Member News
Labour MP John Robertson outlines the case for his Employment Retention Bill, which is being discussed in the Commons on Tuesday.
This is the fourth time that I have brought the Employment Retention Bill before Parliament, in a long running campaign on the issue with RNIB. The purpose of the Bill is to help people stay in work when they become disabled or when an existing impairment changes.
This is far from being a marginal issue in society – in 2007 around 350,000 people moved from work onto Incapacity Benefit and 70,000 of these were back in work within three months – and the support the Bill received from over 180 MPs in the last session is testament to this fact.
Typically there has been great focus on moving from benefits into employment, but the Bill would step in before this, to help a person who becomes disabled or whose existing impairment worsens keep their job in the first place.
There are two main provisions to do this. Firstly it would provide them with a right to a reasonable period of rehabilitation leave, to allow them time away from the workplace to come to terms with their condition without being moved onto a conveyor belt towards unemployment. Currently there is non-binding advice to employers in a code of practice on this, which gives no guarantees.
Secondly it would introduce a system of employment retention assessments – a sort of ‘one-stop-shop’ whereby the person’s condition and capabilities are assessed and recommendations are made on the reasonable adjustments an employer should be making to the workplace. This would enjoin them both in the process of retention and provide much needed guidance on this, to ensure the obligations are met, rather than simply being argued over at a tribunal months down the line.
There is a strong economic case for these provisions. In the current climate with rising unemployment helping people to stay in work is all the more imperative and for companies there are potentially significant savings to be made in keeping a person on: a study conducted by Lloyds bank found that for a typical manager the cost benefit would total over £9,000. A report for DWP has also estimated that stemming the flow of people from work by just 10 per cent would result in a saving of over £100m in the first year alone, so the financial case is clear.
But the Bill is also about justice and making sure we deliver on the promise of the disability discrimination legislation. We have to ensure that someone who becomes disabled isn’t facing the prospect of losing their job, their income and sometimes even their home, whilst having to come to terms with a life changing event.
There is widespread recognition that awareness and deliverance on this is well below where it should be – the Bill is about finally delivering the early intervention to change this.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd