09 September 2010 – Publication of DWP Research Report 685: Organisations’ responses to the Disability Discrimination Act: 2009 Study

Findings from a study exploring how organisations are responding to the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 and 2005 are published today by the Department for Work and Pensions.  The research builds on similar studies carried out in 2003 and 2006 and looks more fully at the changes introduced by the 2005 Act.

The key findings from the study show that:

• Awareness of the provisions in Part 2 of the DDA that protect against discrimination in employment and recruitment has fallen slightly, but statistically significantly, to 76 per cent of employers from 80 per cent in 2006.
• Thirty per cent of surveyed employers were currently employing a disabled person, and 42 per cent had employed a disabled person in the last ten years.
• Sixty-one per cent of employers had made an employment-related adjustment for an employee in the past or planned to do so, a statistically significant fall since the last survey. Flexible working time or working arrangements were the most commonly reported employment-related adjustments.
• Forty-three per cent of employers cited the existence of the DDA as a driver for making employment-related adjustments. This was rarely the only reason given.
• There has been no change in overall awareness of the provisions in Part 3 of the DDA that protect against discrimination in access to goods, facilities and services for members of the public among goods and services providers.
• There has been a statistically significant fall in the percentage of goods and service providers reporting making service-related adjustments (from 87 per cent to 80 per cent) since the last survey.
• Sixty-six per cent of service providers said that they would have made all the service-related adjustments without the legislation, and a further 17 per cent would have made some, so the legislation was rarely the only reason for making adjustments.
• Eighty-one per cent of employers reported that the recession had not affected their ability to employ disabled people. To date the recession has not impacted on employers’ ability to make adjustments, but some thought that it might do so in the future.

Notes to Editors:

• The research was carried out by The Institute for Employment Studies in partnership with Ipsos Mori.
• The research consisted of 2,000 telephone interviews with organisations with at least three employees and 97 in-depth interviews.
• Full details of the research can be found at : http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2009-2010/rrep685.pdf

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