DISABLED people’s experiences of “horrific” employment practices are leaving them too scared to re-enter the Labour market, a committee has heard.

Debbie Foster, a professor at Cardiff University, gave evidence as the Senedd’s equality committee began a new inquiry on Monday on disability and employment in Wales.

She criticised poor employment practices, saying: “Some of them are really, really horrific – they should not be happening. 

“They undermine the confidence of people who are then too scared to re-enter the Labour market.”

Prof Foster raised disabled people’s concerns about difficulty accessing reasonable adjustments at work as she warned that employers do not understand equalities law.

She told committee members that too often people declaring a disability or health condition are “filtered out” of recruitment processes.
 
Official figures for 2022 showed the disability employment gap — the difference in employment rates between disabled and non-disabled people — in Wales was 32.3 per cent.

This was higher than Scotland (31.6 per cent) and the UK average (29.8 per cent), with disabled people in Blaenau Gwent (46.8 per cent) and Neath Port Talbot (44.5 per cent) facing additional barriers.

Jenny Rathbone, who chairs the equality committee, was concerned by the slow pace of progress on addressing the disability employment gap.

She warned: “As a nation, we’re missing out in terms of the skills disabled people can offer.”

Prof Foster added: “We can’t just keep having more and more enquiries into the disability employment gap … and not say we need to put our money where our mouth is.”

The Welsh government was contacted for comment.