Small and medium-sized enterprises
There are 4.3 million small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK. This accounts for 99% of UK business.
Attitudes towards disability among SMEs are positive:
- 78% of small business owners don't think that other employees will have to cover for disabled employees
- 75% of small employers disagree that disabled people will cost companies money
- 80% of small business employers disagree that “disabled people will be less productive than other workers”.[i]
These positive attitudes are justified as costs of reasonable adjustments are minimal. The average cost of a reasonable adjustment to any business is £75 and most reasonable adjustments are free.
Set against these positive attitudes is a need for a greater understanding of disability. Some 41% of small business employers think of physical impairments when they hear the word 'disability'. The reality is that only 1 in 13 of Britain's 10 million disabled people are wheelchair users.
Meeting the legal requirements
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (DDA) requires businesses and other organisations to take reasonable steps to tackle physical features that act as a barrier to disabled people who want to access their services.[ii].Not all SMEs fully understand these changes and research shows that they underestimate the risk involved of ignoring them.
- Awareness of the DDA and changes that were introduced in 2005 may well be vague – half “do not know” what the changes mean to them as employers.
- While some SMEs believe that employing a disabled person could end in a discrimination claim, 89% have no fear at all of such outcomes.[iii]
Employing disabled staff
SMEs will benefit from the recruitment and monitoring of disabled staff, in a number of ways. More than 500,000 disabled workers currently work for successful small businesses.[iv]. Being flexible about hours or other aspects of a job can help make sure that a business can get the right person for the job.
Attracting a wider clientele base
A disability confident business is much more likely to attract a wide and diverse customer base. Disabled customers in the UK have a combined annual spending power of £80 million.
- 83% of disabled people 'walked away' from inaccessible or unwelcoming businesses in 2005. Businesses are often not aware of the lost custom - only just over half complained about the poor service they received[v].
- 67% of disabled people choose businesses which are good at serving disabled customers.[vi]
E-accessibility
It is important that companies make their products and services accessible to all their customers. Shopping online is the principal source of shopping for 23% of disabled people.[vii]
- 54% of disabled people consider Internet access essential, compared with only six per cent of the population as a whole.[viii]
- 58% of disabled people say that the way in which businesses treat them affects the shopping habits of their friends and families.
- 26% say that poor service means others are less likely to shop with the business; a further 16% said that friends and family never shop with companies which have provided a poor service.[ix]
The case for disability confident SMEs
SMEs should not see their size as a barrier to becoming disability confident. Being a small business does not mean that you cannot become fully accessible. The benefits of becoming disability confident will apply to any business, irrespective of size.
Sources
- [i] Small employers' attitudes to disability, Opinion Research Business telephone study for the DRC 2005 .
- [ii] Changes to the Disability Discrimination Act in October 2004, Disability Rights Commission
- [iii] Ibid
- [iv] 'Towards Inclusion - Civil Rights for Disabled People' Annex 3, Department of Works and Pensions.
- [v] 'The Walk Away £ : Employers' Forum on Disability customer survey, 2006
- [vi] Ibid
- [vii] 'The Walk Away £ : Employers' Forum on Disability customer survey, 2006
- [viii] Leonard Cheshire ,2002
- [ix] 'The Walk Away £ : Employers' Forum on Disability customer survey, 2006
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