The Small Print, past session
Someone tells you they're disabled. What now?
For managers, HR and anyone who works with the public
263 people registered for the first Small Print and 128 joined live, mostly HR teams, line managers and people who run services the public uses. This is what I covered, and the three things I'd ask you to do with it.
The conversation
The first five minutes
Most managers are more worried about this conversation than the person telling them. It needs four things said and one thing done, and none of them needs expertise.
- Thank them, and don't flinch.
- Ask about the barrier, not the diagnosis. What's not working, and what would help.
- Agree who needs to know. It's their information, and the law gives health information extra protection.
- Say what happens next and when, even if the answer is that you'll find out.
- Write it down.
The case
Where policies stop
I built the session around FirstGroup v Paulley, the Supreme Court case about a wheelchair user, a bus, and a parent with a pushchair in the wheelchair space. The driver asked once, was refused, and had nothing else he was allowed to do. The court said a policy that stops at asking isn't enough.
The same moment happens at council front desks, in surgeries, in shops and on the phone every day. Someone asks for something, the first answer is no, and the person in front of them has no next step.
In your organisation, your managers are the driver.
What gets in the way
Three myths I hear most
- "I'm not allowed to ask." You can ask what someone needs to do the job. You can't ask them to prove a diagnosis.
- "They haven't asked, so they're fine." Most people never ask. They work around it quietly, or they leave.
- "I need evidence first." Occupational health is advice for the decisions you can't make yourself. You don't have to wait for it.
Your next step
What to do on Monday
Pick one.
- Find the place where your policy says "ask" and then stops, and write the next step.
- Pick one thing you do on request and make it standard. Captions on by default, interview questions to every candidate, the agenda in advance.
- Write your next access decision down in one line, the same day. What you knew, what was asked for, what you offered, what you did instead, and when.
Feedback
What people said
I loved this session. I think it addressed some of the challenges in a really balanced and safe way that I haven't seen mastered before.
The 22 people who gave feedback rated it 4.8 out of 5 for usefulness. Twenty said they felt more confident handling these conversations afterwards, and nobody felt less.
Next session
Session two picks up where this one stopped. Someone's asked for a change at work. Do you have to say yes? What counts as an adjustment, what reasonable means in practice, and the adjustments agreed years ago that nobody has looked at since.
Free downloads
Four things to keep
Four things from the session, one page each. Keep them, print them, or send one to the person who needs it.
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The first five minutes (PDF)
Four things to say, in order, when someone tells you they're disabled.
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Hand this to your manager (PDF)
A card for the person doing the telling, to give their manager before the conversation.
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What to write down, in one line (PDF)
The decision record, with a worked example.
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Offer it before anyone asks (PDF)
Five things to make standard and three to start on Monday.
Or Download all four as one pack (PDF)
Most of your managers weren't in the room?
I can run this hour privately for your team, with your situations and your policy, so nobody has to raise them in public. It's £950 however many people join, with the recording and slides afterwards.
I'm not a lawyer and this isn't legal advice.