Supporting employers to recruit disabled people and people with health conditions
This report provides insights for local government on what works to support employers to recruit disabled people and people with health conditions.
Documents
Details
Research background
DWP are commissioning a What Works Centre for Local Employment Support (WWCLES) to help inform evidence-based local employment and labour market support by regional and local government.
Preliminary research – the Labour Market Evidence Programme – was commissioned to inform the WWCLES’ work. It consists of:
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a user consultation with future WWCLES users
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an initial set of evidence reviews based on the consultation
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a ‘lessons learned’ report (to inform the future WWCLES)
This Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) is the second of eight evidence reviews, the topics of which were informed by findings from the user consultation. The report synthesises the available evidence on how to support employers to recruit disabled people and people with health conditions. It provides insights for practitioners working with employers to deliver active labour market programmes (ALMPs), such as Connect to Work and WorkWell. It includes a series of practical recommendations for ALMP practitioners and employers, alongside case studies of interventions seeking to improve the inclusivity of recruitment.
The report’s findings are intended to inform local government decision making of local government ALMP practitioners and employers, to improve recruitment inclusivity.
Contribution to the evidence base
Evidence is uneven about the effectiveness of approaches across employer types and contexts. Approaches in larger employers are better represented in the evidence base than in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). There is little evidence on how approaches and their outcomes vary by sector, or local economic context. Evidence is also limited around ALMP practitioners’ support of inclusive recruitment.
Therefore, the review identifies promising approaches and plausible mechanisms of change, but there are important gaps in understanding what works, for whom and in what contexts to support employers to recruit disabled people and people with health conditions.
This research will increase DWP and local government understanding of how employers can be supported to recruit disabled people and people with health conditions.
Research value
DWP intends to use the LMEP’s outputs to provide a handover to the WWCLES. This will help speed up the centre’s set up period by providing a research and evidence base to build upon, while making the most of the commissioning lead-in times.
Overall, the work of the LMEP and the WWCLES more generally has many policy implications, including:
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influencing how Mayors and local government commission, design and evaluate local employment support to ensure quality and VfM in an increasingly devolved employment support landscape
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providing evidence to DWP / HMT policy makers of value for money case for place-based / local employment support to support DWP and HMT’s decision making at spending reviews
Updates to this page
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Updated to correct information on the landing page.
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First published.