Working With a Disability: How To Build a Career That’s Right For You

Finding work with a disability can be a complex issue. Although employment for people with disabilities has come a long way in the last few years, there are still a number of barriers which can prevent disabled people from finding the meaningful and fulfilling careers they deserve.

Here at Career Navig8r, we know just how enormous a topic disability in the workplace is as well as how personal the experiences of disabled people are. That’s why we’ve decided to dig a little deeper on this topic. Over the next month, we’ll be exploring disability in the workplace across a series of articles in the hopes of providing a little more detail.

We’ll be talking about some of the steps you can take as a disabled person to build a career that is meaningful to you as well as some tips for handling disabilities in a work environment.

In this first piece, we’ll be discussing some broader information about jobs for disabled people, the support and employment services that exist in the UK, and what you can do to avoid disability discrimination in the workplace.

Avoiding Limitations

People often start by thinking about how to find a job with a disability but first, it can help to stop and ask yourself which jobs would be right for you. As a disabled person, it can often seem like your career is defined by its limitations, working around the things you can’t do.

That said, although there are some jobs that will never be accessible to everyone, small adaptations can go a long way.

For example, some people with mental health disabilities struggle to see themselves holding down a full time job due to the way this extra stress might affect their existing condition. That said, after developing a more detailed understanding of their condition, those same people can often find careers that help them work around their stressors.

Those who struggle from social anxiety might have difficulty going to work everyday but, working from home, they can be just as productive. If going outside is a major stressor for you, then good career planning could help you find a long-term solution that allows you to work around this.

All of this to say that, instead of thinking about which jobs you can’t do, it’s better to think about which you want and the opportunities those jobs can provide to you. If that sounds just the same as searching for a career as a non-disabled person, then you’d be correct.

In practice, finding work with a disability is less about taking some radically different approach and more about being able to preempt and combat the issues you might face along the way.

With that in mind, it’s always important to consider the whole of your career path, not just the short term. The disability employment gap often leads people to feel that they should take any job they can get but when finding that entry-level role, it’s still important to look for something with genuine progression up ahead.

Employment for people with disabilities can be just as varied and interesting as employment for non-disabled people.

How to Find a Job With a Disability

Planning a great career is one thing but finding that first role can be more complicated. The disability employment gap is real and overcoming it often means knowing exactly what to look out for.

When first looking for a job as a disabled person you might think that you have to look specifically for companies that hire disabled adults but this generally isn’t the case.

Legally speaking, no company has a right to refuse a job to a disabled person purely on the basis of their disability. We’ll talk more on that later but for now, suffice it to say that when sending applications you don’t need to consider whether or not the company will be willing to hire disabled staff.

Instead, it’s best to focus your energy on finding a job that works for you.

If you’re struggling to find roles that can work around your disability, then the best thing you can do is to seek out resources.

You’ll find plenty of information online designed to cater to specific disabilities and help you find options but the best information usually comes right from the horse’s mouth. 

If there’s one thing the internet is great for, it’s creating a space where people can share their experiences. Those experiences can be incredibly valuable as a resource to learn from.

By seeking out communities of people with the same disability as you/similar disabilities, you can not only learn which jobs work for them but you also might be able to find out about workarounds that allow them to perform tasks that might otherwise have seemed impossible.

Combatting Discrimination

We talked before about the disability employment gap and the challenges it can cause when searching for work. Now we’d like to discuss the solution to those challenges.

Disability can come in any number of forms and the challenges a given disabled person might face can be very specific to the individual. In practice, this means that many support systems brought in to help disabled people and combat discrimination have to be broad in their application; a one-size-fits-all solution to a highly personal set of challenges.

This can, unfortunately, give some employers a lot of leeway when it comes to discrimination. Sadly, there are all too many stories out there of people losing their jobs due to employers attempting to shortcut the process, not to mention the countless experiences of people having job offers withdrawn after employers learned of their disability.

The bottom line is that, as a disabled person, it’s very important to know what your rights are and how to recognise discrimination.

What The Law Says

In the UK, most employment discrimination is covered by the Equality Act 2010. In essence, this means that employers are under an obligation to make reasonable adjustments in order to prevent disabled people from being disadvantaged in the workplace.

When you apply for a job there are certain questions an employer is and isn’t allowed to ask about your disability. In general, these questions cover whether or not you would be able to carry out the job assuming reasonable adjustments were made. If an employer asks a question that doesn’t appear to be covered by this, then you should inquire as to why.

