Employment

We are campaigning to overcome barriers disabled people face when looking for work.

Still Locked Out

Our “Still Locked Out" report shows disabled people's employment is still being negatively impacted by the pandemic . This research uses polling data provided by Savanta ComRes. It builds on our 2020 report "Locked out the Labour Market" released in October 2020.

Our research shows stigma towards disabled job seekers remains entrenched among some employers. It also reveals that young disabled people feel pessimistic about their employment prospects.

The UK Government must act now and invest in a disability inclusive recovery.  It must support disabled people to gain employment and stay in work. 

Our latest research

  • 69% of disabled adults said that their work had been affected by the pandemic. This rises to 89% of disabled young people (aged 18-25 years old). 
  • 49% of young disabled people think they would find another job if they became unemployed.
  • One in five employers would be less likely to employ someone with a disability.
  • Almost two thirds of employers (63%) would support mandatory reporting for businesses with 250+ staff on the number of disabled people they employ.
Change 100 intern looking to his left

What we're calling for

To support disabled people to gain and stay in employment, we’re calling for the government to:

  • Provide dedicated employment support for disabled jobseekers by investing in personalised, specialist employment support for disabled people.
  • Invest and Promote Access to Work to employers and employees.
  • Establish a day one right to flexible working, reasonable adjustments and workplace modifications.
  • Introduce mandatory reporting for large employers on their performance in employing disabled people.

I have rarely let my anxiety stop me from achieving my goals. However even after being in the role for five weeks and with a lot of help and support from them, my anxiety continued to make me extremely nervous. I felt like I was never going to feel confident.

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Stay in touch

We’d like to keep you updated about how we support disabled people to live, learn and work as independently as they choose.



We’ll let you know how you can support our vision and get involved through fundraising, volunteering and campaigning opportunities.

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You can update or remove your personal details any time by contacting us by email at supporter@leonardcheshire.org or by calling us on 0300 303 0074.

What support we offer

We have significant expertise in working with disabled people in the UK and internationally to support them to overcome barriers to employment.