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> The number of sick and disabled people out of work is putting the UK at risk of an "economic inactivity crisis" that threatens the country's prosperity, according to a new report.
What an inhumane framing.
I appreciate that I am going out on a limb here, but perhaps we should sodding well care for and look after people so that they can live their best, most fulfilling lives, not so that they can "return to work".
Honestly, this is disgusting.
@neil so, sick and disabled people should just choose to be healthy and able-bodied for the good of the economy? WTactualF?
Why is it always the folks who talk like that are the same ones opposed to universal healthcare or safety nets?
(Yes, I know. The cruelty is often the point with that demographic.)
@neil So, when you defund the NHS systematically and deliberately, this is what happens. It has an economic cost to it.
As well as a well-being cost, as well as people suffering unnecessarily.
There seem to be no positives. And yet, still, this government continues to defund.
@neil Sadly, this is the sort of thing I would expect company bosses to say - they're selfishly looking after their own interests, not anyone else's. Ironically John Lewis is effectively an employee co-operative...
@neil indeed. And, first and foremost, stop making people sick in that first place with worsening food safety standards, poor housing, financial pressures, daylight savings time, etc...
@neil @fehrtrade Not to mention that a good share of these got sick BECAUSE of work, (force return to the office, and the lack of basic covid precautions…)
@neil As a disabled person who has struggled with EPIC disablism in job recruitment this stuff just makes me very angry and sad.
I've taken 4 employment discrim cases and there is very little legal protection, it's all reactive and very limited. Employers are trusted to be honest when they say "business reasons" to cover blatant discrim and lies.
Cutting motability, Access to Work, PIP and more will not help sick and disabled people who want to work to work. It'll make it WORSE.
@neil How many non disabled people know that to get Access to Work disability funding it's a 9-12 month wait.
If blind and you need £5k of special equipment to enable you to work. Tough, wait... Oh looky, employer doesn't (reasonably) want to wait MONTHS and if they fork out the £5k the government won't pay it back.
Not all employers want EXPENSIVE employees.
A blind friend only kept their new job because they had old (not optimal) blind tech they could use during the wait.
@neil We need to fix accessible housing - it's almost impossible to rent or buy accessible housing if you have mobility issues or need a wheelchair.
We need to fix transport to stop buses/trains/taxis refusing to transport wheelchair users and assistance dog handlers.
We need social care funded so if you need help getting up, washing, eating, you can get reliable scheduled times not be stuck in bed till 11am.
Employers also need to offer more remote jobs which govt is speaking out against.
@neil If you aren't safely/suitably housed, able to travel properly (if needed), get the right care, get NHS care as needed (maintenance care for long term conditions is almost non existent) and your social care isn't workable. You CAN'T work or work properly because Maslov Triangle problems.
That's before employers being nonsense about part-time (affordable wage) work.
I'm deaf and physically disabled, that really freaks the jobcentre out cos I can't do manual OR callcentre work. Catch22.
@neil Capitalism is a Death Cult
@neil Agreed, feels very victim-blaming to me (especially the 'burdens on the NHS' language). No discussion of positive steps, just sanctions for people who don't comply.
Probably doesn't help that Charlie Mayfield, who lead the review, does not appear to have any healthcare-related experience (and probably has private healthcare, and his Wikipedia says he went to a public school).
@neil I'm a bit on the fence about all of this stuff (and have "personal" experience - not myself, but a family member). Most people _want_ to work. Some times, it is important for people suffering from mental illness to be able to take paid time off to recover. But I don't think that being able to just drift along on sick leave forever is the answer - there is some value in having a kick up the backside. I'm not sure how you can achieve the right balance though - it's a really tough one.
> Most people _want_ to work.
Do they?
I think that most people work out of necessity, and would probably rather be doing something else!
@neil Well ok, most people want to do something constructive with their lives. And when you have spent years training, building a career, etc. then I think it is very difficult to get the structure elsewhere to meet that requirement.