Furthermore, if an employer accepts you for a job offer only to withdraw that application upon learning of your disability you should always follow this up. If the employer cannot provide a reasonable justification as to why there were no adjustments they could make to account for your disability, then this is discriminatory and you may want to consider legal action.

Changes To Your Condition

As we age, our chances of developing a disability increase. For those with existing disabilities, their condition can often change and worsen over time, particularly if they develop new conditions that could have comorbid effects.

Employers have a responsibility to handle such situations delicately, only raising the matter of your disability as and when it has a clear impact on your ability to do work. As with the initial hiring, they also have a responsibility to make reasonable adjustments. These adjustments could include anything from providing specialist equipment to changing your work hours.

While there are legal circumstances under which an employer could terminate your employment due to a situation arising from your being unable to carry out your duties, that option should only ever be a last resort. If you believe there are options your employer hasn’t tried before making you redundant then, again, this is grounds for legal action.

Support For Disabled Workers in the UK

At the time of writing, it’s worth noting that changes are currently being planned by the government to the financial benefits available to disabled people. As such the following information could be subject to change depending on new policies.

For those with disabilities who are really struggling to find work in the UK, services like the Jobcentre can do a lot to help. Local Jobcentres do a lot of work to help disabled people find nearby employers who’ll be appropriate to their disability. They can also help you to develop new skills as well as referring you to a psychologist for an ‘employment assessment’ if appropriate.

If you need financial assistance then you may want to apply for PIP (personal independence payment). Although the government is currently planning to significantly raise the limits on who can apply for PIP, if your disability has a major impact on your everyday life then it’s likely you’ll still be eligible.

PIP is not means tested and is unaffected by your employment status. Whether you’re disabled with a part time job, a full time job, or currently out of employment, it won’t make a difference.

The Importance of Experimentation

We’d also like to take a moment to talk about just how important it is to keep experimenting with new approaches and techniques to managing your disability in the workplace.

It can be easy to see a disability as a set of limitations—a list of can’ts blocking you off from the things you’d like to do. Indeed, this is why some employers don’t make the necessary adjustments unless prompted to.

Working with a disability sometimes means thinking outside the box to find new solutions. Often it means having a specific understanding of your condition and how it impacts you, so that you can set your own boundaries on what you can and can’t do.

While your employer should take responsibility for working with you and helping you to find ways to adapt your job, the best ideas will usually come from you. By identifying the specific cause of the problem and finding a way to isolate it from the rest of your job, it’s often amazing the big difference even small changes can make.

For example, some people with chronic issues such as arthritis will sometimes find that they are unable to continue working as they once did—particularly if their job involves physical labour. It may not be an ideal solution but switching to a part time role can do a lot to fix this problem—going a long way towards reducing strain. Alternatively, an employer may be able to provide less strenuous work, or allow you to hybridise, passing off some but not all of the most problematic tasks.

When all’s said and done, sometimes the best thing you can do is step in and solve the problem yourself. Although your employer should be concerned with ensuring that they’ve created an inclusive environment, if they’re failing to do this then the best thing you can do is proactively step in and make suggestions about how your needs could better be met.

Common Adjustments Employers Can Make

Before we wrap up, we’d like to provide a list of just some of the common adjustments employers can make to help with disabilities. Far from being a comprehensive list, these are just some of the real steps employers regularly take to assist their disabled workers. Hopefully these can give you some ideas about what your employer might do for you:

• Accessible information – providing job-relevant information in a format that is more accessible (large text, braille, digital documents, videos, etc.)
• Adjusting work hours
• Work from home/hybrid working
• One-to-one training
• Installing new equipment – this could be anything from a wheelchair ramp to an ergonomic chair
• Accessibility reviews – giving you the chance to report back on how well the changes are working and any additional changes that might need to be made
• Open and honest communication – encouraging a space where people can feel free to talk about their needs

Final Thoughts

Hiring people with disabilities isn’t an optional choice for companies, even if some will act as though it is. While many will put the work in to be inclusive and create a space that champions disabled workers, some are always going to need that extra push.

By knowing your legal rights as a disabled worker, understanding your disability and the adjustments that can be made for it, and taking a proactive approach to communicating with your employer, you’ll be in a position to defend yourself from bad actors and create a working environment that’s more inclusive for everyone.