Disability Act extends to SMEs

Two Government Ministers have urged small businesses to prepare for when the Disability Discrimination Act is extended to include the smallest businesses and to play their part in helping disabled people.

From October 2004, the Disability Discrimination Act is being extended to cover employers with fewer than 15 employees. This will impact on accessibility and employment provisions.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act anyone who provides a service to the public has a duty to make sure that their services are accessible to disabled people. These duties are being extended from October 2004 to require service providers to take reasonable steps to tackle physical features of their premises which act as barriers to their services. In addition, the employment provisions of the DDA are being extended in October 2004 to cover employers with fewer than 15 employees.

Employment

Small Firms Minister Nigel Griffiths urged businesses to tackle the problem of the tightening labour market by taking on new employees from outside their traditional recruitment pools.

He suggested small firms could steal a march on competitors by recruiting from such pools, such as from people with disabilities.

Next year the DDA will make it unlawful for small businesses to discriminate against a person with disabilities.

Mr Griffiths said: "Businesses can steal a march and recruit the best new talent from new pools of employment.

"The end of the small employer exemption under the Disability Discrimination Act means small businesses will be under obligation not to discriminate against applicants with disabilities - that's over one million potential employees.

"Businesses that act now can tap into the best of the new talent.

"Firms that have already recruited people with disabilities have benefited from enhanced staff morale, team development and reputation when they're seen to be good employers."

There are various financial incentives to encourage businesses to recruit from beyond the 'traditional' labour force:

• the Job Introduction Scheme - a £75 weekly grant for six to 12 weeks allowing employers to give a worker with disabilities a 'taster' of a job if they think they have the right skills but where they may have practical concerns;
• the Access to Work scheme - a grant paid to people with disabilities already in employment or self-employment, or their employers, to help towards additional employment costs resulting from disability, for example specialist equipment, adaptations to premises, travel costs, or additional support.
• the New Deal - helping people into work by closing the gap between the skills employers want and skills people can offer.

Accessibility

The Minister for Disabled People, Maria Eagle, also called on small businesses to make their services more accessible and to go the extra mile for their disabled customers as she launched 'Access All Areas', a nationwide award scheme.

She also launched, Act Now, a video explaining the implications of the Disability Discrimination Act for businesses.

Maria Eagle said: "The video is there to offer practical advice to small organisations who need to consider the way they provide their services. Businesses may be surprised to discover how easy and inexpensive the changes they need to make can be. By taking action, businesses are opening themselves up to the UK's 8.5 million disabled people with a spending power of over £45 billion a year."