UK Disability Employment: The Equality Act, Disability Confident, and Access to Work

Overview

The United Kingdom's disability employment framework rests on three pillars:

1. Legal protection — The Equality Act 2010 prohibits disability discrimination and requires reasonable adjustments
2. Employer engagement — The Disability Confident scheme encourages employers to hire and retain disabled workers
3. Financial support — Access to Work provides grants for workplace adaptations and support workers

The UK's disability employment gap is approximately 28–30 percentage points (disabled employment rate ~54%, non-disabled ~82%; source: ONS Labour Force Survey 2023–24).

The Equality Act 2010: Disability Provisions

Definition of Disability

Under the Equality Act 2010, a person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Key elements:

• Substantial: more than minor or trivial
• Long-term: has lasted or is likely to last 12 months or more, or for the rest of the life of the person
• Day-to-day activities: includes mobility, manual dexterity, continence, speech, hearing, eyesight, memory, ability to learn/concentrate/understand, perception of physical danger

Specific provisions:

• Progressive conditions (cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis) are covered from diagnosis, regardless of current impact
• Past disabilities continue to be protected
• Some conditions are automatically deemed disabilities (cancer, HIV, MS from diagnosis)

The Duty to Make Reasonable Adjustments

This is the central employer obligation — a positive duty that is anticipatory (employers must not wait for a disabled employee to request an adjustment). The duty applies in three situations:

1. Where a provision, criterion or practice puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage
2. Where a physical feature of premises puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage
3. Where the absence of an auxiliary aid puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage

Examples of reasonable adjustments:

• Flexible working hours or remote working
• Changes to performance management or attendance policies
• Providing software, specialist equipment, or different formats
• Allocating duties, changing workstation location, or modifying the role
• Providing a support worker or mentor

What is 'reasonable'? Courts consider: the effectiveness of the adjustment, the cost, the employer's financial resources, the extent of disruption, and the availability of external funding (importantly: Access to Work funding reduces the financial burden substantially).

Prohibited Conduct

• Direct discrimination: less favourable treatment because of disability (no justification possible)
• Indirect discrimination: neutral provision that disadvantages disabled people without justification
• Discrimination arising from disability: unfavourable treatment because of something arising in consequence of disability (e.g., dismissing someone for disability-related absences)
• Harassment and victimisation

Enforcement

Employment tribunal claims for disability discrimination must be filed within 3 months of the act complained of. Remedies include: declaration, recommendation, and compensation (uncapped for injury to feelings). ACAS early conciliation is required before a claim can be filed.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has enforcement powers including investigations and compliance notices.

Disability Confident

Disability Confident is a voluntary employer scheme run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), launched in 2016 (replacing Two Ticks). It has three levels:

As of 2024, over 19,000 employers are registered as Disability Confident, covering approximately 11 million employees (DWP).

The Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS): Level 2+ employers commit to offering an interview to any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria for a role. This is voluntary for candidates — applicants must choose to apply under the scheme.

Evidence on effectiveness: Research on Disability Confident's impact on actual hiring rates is limited. A 2020 review by NIESR found awareness and attitudes improve among registered employers, but evidence of causal impact on disabled employment rates is weak. The scheme lacks external verification at Levels 1 and 2.

Access to Work

Access to Work is a government grant programme administered by DWP's Jobcentre Plus. It provides funding toward:

• Support workers (personal assistants, BSL interpreters, communication support)
• Specialist equipment (assistive technology, adapted vehicles, ergonomic furniture)
• Adaptations to workplace or working practices
• Mental health support service (up to 12 sessions of workplace-based mental health support)

Key Facts (2023–24)

Source: DWP Access to Work statistics 2023–24

How to Apply

Employees (or employers on their behalf) apply online or by phone. DWP assesses the application and determines what support is reasonable. Grants can be backdated 6 weeks before application. There is no income test — Access to Work is available regardless of salary level.

Criticism: Access to Work has persistent backlogs (average wait time 12–16 weeks in 2023) and significant regional variation in award levels. The scheme is not well known — many eligible employees and employers have never heard of it.

The UK Disability Employment Gap in Context

The UK's disability employment gap has narrowed slightly over the past decade (from ~34pp in 2013 to ~28pp in 2023) but progress is slow. The DWP's 2017 green paper Improving Lives set a target to halve the gap, which was later revised to a broader commitment to see one million more disabled people in work by 2027.

Progress toward this target: approximately 590,000 additional disabled people in work between 2017 and 2022 (pre-pandemic base), but much of this reflects overall labour market tightening rather than structural change in disability employment rates.

Key constraints identified by research:

• Employer attitudes remain a significant barrier (Scope/NIESR surveys)
• Sickness absence and presenteeism policies inadvertently disadvantage disabled employees
• The social security benefit structure (particularly PIP and UC) creates financial uncertainty for people considering work
• Access to Work capacity is insufficient relative to need

Sources

• Equality Act 2010: legislation.gov.uk
• Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC): equalityhumanrights.com — Codes of Practice and employer guidance
• DWP: Disability Confident scheme — gov.uk/disability-confident; Access to Work statistics — gov.uk/access-to-work
• ONS Labour Force Survey: disability employment data — ons.gov.uk
• ACAS: Guidance on disability discrimination — acas.org.uk
• Scope: Disability employment gap reports — scope.org.uk
• NIESR (2020): Evaluation of Disability Confident. London: NIESR
• DWP (2017): Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability. Cm 9526

Last reviewed: March 2026.