, HR departments should employ the full range of HR measures that were available, including positive discrimination; and this approach should be underpinned by a range of enforcement measures.
Source: Carol Woodhams and Susan Corby, 'Then and now: disability legislation and employers' practices in the UK', British Journal of Industrial Relations, Volume 45 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Sep
A report examined the potential problems of Jobcentre Plus telephony systems for customers with specific communication barriers. The majority of customers in the study group felt that telephony either brought about or exacerbated their communication barriers, and preferred to use face-to-face methods of contact.
Source: Carolyn Hay and Ashfa Slater, The Use of Jobcentre Plus Telephony and Face-to-face Contact Services by Customers with Specific Communication Barriers, Research Report 446, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report | Summary | DWP press release
Date: 2007-Jul
Researchers examined how effective government-funded residential training was at enabling disabled adults to make the transition from benefits into work. Provision could significantly enhance a trainee?s employability and thereby increase their prospects of moving off benefits into sustained employment.
Source: Rita Griffiths, Stuart Durkin and Alison Mitchell, Evaluation of Residential Training Provision, Research Report 448, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2007-Jul
Researchers found that the Pathways to Work programme had significantly increased employment among claimants of incapacity benefits a year and a half after their first enquiry about benefits, by 7.4 percentage points (roughly from a level of 30 per cent to 37 percent).
Source: Helen Bewley, Richard Dorsett and Getinet Haile, The Impact of Pathways to Work, Research Report 435, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report | Summary | PSI press release
Date: 2007-Jun
A survey found that depression and stress (taken together) were the second largest cause of people taking sickness leave from work.
Source: New Directions in Managing Employee Absence, Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (020 8971 9000)
Links: CIPD press release | IOSH press release | Mind press release | Rethink press release | BBC report
Date: 2007-Jun
A report said that improving the skills of disabled people by 2020 would boost the economy by £35 billion over 30 years, and help tackle child poverty. There should be a national commitment to reducing the relative skills gap between disabled people and the national average. Out-of-work disabled people should be given much greater opportunity to improve their skills as a route back to work.
Source: Stephen Evans, Disability, Skills and Work: Raising our ambitions, Social Market Foundation (020 7222 7060) and Disability Rights Commission
Links: Report | DRC press release | Speech | Personnel Today report
Date: 2007-Jun
Remploy announced that it would close 32 factories (providing employment for disabled people), and that a further 11 would merge with nearby sites - in total more than half of its 83 factories. The company said that there would be no compulsory redundancies, and that anyone it was unable to help into mainstream employment would continue to be paid by it and found voluntary work. Some charities reportedly backed the plans, saying that it was more fulfilling for disabled people to work in mainstream positions: others said that although mainstream employment should be disabled peoples' goal, a supported alternative was also needed.
Source: Press release 16 May 2007, Remploy (0800 138 7656)
Links: Remploy press release | Hansard | DRC press release | EFD press release | TUC press release | Scope press release | Personnel Today report | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2007-May
Researchers examined the validity and reliability of existing large-scale datasets on statutory sick pay. Organizations had widely varying structures, systems, policies, and processes for the collection, recording, and management of sickness absence data.
Source: Susan Woolf, Anne-Marie Martindale, Debbi Stanistreet and Mark Gabbay with David Sapsford, DWP Project on the Feasibility of SSP Data Collection, Research Report 427, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2007-May
A study found that the New Deal for Disabled People was cost-beneficial from the government?s perspective: the government saved between £3.41 and £4.50 for continuing claimants, and between £1.71 and £2.26 for new claimants, in benefit payments and administrative expenditures for each pound it expended on NDDP.
Source: David Greenberg and Abigail Davis, Evaluation of the New Deal for Disabled People: The Cost and Cost-benefit Analyses, Research Report 431, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2007-May
Researchers found that the New Deal for Disabled People had increased the employment rate in the 2001-2002 cohort, 24 months after registration, by 11 percentage points for existing recipients and by 7 percentage points for new claimants.
Source: Larry Orr, Stephen Bell and Ken Lam, Long-term Impacts of the New Deal for Disabled People, Research Report 432, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2007-May
A report highlighted key findings from an extensive evaluation of the New Deal for Disabled People. NDDP had a positive net impact, in that it was effective in encouraging participants (especially longer-term participants) to move off incapacity-related benefits, and it also led to an increase in their employment.