That said, I could definitely find fulfilling stuff to fill my life if I retired tomorrow. :)
@neil It does seem to me that employers struggle to provide the right support. IME, once someone falls off the "normal" career path and ends up on sick pay, etc. they then have to deal with payroll/HR problems associated with basically useless departments being unable to cope with anything out of the ordinary. So rather than spending PTO to recover, they spend their PTO chasing the various departments who won't talk to each other and have no regard for the reasons why someone is on sick.
@neil The person in question had to deal with things like payroll not properly recording when they were supposed to be on reduced pay, which resulted in a supposed over-payment. Payroll then hit them with an out of the blue "oh, it turns out that you were paid tens of thousands more than you should have been over the past 5 years, you need to give it back". Questions directed at payroll and requests for records just ended up unanswered, payroll and HR ended up blaming each other, total mess.
@neil this sort of thing is _not_ conducive to recovery. But what can you do? The stress of taking them to an employment tribunal is also not conducive to recovery.
@neil FWIW, in the end, payroll rejected good evidence showing that the pay had been (mostly) correct and insisted on a specific methodology being used to calculate the "overpayment" since they believed that that supported their argument. In the end, we calculated an underpayment through strict adherence to their flawed methodology, so it ended up financially beneficial in the end, but I don't think the resulting payment covered the stress of arguing with them for 3 years.
@neil The person in question could not have managed to argue with their employer without my help - they were not in the right place mentally (if they were then they wouldn't have been off sick!), and would almost certainly have just ended up handing over a huge sum of money that they could not afford. The union were pretty useless too!
@neil people like this CEO forget the millions of people working with disability and helping to prop up businesses like theirs.
I struggle to work daily but I continue to do so in part to support and care for other disabled people. Happily.
@neil capitalism only cares about profits not people
@neil same mindset as when they worry about demographics reducing their sales base.
It's also often economically stupid too. There are loads of people waiting for stuff that would enable them to work whilst the 1% whine about people with one leg getting help buying cars so they can actually work (and at this point are basically also acting as a state way of saving the car industry)
@neil another posho telling everyone how to live. An irrelevant nobody amplified by the BBC as usual. Ignore and move on.
@neil F*** work. If we have humanity and kindness towards each other, the rest follows from that!
@neil Also incredibly frustrating that they're comparing the figures to 2019. Why are they different? Impossible to say. We'll never know. What can we do to fix it? Well we've not really looked into it, so basically nothing except fucking over the poor and disabled!
@neil this is the narrative of austerity. This is how you end up with more harrassment of disabled folks.
Shame on the BBC for publicising it.
Sorry, this got my goat.
@neil I get it.
But you know sometimes the best language to express how wrong something is will be a swearword.
We're socialised to not swear in order to get our message further. To appeal to folks via politeness.
Ablesim and it's dark relative eugenics is a case where folks have tried politeness and not swearing, for decades.
I'm honestly tired of the politeness. It was a heartfelt post.
@neil Carbon based generic work units will be set free through work
@neil Bllionaires see people as producers of money for them and nothing else. That the BBC print this rubbish uncritically is the thing that really irritates me.
@neil with you on that. Especially since it might well be working conditions that are making them sick in the first place.
@snookerarmchair @neil
THIS SO MUCH.
So many disabled people WANT jobs and to be working, but employers are pretty shit at creating work conditions that are suitable for non-disabled people, never mind disabled people.
@neil
There is no reason to apologize for having a sense of empathy, the folk who should be apologizing are the news agencies framing this article in an inhumane manner.
@SnowyCA More for my bad language, really!
@neil
What bad language?
If you think that was "bad language" please do not closely examine my posts...over the past year, Eff bombs litter too many. I think I have a valid reason for cursing because I live above the 'meth lab' (USA)
@SnowyCA Oh, I don't judge other people's choice of words (although I'd rather that my own replies were not full of expletives), I just don't tend to swear myself!
@neil
I used to never swear...but... well... points south ...they really have tested my patience and sometimes it's my only avenue of releasing the stress. 😂
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