Senior management commitment to disability ‐ The influence of legal compulsion and best practice
| Date | 01 August 2001 |
| Published date | 01 August 2001 |
| Pages | 454-467 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480110393493 |
| Author | Pauline Dibben,Phil James,Ian Cunningham |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Personnel
Review
30,4
454
Personnel Review,
Vol. 30 No. 4, 2001, pp. 454-467.
#MCB University Press, 0048-3486
Received May 1999
Revised February 2000
Accepted February 2000
Senior management
commitment to disability
The influence of legal compulsion
and best practice
Pauline Dibben and Phil James
Middlesex University, London, UK
Ian Cunningham
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
Keywords Disabled people, Discrimination, Legislation, Equal opportunities
Abstract Over the past two decades, two distinct types of action have been taken to address
discrimination in the labour market against people with disabilities. First, the introduction of
legislation and, second, the launch of ``best practice'' initiatives. Analyses company annual reports
to test whether these two types of action have acted to increase senior management commitment
to tackling the disadvantaged position of disabled workers. Presents findings that cast doubt on
the extent to which either of the approaches have served to increase such commitment. Identifies a
number of legislative reforms, encompassing the introduction of requirements on the external
auditing of disability practices, access to occupational health services and the use of contract
compliance, that could be utilised to raise the priority accorded to disability issues by senior
managers.
Research shows that people with disabilities face widespread discrimination in
the labour market (Reynolds et al., 1997; Duckworth et al., 1998). Over the last
decade two distinct types of action have been taken at the national level to
remedy or, at least alleviate, this situation. First, the introduction of legislation,
in the form of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995, aimed at making
certain types of discriminatory treatment unlawful. Second, the launch of two
``best practice'' initiatives ± the government sponsored two ticks symbol
scheme and the Employer's Forum on Disability (EFD) ten point action plan ±
intended to stimulate voluntary action by employers.
Existing research into the more long-standing legislation on sex and race
discrimination indicates that while it has frequently led organisations to
develop formal policies aimed at ensuring equality of treatment, these
policies have in practice often yielded disappointing results. A variety of
factors have been identified as contributing to this limited impact. One of the
most commonly identified is a lack of senior management commitment ± a
finding that suggests that all too often the issue of equal opportunities has
been accorded relatively low importance compared with more central
financial and operational considerations. As a result it would seem that a key
test of recent disability-related legislative and voluntary developments is the
extent to which they increase the importance attached to the issue by senior
managers.
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