Employer willingness to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act regarding staff selection in the UK

Abstract

This study investigated personnel directors and managers’ willingness to revise their current selection procedures as a result of both their attitude towards disabled persons and their knowledge of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA). The DDA states that ‘reasonable adjustments’ must be made to the selection process for persons with a disability to enable them to compete on an equal level with non-disabled candidates. Results showed that employer willingness to comply with the Act is predicted by attitude towards disabled people and knowledge of the legislation. The results are discussed in terms of the likely impact that the DDA will have on the employment situation for persons with a disability and the factors which might affect its success.