With the pandemic likely to have a disproportion impact on disabled staff, we ask how workplaces and individuals can respond successfully. Joined by Jane Hatton, CEO and founder of Evenbreak, and Acas workplace adviser Caroline Sandy, we look at: What a good conversation around disability looks like Common myths How to ask for adjustments, especially when you think your workplace may not be supportive Episode resources:  Evenbreak Access to work Reasonable adjustments Improving equality, diversity and inclusion in your workplace Transcript Sarah Guthrie Welcome to the Acas podcast. I'm Sarah Guthrie and today we're focusing on how we can support disabled people during the coronavirus pandemic. I'm delighted to be here with Jane Hatton, who is Founder and Chief Executive of Evenbreak, which connects disabled jobseekers with inclusive employers. And also Caroline Sandy, who is Chair of the Acas staff disability network and a workplace advisor. Thanks for joining me today. Jane Hatton Pleasure. Caroline Sandy You're welcome. Sarah   Disability is a huge topic. And so it's obvious, but we can't cover everything. So I just wanted to flag that we will be doing related topics later, like mental health in more depth. But I'm thrilled to be today delving into the details of how we can support disabled people who are working at this very challenging time. So what do we need to be aware of when we're thinking about disability in the workplace, at this point in the pandemic. Jane? Jane   Yeah, I mean, so many things, the obvious one is about workplace adjustments. So people are many people disabled and otherwise are now working remotely. And workplace adjustments are just as important for someone who's working at home then as they are for someone in the workplace. So I think things like technology, furniture, making sure that someone has space within the home that they can...difficult if you're sharing, you know, shared accommodation with other people if you've got young children or whatever. But as far as possible, make the working environment at home, as barrier free as you can. And for people who are in work really a lot of the same as you do for anybody else about, about making it covid safe, so that they are less likely to be, you know, to catch this horrible virus because it's you know, not, not something that we want any employees to come down with. Caroline   And I think as well keeping in touch as you would with any employee, that particularly if you're aware that you've got staff with disabilities, making sure that the adaptations you've put in place are working, and maybe, be a bit more aware of, you might get requests that you've not had before. So you might, for example, get somebody asking for support with travel to work. And I think it's to be open minded, look at things from a can do point of view. And if you look at it that way, and then you find you can't do it, at least you've approached it in the right direction. Sarah   And from your experience, what kind of barriers come up often that are actually quite simple to remove? Caroline   The perception that things are costly to put in place, which is very often not the case. Fear about having a conversation, you know, what can I say? Well, you know, disabled people like anybody else are human beings, they can talk. So talk to them on a, on that human level without any pre judgment of either what somebody might need, or what they're, the impact the condition has on them. Disabled people tend to know themselves very well know what their limitations are, know what they need, so don't make any assumptions. And sick absence is another one that people tend to think, that employing somebody with a disability is going to give you increased sick absence. And that's very often not the case, if anything, and sick absence with the right level of support is quite mini