Abstract

Disabled people continue to be disadvantaged throughout the cycle of employment despite legislation and government initiatives aimed at promoting inclusive employment. The Equality Act 2010, Access to Work, and the Disability Confident initiative have been widely criticised for being inconsistent, bureaucratic, and weak in their enforcement (Hoque et al., 2014; Leonard Cheshire, 2024; Hoque et al., 2024). Employment services are positioned as a bridge between disabled people and employers, yet they operate within fragmented systems influenced by performance-driven contracts and neoliberal ideals of employability. Against this backdrop, this thesis explores how employment service professionals (ESPs), employers, and disabled people experience the cycle of employment in the UK, and what changes are required to make employment genuinely inclusive and sustainable.

The study adopts a two-phase design informed by participatory and phenomenological principles, with disabled people’s lived experience being central throughout. In phase one, a working group of disabled people influenced the themes for inquiry. In phase two, 24 semi-structured interviews were conducted across three participant groups: ESPs, employers, and disabled people. The data were analysed using thematic analysis (TA). The triangulated findings demonstrate that disablism permeates all stages of employment, from recruitment through to retention. Employers were often found to rely on inflexible recruitment practices, while ESPs described pressure to meet contractual obligations by prioritising job outcomes over individual aspirations. Disabled people highlighted persistent stigma and exclusionary workplace cultures influenced by managerial discretion. Examples of good practice were identified where inclusion was proactively embedded and where collaborative, relationship-based approaches were prioritised.

This thesis makes several original contributions. Empirically, it offers a triangulated, multi-perspective analysis grounded in the lived experience of disabled people. Conceptually, it develops the notion of ESPs as ‘inclusion intermediaries’, highlighting their role in negotiating between policy, employers, and disabled people within constrained systems. It also extends the concept of ‘disability washing’ to explain how employers perform inclusion for reputational purposes without embedding substantive change. Practically, the thesis proposes a National Inclusive Employment Framework (NIEF), supported by an Inclusive Employment Authority (IEA) to strengthen accountability, alongside a legislated Disability Support Leave (DSL) to provide equitable workplace support. Overall, the study exposes the inconsistency of current policy and practice and offers an evidence-based framework for systemic reform. It concludes by calling for a shift beyond tokenistic inclusion towards structural change underpinned by rights, accountability, and lived experience.