Despite the toughening up of disability equality legislation, deaf and hard of hearing people are still facing discrimination when seeking work, it has been claimed.
GP and medical broadcaster Dr Hilary Jones said many of those with hearing impairments feel they are treated unfairly compared to other candidates.
He said the problem is worse for those who are severely or profoundly deaf.
However, he added: “Even for people with hearing problems, they might be stigmatised if they are seen wearing a hearing aid.”
Dr Jones pointed out that one in five adults in the UK have hearing difficulties, making up a substantial proportion of the country’s working population.
With this in mind, stamping out discrimination against deaf and hard of hearing people is essential for employers.
A hearing impairment is classed as a disability under the Equality Act 2010, which replaced most of the Disability Discrimination Act following its introduction in October last year.
The legislation provides rights for people not to be directly discriminated against because they have a disability such as a hearing impairment.
It also provides rights for people not to face discrimination because they have an association with someone who is disabled, or because they are wrongly perceived to have a disability.
This is something that has been the life experience of myself and a whole lot of my friends. We’re not neccessrily BSL users either. We got a fabulous education, paid for by Local Authorities at Mary Hare school, yet we’re being passed over for promotion or anything in managerial positions because of our deafness. You may say that employers are not allowed to discriminate – yet they find ways round it – and if we ask for feedback, we get feeble excuses. It’s not good enough. I deliver deaf awareness courses and would LOVE to go out there delivering them to employers and employees alike, they don’t seem to listen though – it’s a struggle. Here’s my blog on why deaf awareness is needed.http://deafcomm.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/why-deaf-awareness/
Having worked for 14 years in the professional field I have always managed to secure an interview for jobs. I am facing redundancy end of September, and the jobs I have been shortlisted for recently I have managed to secure interviews, however I have not been successful because employers want someone ‘to hit the ground running’, I am sure this is a subtle discrimination due to my deafness. My confidence is reaching an all time low. A lot of my deaf friends (to date I know of 12) have been made redundant, and are finding it difficult to find employment, whereas a lot of my hearing friends have little problem. This needs to be highlighted on a national scale. Ok we cannot hear on the phone, this is only about 2 – 5% of role requirements unless you work in a call centre (I know this from working in the employment field). We have a brain! It is very worrying and I speak for the majority of other deaf professionals out there. Sarah
Hello, i have been hard of hearing for 17 years i am 47, i have been to university and gained a 2;1 HONS in childcare, i am given interviews but as i am honest, i disclose that i am hard of hearing and ‘hey presto’ i dont get offerd the job,
I’ve just experienced my 2nd problem with colleagues in 2 months. The first time was when a colleague did the old mocking version of bsl. I reported it to the general manager in the canteen, his response, I kid you not was “why r u being so agressive?” that was it, no apology, no investigation, nothing said to the offending party. The second one, my dept mngr!! When I reacted I was suspended for being aggressive &using abusive language!!!! When you’re sooooooo frustrated who are you supposed to turn to, I like my job but it’s becoming unbearable because of managerial apathy.
AAAARRRGGHH!!!!!!!!
I’ve now been sacked. I appealed and, of course, the decision was upheld by the employer. Apparantly dept. managers don’t lie!!!
So now I’m back to square one just two months before xmas, thank you so much, former employer. (I won’t name them, they spend enough on advertising already)