To wonder if all those gleeful about PIP cuts are going to welcome people with serious mental health conditions as colleagues and employees?

[Somethingthecatdraggedin7]

Given the amount of ableisism I see on MN I think the likelihood of people welcoming people with serious mental health conditions into their workplace is pretty low.
And yes, these people will very likely now be forced to try to work even though their condition makes it impossible. We are not just talking about some lazy twenty year old who expects to sit at home gaming due to his “anxiety” as many people seem to believe is the case. It will be people with significant impairments to social functioning.
Even if they get support to apply for jobs, and even if they then get the position (doubtful) how accommodating will colleagues or customers be if the person seems a bit odd, or gets adjustments workmates deem unfair?
This is going to be a total shit show.

Would they get adjustments to enable to them to do their role? Would you even give a second glance at their sparse CV?

Got loads of staff with adjustments. All employers do. Colleagues often may not be aware of them, as some people are more private about their health needs. I think people just assume its like 1980 or something - workplaces have changed! I'm very senior at my work and am a wellbeing champion & we have a lot of us who lead on it through the organisation.

Are these staff are on NMW?

We have lots of adjustments, in fact every single Gen z employee seems to have them - they tell everyone, in case you’re wondering how I’d know, sometimes on Teams calls with 80-100 people on …

Team call... so WFH roles.
WFH is a privilege.

Absolutely, and then we pay those people a whole £81.90 per week in exchange for their care. When their child/partner loses ££££s in disability benefits, the "family" you refer to will be forced to quit caring, find a job, and outsource the care of their loved one to the local authorities - costing thousands and thousands. Make it make sense.

My corporate has ‘mental health first aiders’, wellbeing employee grps, support for carers, mental health help, parents grps, women’s health, menopause, men’s health private health care, support around dementia and on and on, disability support, LGBTQ + grps ,
counselling, grief support
we have access to every kind of support you can imagine.
and on and on.
It’s really common in big companies to have all of this, to help their employees and to support their needs.
We have colleagues with disabilities, both obvious and not.

Are these staff are on NMW?

We are a living wage employer but we have low paid staff, yes.

I'm loving all the " well, I'm disabled and I work" threads.

Just because you can doesn't mean that everyone can.

And do you take on people with massive gaps in their CV... criminal records.. no references or qualifications?

Everything we offer is the same to all our staff regardless of their pay band. Eg the mental health helpline, staff support forums etc all open to all, and adjustments can be made whether you are an entry level admin or a senior vice president.

Our wellbeing champions come from a range of pay bands from junior staff right up to leadership.

Actually, no. Global company so large Team calls are very common but often it’s 10 people in a room in Berlin, 8 in NYC, 10 in London and a smattering at home.
Most roles are offered as hybrid though - 2/3 days in office then remote. Some of the younger staff prefer to come into an office every day. Some are too anxious so prefer to be fully remote.
One of our very high performing staff has all manner of mental health issues and prefers to WFH and half the time won’t even tune the camera in - uses an avatar instead… adjustments are made accordingly.

@Longtimeloitererand just because you can’t, it doesn’t mean everyone claiming can’t .

Same. The same packages are offered free ( bar tax cost in private health) to everyone.

And do you take on people with massive gaps in their CV... criminal records.. no references or qualifications?

We take on apprentices who are school leavers and their references might be a teacher or scout leader or football coach. I don't know re criminal records to be honest. We have people who've had long gaps due to illness or looking after kids.

My mum fell down the stairs and fractured 2 vertebrae. In an instant she went from being a full time carer to her mother with dementia to being unable to stand long enough to make a cup of tea.
My dad took early retirement to look after her and 2 years on she's doing much better but had to readjusted to a life where she will be continually reliant on others for day to day care. She has days where she's copes mostly normally but other days where she's still crippled by pain. The switch from being a carer to the one requiring care as well as the guilt associated my grandmother then requiring residential care was hard on her emotional health. Well meaning medical staff making inappropriate comments and supporting her through those have been an added dimension. For example GPs that haven't understood that the advice recommended for general back injuries and fractures are not the same and berating her got not being mobile 6 weeks after the injury which was just so far from her capabilities thankfully she also had an orthopedic consultant that provided her with a more realistic recovery journey

You're assuming....... and the point I'm making is you shouldn't assume.

Everyone is different and manages their disability differently.

Sorry but are you claiming that everyone on PIP has zero experience, qualifications, references and has been in jail???

There are companies that actively work with charities giving ex-cons jobs, so I suppose - get out of jail, work a bit, leads to references and possibly qualifications or work and get the experience and some qualifications??

Can confirm same set up with several staff across UK.

You've got to understand the high performing disabled people tend to be Exeptionally high performing but not so good social, they are so valuable WFH is almost always approved.

I wonder if more Autistic people knew this and there mums and dad could early intervention and guidance get them on the road to high paid work. But people have varying levels of disability I really think we need to work out what we mean by disabled who should receive benefits and what family and social networks should be. Really think this is a community issue that needs resolving we are not just DISabled people, mostly just people.

As for gaps in CVs - of course that’s fines so long as you can say why. And if that why is cos you had kids or cos you went travelling or cos you weren’t well - fine. So long as you’re ready/ able/ up for working for us now.

Is this high performing staff member in an entry role, or is she highly qualified?

Or end up in the gig economy. 😕

Was watching a GMB segment on all this.

They were discussing whether employers will make adjustments for people with MH issues who lose their benefit and enter the workforce.

Someone asked whether employers should be expected to accept “I can’t come in today, I’m feeling bad mentally” from them. Whether that should be accepted or disciplined (after a certain number of instances) as it would someone else.

It got me thinking, I wonder if we’ll end up with a very pissed off workforce if they see new colleagues being given additional leeway with certain things that they themselves aren’t able to get.

That’s great, but do all the corporates you’ve worked for also hire people with little to no education or experience? Because that’s also a huge part of the problem. Unless you already have a degree and good standing getting into these jobs can be impossible. This is great for someone having an unexpected crisis or late onset anxiety.

For people who have had life long MH problems and have never been able to hold down a job or stay in education, they are stuck trying to get menial jobs for minimal wage. Where employers don’t actually give two fucks about their employees and will replace them in a heartbeat.

@Longtimeloitererevery single person on disability is unable to work at all? Really!

Those who can, should. And they have already said those with severe disabilities will be protected. Those with milder disabilities need to be supported to work and that includes incentivising employers and mandating support and protection.

We should be agitating for a more equitable society where adjustments are made so we can all participate as fully as we can. Lobbying for more protection to ensure sustained access for everyone to work.