Equality: Fair Work

Taking Fair Work Forward

2. Barriers to Fair Work for autistic workers

What workplace practices negatively impact autistic workers?

Learning points:

  1. Misconceptions and stereotypes are a major barrier to gaining and progressing in employment (for example colleagues and management believing that autism is a learning disability, that only boys are autistic, etc.)
  2. Workplaces that lack flexibility may negatively impact autistic workers – “we have always done it this way” when autistic ingenuity may find a better solution
  3. Unfortunately, many workplaces have a culture where reasonable adjustments are frowned upon or seen as having “special treatment”, rather than recognising these as efforts to level the playing field

Reflective question

Consider three practices at your workplace, for example a staff meeting, a social event, and the organisation of class cover. How may these practices impact autistic workers and non-autistic workers differently? Is the current process designed with autistic workers in mind?

A 2021 sample survey of autistic EIS members (52 total entrants, 28 answering a substantial number of questions), about their workplace experiences, found that while some members had positive experiences, we still have a long way to go to realise Fair Work for all. Overall, only one in four survey respondents thought their workplace was a good place to work for autistic people, and nearly 60% disagreed.

Less than a third of respondents were comfortable talking openly about being autistic, at work. Whilst a few respondents had supportive experiences as a result of disclosing, others were met with a lack of understanding/knowledge, and some had an outright negative experience.

One respondent said:

“I have told all the staff that I work with that I have an ASD diagnosis. I have had mixed responses, from eye rolls to out and out denials of my diagnosis. Mainly the response from senior staff is indifference or uncertainty about what to say. I have never once been asked what it means or what difficulties it presents me with.”

When asked about their skills and strengths, only one person strongly agreed these were fully utilised at work, whereas 8 people strongly disagreed, and 3 were unsure. Near half respondents felt their contributions were not always valued. The other half did feel they were valued.

When asked about barriers, findings included:

  • Reasonable adjustments not being in place
  • Unpredictability, constant change, changing rules, changing IT, being expected to cover classes, changing schedules tec.
  • Lack of time, time pressures, lack of proper break time, workload
  • Large meetings and class sizes, not feeling able to speak out during these, parent’s evenings, group tasks
  • Unclear guidance and guidelines, confusing or conflicting instruction, unclear staff handbooks, management unwilling to listen, unclear goals/responsibilities
  • Stereotypes and assumptions, lack of understanding, not feeling included, being isolated when expressing unpopular opinions, discrimination, bullying
  • Anxiety and overwhelm in relation to sensory issues and communication, misunderstanding others, dealing with parental complaints, excessive noise, bright lighting, information overload, not feeling confident, taking things personally and pressure arising from placing themselves to very high standards related to their work

Overall, many members noted that the impact of this was that they were exhausted, overwhelmed, stressed and anxious at work.

Though the findings are based on a very limited sample, they give an indication of the barriers to autistic workers, and the impact this is having also for mental health and wellbeing.

When workplaces have inaccessible practices, and reasonable adjustments are not in place, autistic workers are at a disadvantage.