TUC and GMB launch new disability passport to help 95,000 disabled workers in South West

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) along with the GMB trade union are today (Monday) launching a new disability passport that will help 94,640 people with disabilities in the South West who fall out of work or switch employers each year.

People with disabilities can leave their jobs for many reasons. One preventable reason is when employers fail to carry out their legal duty to make – and keep in place – the reasonable adjustments their disabled staff need to do their jobs.

With one in 10 disabled people dropping out of work, and one in seven finding new employment every year, the TUC South West and GMB believe it is vital to find a more successful and unified way of agreeing and recording what modifications need to be put in place.

Together, the TUC and the GMB have produced a model Reasonable Adjustments Employer Agreement for workplace representatives to agree with the employer, as well as a template Reasonable Adjustments Passport for individual workers that records what adjustments have been put into place to eliminate barriers in the workplace. 

Examples of the type of adjustments that could be recorded in the passport include:

• providing specially adapted equipment (like a chair, desk or computer)
• temporarily changing the duties of the job,
• changing break times or working patterns, or
• allowing flexible working or time off for medical appointments.

Once the adjustments are agreed, the passport is signed by all involved.

The document can be reviewed at regular intervals and means disabled people don’t have to explain their requirements every time their line manager changes, or the person with disabilities changes roles within the organisation. 

Regional Secretary of the TUC in the South West, Nigel Costley said:

“People with disabilities face many barriers when it comes to finding good, rewarding jobs. Employers must do more to ensure they provide the reasonable adjustments legally required to support their workers.”

“Disabled workers live with the constant threat of losing their reasonable adjustments every time their boss or job changes.”

“This Passport is an ideal place to officially and clearly record what adjustments have been agreed. It means workers aren’t going back to the starting line every time there is a change in the workplace.”