It happens already. I've known several people in the past 10-15 years who were genuinely disabled, told to take jobs or lose benefits, taken the job and then not been able to do it. They've then been sacked, with further implications for their benefits.Graye wrote: I really can't see a time when people will be literally forced into inappropriate jobs against medical advice.
One lady who worked for me had limited arm and wrist mobility, plus pain. The job involved a lot of typing. Doh! Okay, she was off benefits for a time and the business got payments to take her on, but she couldn't do about 70% of the actual job. That was okay while the government was covering a large chunk of her pay, but it meant she couldn't be kept on after that ran out.
I also know of employers who have taken on disabled people on the basis of the government providing grants to modify the work environment. The money then hasn't come through or taken too long to come through, so the person either leaves or is reluctantly sacked as the job is too much for them without the changes to their working environment.
As a manager I've had to spec desks, chairs, computers, telephones, access, etc for people with certain disabilities and they are very, very expensive. If you take a disabled person on, then they need the appropriate facilities and equipment from their first day in the job—not in six to 12 months time. Without those changes, they are unable to do the job or, worse still, it exacerbates their disabilities.
And before someone says businesses should pick up the cost, big companies may be prepared to take the risk of spending, say, £8,000 on modifying the workplace but small businesses can't afford that. And many businesses would say why spend the money when it's cheaper to employ someone without disabilities? (Personally, I've found disabled people tend to make excellent long-term employees as they're not constantly looking to move on. If they find a good employer that makes an effort, they tend to stay with them, and that amply justifies the investment.)
The government has a lot of schemes and advisors that supposedly help businesses employ disabled people, but it's bureaucratic, slow and unresponsive. And to be quite frank, a fair number of the advisors haven't a clue about the needs of either the disabled or businesses.