Source: Bruce Stafford et al., New Deal for Disabled People: Third Synthesis Report ? Key findings from the evaluation, Research Report 430, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2007-May
A study found that workers took an average of 7 days off work in 2006 - up from 6.6 in 2005. Non-work-related mental ill health - including stress, anxiety, and depression - was the most significant cause of long-term absence among non-manual staff.
Source: Absence and Labour Turnover Survey 2007, Confederation of British Industry (020 7395 8247) and AXA
Links: CBI press release | UNISON press release | FT report | BBC report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2007-Apr
An article examined disabled people's experiences of negotiating workplace adjustments under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The adjustment process itself often led to instances of bullying by managers, resulting in stress and ill-health among employees.
Source: Deborah Foster, 'Legal obligation or personal lottery? Employee experiences of disability and the negotiation of adjustments in the public sector workplace', Work, Employment and Society, Volume 21 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Mar
A paper provided an overview of public policy initiatives and regulations which affected the participation of disabled people in the labour market.
Source: Nigel Meager and Darcy Hill, UK National Public Policy Initiatives and Regulations Affecting Disabled People's Labour Market Participation, Working Paper 12, Institute for Employment Studies (01273 686751)
Links: Paper
Date: 2007-Mar
An article examined some of the features of agencies providing employment support to disabled people, together with their managers' views. Managers endorsed the vision expressed in existing policy: but they identified numerous obstacles to its implementation in employment support.
Source: Richard Wistow and Justine Schneider, 'Employment support agencies in the UK: current operation and future development needs', Health and Social Care in the Community, Volume 15 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Mar
A study found that incapacity benefit claimants who had made a claim prior to the start of the Pathways to Work pilots were generally considered to have more severe barriers to work in comparison to new and repeat claimants. There was a need for greater clarity concerning the role of the personal adviser in such cases; and on what constituted legitimate outcomes when working with claimants who were far from the job market.
Source: Josie Dixon, Martin Mitchell and Sarah Dickens, Pathways to Work: Extension to Existing Customers (Matched Case Study), Research Report 418, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2007-Mar
A paper examined the application of information and communications technology in helping disabled people enter and remain in employment.
Source: Nigel Meager, Sally Wilson and Darcy Hill, ICT Strategy, Disabled People and Employment in the UK, Working Paper 14, Institute for Employment Studies (01273 686751)
Links: Paper
Date: 2007-Mar
A Member of Parliament introduced a Bill designed to create a statutory right to rehabilitation leave for newly disabled people, and people whose existing impairments had changed.
Source: Employment Retention Bill, John Robertson MP, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2007-Mar
A study found that the risks of disclosing unseen disabilities and health conditions in the teaching, nursing, and social work professions were compounded by the stigma attached to them. Major shifts in attitudes and behaviour were needed in the workplace to overcome fears about disclosure. Disclosure of mental health conditions was particularly stigmatized, and considered to be a high-risk strategy that could lead to the exclusion of an individual from training or employment and affect progression in these professions.
Source: Nicky Stanley, Julie Ridley, Jill Manthorpe, Jessica Harris and Alan Hurst, Disclosing Disability: Disabled students and practitioners in social work, nursing and teaching, Disability Rights Commission (08457 622633)
Links: Report | DRC press release
Date: 2007-Mar
Researchers examined how employers and service providers were responding to the Disability Discrimination Acts of 1995 and 2005. Employers continued to have a fairly narrow perception of disability, mainly focusing on sensory and mobility impairments. Compared with 2003, employers displayed more positive attitudes towards employing disabled people.
Source: Claire Simm et al., Organisations' Responses to the Disability Discrimination Act, Research Report 410, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report | Summary | Technical report | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs said that there were more than 500 providers contracting with Jobcentre Plus to deliver one or more of the disability programmes: the quality and value for money of provision varied widely, and acceptable standards were not always achieved.
Source: Gaining and Retaining a Job: the Department for Work and Pensions? support for disabled people, Sixth Report (Session 2006-07), HC 112, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | CPAG press release | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Jan
The government began consultation on a review of the industrial injuries disablement benefit scheme (which since 1948 had provided compensation and benefits for people who were injured or made ill through work).
Source: Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Scheme: A consultation paper, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7962 8176)
Links: Consultation document | DWP press release | Personnel Today report
Date: 2007-Jan