• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About DNS
  • Subscribe to DNS
  • Advertise with DNS
  • Support DNS
  • Contact DNS

Disability News Service

the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues

  • Home
  • Independent Living
    • Arts, Culture and Sport
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Housing
    • Transport
  • Activism & Campaigning
  • Benefits & Poverty
  • Politics
  • Human Rights
You are here: Home / News Archive / Jobs measure in bill could help stop discrimination by employers

Jobs measure in bill could help stop discrimination by employers

By guest on 2nd December 2009 Category: News Archive

Listen

A new measure in the equality bill should provide greater protection from discrimination for disabled people looking for jobs.

The government amendment to the bill aims to tackle the problem of employers who use questionnaires that include health and disability-related questions to discriminate against job applicants with hidden impairments.

It was added to the bill – which will streamline existing equality laws and introduce new measures around disability discrimination – as it completed its progress through the Commons.

Vera Baird, the solicitor general, told the Commons that MPs had heard “compelling evidence” from disability organisations that many disabled people were having job applications rejected once employers became aware of their impairments.

Pre-employment inquiries can also deter some disabled people from applying for jobs, she said.

RADAR told MPs at an earlier stage of the bill’s progress that restricting the use of pre-employment inquiries was “probably the single biggest difference and improvement that could be made through the equality bill in relation to the employment of disabled people”.

Baird said the new amendment would deter employers from asking health and disability-related questions and then using the information “for discriminatory purposes”.

There are some situations where employers will be able to ask such questions before they short-list a candidate after a job interview, such as to allow them to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process.

But there have been concerns over the way the amendment has been phrased, with some campaigners apparently saying it is too complicated.

The Conservative MP John Penrose told the Commons that both Rethink and the Terrence Higgins Trust had expressed concerns, although he said parliament was “making steady progress in the right direction”.

The government also introduced two other amendments to the bill that aim to tighten up protection from disability discrimination.

One amendment aims to make it clear that disabled people can legally be treated more favourably in order to address the barriers they face.

Another aims to clarify how disabled people are protected from being discriminated against because of issues arising from their impairment.

It is so far unclear how disabled people’s organisations will react to these two amendments.

3 December 2009

Share this post:

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on WhatsAppShare on Reddit

Related

‘Muddled’ blue badge reforms ‘are to blame for renewal delays’
6th February 2015
UN debate will be reminder of true inclusive education
6th February 2015
IDS breaks pledge on PIP waiting-times, as tens of thousands still queue for months
30th January 2015

Primary Sidebar

Image shows a man wearing glasses sitting by an open laptop The text reads: Free Career Support for Disabled People Our services include: 1-2-1 Coaching Online Career Resources Find Support near you Search for Inclusive Jobs Career Events and Workshops Visit the Evenbreak Career Hive today to find out how we can help you

Access

Latest Stories

Grenfell: Call for action over government’s ‘deplorable’ decision on evacuation plans

‘Severely neglected’ man found dead, three months after DWP assessment

Government brands DNS ‘vexatious’ for trying to obtain info on 90 DWP deaths

Government’s ‘milestone’ disability jobs stats ‘are meaningless when it comes to equality’

Concern over offensive LGBT+ comments at access awards event

Universal credit boss defends years of misleading information

Discrimination could be a cause of increased risk of Covid death, says ONS

Access to Work in crisis as figures show ‘massive’ waiting-list

Queen’s speech: Activists’ message to Patel over new protest bill: ‘We fight on’

Queen’s speech: Six bills that may change disabled people’s lives, for better and for worse

Advice and Information

The Department for Work and Pensions: Deaths, cover-up, and a toxic 30-year legacy

Readspeaker

Footer

The International Standard Serial Number for Disability News Service is: ISSN 2398-8924

  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site map
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2022 Disability News Service

Site development by A Bright Clear Web