Earlier this year I applied for part-time work with a large organisation who brand themselves around equality for all.

I met all the qualifying criteria for a flexible job that involved lone working, out and about in the community with disabled people and carers.

They were particularly keen to recruit a disabled person into the post because the nature of the job involved being a role model.

I was invited to an interview - after the first one had to be re-arranged because of an inaccessible venue.
(Not a good start).

The appointment was out of the county with no communication regarding access, parking or similar. I had declared my impairment, PA and access requirements many months in advance. They felt there was nothing particular I needed to know.

It was also early in the morning - difficult for me, but I was keen and I am fortunate in that my PA is flexible with her hours to get me up in time.

I eventually arrived to find one of the interviewers standing at the door waiting.

The door into a cold, echoey hall had a step and was a fire door that didn’t stay open so well - but with my PA and them holding the door - we made it inside.

Around a village hall table sat two members of the interview panel.

We reached the end of the interview and they gave every indication that they were very keen. I had some good answers, excellent qualifications... then the doors to the job slammed shut.

A questions about reaching out to minority groups rang alarm bells. One of the interviewees said that ethnic communities keep to their own and look after each other and wouldn’t want this service that I would be providing - this was not the question but part of some chit chat after I responded. It appeared, alarmingly, the person’s actual mind-set. I questioned this approach and was swiftly moved on to the final part of the interview.

Did I have any questions.

I said I presumed because the job was a mobile worker that I could manage my own time and could work from home for ‘admin’ type duties.

I received a stern ‘NO’ and reminded them that my impairment would make it difficult for me to report into an office every morning before I hit the road. They said they had a strict no home-working policy. I looked puzzled and then the second interviewer butted in with a ‘of course if it is a disability related adjustment we would have to talk that over with personnel’.

I said that I would also have access requirements if I was going to be asked to go into my local office.
The response was ‘you’ll be ok, we already have a wheelchair user in there and they manage alright’. I said, no you don’t understand.....’. I had to go into a very undignified description of the room I need to use the bathroom and have a PA around to help.

I had been into the local office before and the manager had said that you had to take the doors of the hinges to allow people in wider wheelchair corridor access to the WC - I only just made it with a lot of difficulty.

The interviewer apologized and didn’t realise what a PA was or that disabled people had different needs - and thanked me for helping her understand... what cheek!

Next I asked how flexible they wanted me to be - because if I needed to work evenings or weekends I would have to recruit or find a PA. They looked blank and said they didn’t know and that I had to be available at all times to see when the work was needed. I had not applied for a job which said you had to be available 24/7. I said, just to know if it was 2-3 evenings or something would be helpful. They said ‘we don’t know’. I felt this was now becoming a way for them not to offer me the job. I think they did know what the likely hours were because of people doing this job in other counties - or at least they could have found out.

After a few more comments that I felt were racist- I left. I decided if they offered it to me I wouldn’t take it based on their attitude. I have heard similar stories from other disabled people applying to work for them.

The reasons for not offering me the job - I couldn’t guarantee I would be flexible and I wasn’t ready for that type of work (whatever that means).

I became another statistic.

Tags:access | disabled | discrimination | wheelchair | third sector