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Disability support: Guidance for managers

How you can help members of staff who have a disability or long-term health condition.

Introduction

We value, promote and celebrate inclusion, challenging discrimination and putting equality, diversity and belonging at the heart of everything we do.

We aim to be an inclusive university, where difference is celebrated, respected and encouraged. We believe that diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds will lead to a better environment for our employees and students. This is evidenced by our commitment to our Disability Confident leader status.

We aspire that our disabled community will receive workplace adjustments and an environment that is as accessible as possible.

This guidance aims to:

  • Raise awareness of our expectations for all managers for the support candidates and staff should receive at the University of Bath.
  • Normalise the conversation around disability and long term health conditions and improve the level of support provided
  • Provide managers with guidance in support and managing staff with disability or long term health conditions

How to support staff who have a disability or long term health condition ( including temporary impairments and health conditions)

To promote an inclusive and supportive working environment, as a manager you are responsible for:

  • Supporting staff who have disclosed a disability in the same way you would support an employee with any ongoing health condition
  • Treating any conversation with a member of your team confidentially, sensitively and professionally*
  • Documenting key meeting points including any adjustments agreed with the member of staff
  • Ensuring ongoing dialogue and review dates with the member of staff
  • Ensuring that all agreed work-place adjustments are adhered to
  • Liaising with your HR Advisor for guidance or support

*the only exception to this would be if a person or someone else is at risk of harm to themselves or others. Please refer to your HR Advisor for guidance in this instance.

Workplace adjustments

New team members

We aim to ensure that we have everything in place to support the new staff member from day one of employment. A pre-employment health assessment process is followed. Your HR Advisor will liaise with you as the manager to understand the barriers the staff member might experience and, jointly with the new staff member, consider solutions to improve or resolve these. The tool the University uses to record these conversations is an agreement for an adjustment plan. This will include considering reasonable adjustments, workstation assessment, and if required, a personal emergency evacuation plan (PEEP).

Access to Work provides practical, individually tailored advice and support to disabled people who are in, or seeking paid employment. It is a government scheme and an important source of funding for disability support. A new member of staff must make an application within the first six weeks to access 100 percent of approved costs for adjustments. The new staff member is responsible for making the application and this cannot be done on their behalf. An HR Advisor can support the staff member with the application.

Existing members of staff

If a member of staff becomes disabled during employment, then sensitively discuss and carry out an assessment of their working conditions and working arrangements and record these conversations in an agreement for an adjustment plan. This will include considering reasonable adjustments, workstation assessment, and if required, a personal emergency evacuation plan (PEEP).

Access to work provides practical, individually tailored advice and support to disabled people who are in, or seeking paid employment. It is a government scheme. We recommend staff contact Access to work, as often, reasonable adjustments are not immediately obvious.

Cost of workplace adjustments

The average cost of a reasonable adjustment as quoted by Access to Work is £75 per person. These should be met from the operational budget. Please liaise with your Faculty and department accountant to ensure these costs are captured on the central code including funding from Access to Work.

An example of what should be recorded:

  • All expenditure recommended by Access to Work (code any reimbursed costs to this too). This can include the provision of training, support staff and support with other aspects of work as well as support with equipment purchases.
  • Assistive technology requests for specialist hardware (noise cancelling headphones, white noise generators, ergonomic keyboard and input devices, accessibility software)
  • Sit stand desks (where supported by OH, GP, Medical Professional (including Physio) or recommended by SHEW through assessments).
  • Posturite specialist ergonomic workstation assessments (and any recommended equipment).
  • Specialist DSE chairs (not BOF Conway or Coast / Ergonomic Coast) – although most of these specialist provisions should come via the Posturite assessment route.
  • General DSE requirements – standard chairs, footrests, document holders etc should not be recorded under this arrangement (these are considered standard pieces of office equipment and should be made available to all employees).

Please note – SHEW is not responsible for “signing off” on the purchase of specialist equipment, sit-stands etc, so whilst they can advise on equipment etc, they do not provide a gateway for the coding of items.

Disability Leave policy

Information on what disability leave is, when it may apply, and how it can be requested for when a staff member is not ill but requires time off related to their disability.

  • Hospital appointments, hospital treatment as an outpatient or specialist check- ups
  • Assessments
  • Training for example with a guide or hearing dog or in the use of specialist equipment
  • Counselling or therapeutic treatment
  • Physiotherapy

There will be a limit of 20 working days paid leave (pro rata) in any 12 month period and this will be recorded by the staff member on iTrent.

Training

All managers are required to complete the mandatory training:

  • Diversity in the workplace
  • Unconscious bias
  • Be the change – tackling harassment

We also offer training:

Other support you might like to be aware of:

What support is available to you as a manager?