Employers should welcome welfare to work reforms, says charity

NATIONAL employment charity Shaw Trust has rushed to reassure businesses worried that David Blunkettís incapacity benefit reform plans will pile on the pressure for employers.



The UKís leading provider of employment services for disabled and disadvantaged people says the DWP welfare to work proposals should be seen as an opportunity for beleaguered bosses, not as another battering ram.

UK bosses are struggling to fill a quarter of a million job vacancies and yet thereís a huge untapped market of eager would be employees: 1.2 million people with disabilities who want to work now, given the right support, said Shaw Trust MD Ian Charlesworth.

Bosses shouldnít worry about employing people with disabilities or trying to retain valued staff who develop a disability or health condition. There is ample voluntary sector help available for anyone who asks.

Shaw Trust, which helped over 40,700 people last year alone, specialises in Recruitment, Retention and Condition Management services, and continues to support both employee and employer after the job contract is signed.

The charity, which campaigns to remove the barriers that keep people out of work, has just unveiled its seven hard-hitting key messages including íEveryone has the right to workí and íAre you sure that you interviewed everyone for that job?í.

There is a skills shortage and a shrinking number of potential employees, but the answer is staring everyone in the face, added Ian Charlesworth. What ever the employerís problem, we probably have the answer, whether itís skilled workers, retraining or supporting people to stay in work. Workplace adjustments for disabled people cost less than 200 on average and many adjustments are free. What is more, statistics show that disabled people stay with your firm longer and take less sick leave.

Employers should welcome any move to liberate people trapped on incapacity benefits. Almost half of Britainís people with disabilities are out of work, compared to just 15% of non disabled people. Not only is that a social outrage, itís also financial and economic madness.