Willing and able
Employers should already be giving disabled people a fair shot at jobs in hospitality. As Caterer counts down to October 2004, when the Disability Discrimination Act will be enforced, Sara Guild looks at how ignorance and lack of understanding are preventing many companies from using a large pool of qualified people who could be a major asset to the industry.
Wendy Kerner is a purchase ledger clerk at the 37-bedroom Lauriston Hotel in Weston-super-Mare. She is responsible for inputting petty cash, cheques and invoices into the hotel's accounts system, and doing the weekly cheque run for the hotel's suppliers. In addition, she maintains the database of suppliers' details. She also helps out on reception when the hotel is busy.
In short, Kerner performs a multi-functional job in the hospitality industry. But she is completely blind in one eye and has very little vision in the other.
"I had done various work schemes but no one was prepared to take a chance on employing me," Kerner says. "I think it is fear of the unknown." The Lauriston Hotel was, however, prepared to take a chance, in part because it is one of four hotels run by the charity Action for Blind People, and caters for visually impaired guests (Caterer, 16 August 2001, page 24).
With significant funding through the Government's Access to Work programme, the hotel bought the technology to enable Kerton to print her work out in Braille, and for software that both enlarges print and speaks while Kerton types. The team at reception have made a slight alteration to their working practices, printing a computerised form with a list of petty cash transactions rather than handwritten notes, which Kerton is unable to read.
These changes, which most would agree are reasonable, are the sort of things employers are now expected to do. While it has been illegal to discriminate against employees on the basis of disability since December 1996, it is only since 1999 that employers have had to make "reasonable adjustments" for disabled people under the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).
These reasonable adjustments apply to the recruitment process, too. If a visually impaired candidate is expected to perform a competency test, it is reasonable to expect the employer to provide either Braille or speech-recognition equipment - Action for Blind People will loan it to employers for precisely this purpose.
At the moment, the DDA applies only to businesses with more than 15 employees, but it is thought by most disabled pressure groups that, by 2004, when the final parts of the Act become law, it will apply to all employers regardless of size.
Kerner is a much-needed role model in the hospitality industry. Chris Grace, development and liaison manager of charity Individuall, says: "We need to change the attitudes of the majority of staff who work in hotels. There needs to be a general acceptance of disability. While some companies say the right things, at grass roots a different message comes across." The charity is devoted to assisting hospitality companies to employ and make provisions for disabled people.
In an industry where recruiting quality skilled workers is a constant problem, it makes sense to look at underused resources. There are 6.5 million disabled people of working age in the UK, accounting for almost one-fifth of the working-age population. Evidence suggests that disabled people are seven times more likely to be unemployed, and that is the same for those at graduate level.
Springboard UK is currently working with an independent consultant, Maundy Todd, to seek out examples of best practice from employers working with disabled people. "Our business is trying to attract more people into the industry," says Anne Walker, chief executive of Springboard. "There's a big population of skilled resource within the disabled community that is untapped."
Walker believes that by providing role models (both employers and disabled employees) to talk to industry, hospitality will become seen as supporting the disabled, and therefore favourable to work in. It is about improving the industry's image overall, and not just for disabled people.
Like it or not, hospitality has numerous repetitive jobs that would be well suited to some members of the disabled community, such as those who have a learning disability or a low IQ. Certain jobs in housekeeping or laundry, for instance, may be ideal for their abilities and the employers' needs.
Range of difficulties Todd agrees but is quick to point out that disability does not mean low intelligence. The UK has 1.2 million people with learning disability, but there are 1.7 million with serious sight difficulties, 5.8 million with hearing loss, and 7.2 million with mental health problems. These last-named can range from stress and anxiety attacks to schizophrenia. Todd is liaising with Jarvis and Thistle Hotels to place graduate recruits on work placements to serve as role models.
Thistle has already incorporated adaptations to bedrooms in refurbishment plans, ensuring complete compliance with the DDA by 2004, when reasonable physical adjustments enabling disabled access will be required by law. Accessibility audits will help businesses establish their level of accessibility and what alterations they need to make, and Todd believes that companies will be more willing to take on disabled employees when they know their grading.
He says: "The industry is frightened about whether they are accessible or not. It will be a prerequisite for employers to know their level of accessibility before they can market to customers. This will have a positive effect for disabled employees."
One of the Labour Government's second-term aims is to get more disabled people working, so there is considerable infrastructure to help with this. Employers keen to find out about employing disabled workers should contact the disability employment advisor (DEA) at their local JobCentre.
The Government-run Disability Services agency offers several schemes, including Access to Work, which provide financial assistance to companies requiring technology or funding for other adjustments to accommodate their disabled employees.
Pat Bowry, regional projects manager at the regional disability services department in London, suggests that employers contact the DEA as soon as a disabled person has been recruited. She says that 12 weeks should be allowed for the assessment of the individual and workplace to be carried out, and funding requirements approved, although she adds that she "would hope the process could be done within 20 days".
However, there is clearly an issue for employers here. "The time taken to evaluate the situation can be a real issue," says Todd. "If the Government offers the service and they do not move it along quickly, it doesn't help anyone."
There is evidence that disabled employees, having found an employer willing to accommodate them, will stay in their jobs. Kerner is in her fifth year at the Lauriston Hotel, in the same job, and has no plans to go anywhere yet. "They are very good here," she says, "and I am pleased they have given me the chance."
Myths and facts about employing disabled people
Myth: "Disabled people" means those in a wheelchair.
Fact: Only 600,000 of the UK's 8.7 million disabled people are wheelchair users. The definition of "disabled" is someone who has more than a trivial or minor ailment that adversely affects their daily life, for more than 12 months. Arthritis, dyslexia, stuttering and stress can all qualify.
Myth: If I employ a disabled person it will cost me a lot to meet their needs.
Fact: The Disability Rights Commission says that, on average, the adjustments needed cost less than £50. Marks & Spencer estimates that two-thirds of the adjustments it makes cost nothing.
Myth: If they're disabled, they'll need lots of time off work.
Fact: In a survey of business managers, 82% said that the attendance records of disabled employees were the same or better than those of able-bodied employees.
Myth: Disabled people can't work in hospitality for health and safety reasons.
Fact: Very few hospitality jobs bar disabled people for health and safety reasons - working on ships and aeroplanes are two. Since 1996, it has been illegal to discriminate when employing staff on the basis of disability.
Diary
30 January: A forum will be held in London to enable employers to find out about hiring disabled staff. call Pat Bowry on 020 7853 4653 for more information.
Contacts
Individual Advice and information on employing disabled people in hospitality
01273 464518
Action for Blind People
For equipment for visually impaired candidates to be given competency tests at interview, call: 020 7635 4961. For visual awareness training, call: 020 7635 4885
Disability Service Contact the disability employment adviser at your local JobCentre. London and South-east disability service: 0800 328 4933 Info: www.employmentservice.gov.uk - under the Job-seekers heading is info on disability.
