Dr Martin Mitchell, Senior Researcher in the Policy Research Centre at the National Centre for Social Research
Dr Martin Mitchell is a Senior Researcher in the Policy Research Centre at the National Centre for Social Research. He has worked in applied policy research for over 25 years and specialises in research on discrimination in employment, equality and inclusion, and welfare to work. He is also a specialist in a range of qualitative methods and methodologies.
The government's Keep Britain Working review highlights the role that ill health and workplace barriers play in economic inactivity. Despite progress in recent years, the employment rate for disabled people remains substantially lower than for non-disabled people. There are concerns among policymakers that the gap is widening.
Against this backdrop, evidence suggests that workplace conflict can make it harder for disabled employees to stay in employment. Acas's 2025 conflict prevalence survey, conducted by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), found that 68% of disabled employees whose condition had a substantial impact on their daily activities had experienced workplace conflict. This is compared with 44% of employees overall.
New research study on disability-related conflict at work
To understand why this happens, Acas also commissioned NatCen to do qualitative interviews with 30 disabled employees from the survey who had experienced disability-related workplace conflict in the previous year. Participants included people with physical, mental health and cognitive impairments, long-term health conditions, and forms of neurodivergence.
The study found that conflict was driven not by employees' disabilities themselves, but by how organisations responded to them. Disabled employees highlighted 3 main issues:
- employees felt that managers lacked understanding of their disability or condition – requests for support or adjustments were questioned or treated as performance and conduct concerns, rather than opportunities to discuss what support was needed
- conflicts arose when reasonable adjustments were absent, delayed or poorly managed – employees described difficulties securing adjustments such as flexible working arrangements and they said that requests were sometimes viewed as seeking special treatment rather than enabling them to do their job effectively
- there were delays in obtaining specialist equipment, including ergonomic furniture, assistive technology and sensory aids – participants described lengthy discussions about funding and responsibility for provision
Employees whose disability or condition had a greater day-to-day impact appeared particularly exposed to conflict. Frequent discussions about adjustments, sickness absence, flexible working and performance management created disagreements over work rather than support.
Effects and costs of conflict
The effects of these conflicts were severe. Employees described:
- worsening physical and mental health
- reduced confidence
- financial insecurity
- considering leaving work altogether, in some cases
Conflict also carried wider organisational costs, including:
- lower productivity
- damaged working relationships
- increased staff turnover
How employers can better support disabled employees
The research also highlighted several ways employers and managers could better support disabled employees to remain in work.
Early intervention was seen as critical, with employees emphasising the importance of addressing conflict before relationships deteriorated. In some cases, support from occupational health professionals, trade unions, disability charities or legal advisers helped facilitate more constructive conversations.
Employees highlighted the pivotal role of confident and capable line managers who were able to encourage disclosure, understand support options and work collaboratively with employees to identify appropriate adjustments.
Finally, HR teams also had a key role in supporting managers to apply policies consistently while retaining the flexibility needed to respond to individual circumstances.
The findings suggest that reducing the disability employment gap is not just about creating access, but also about helping disabled people in work. It requires workplaces that can respond effectively to disability-related needs, prevent conflict and provide timely, practical support.
Read the full report: Disabled employees' experiences of workplace conflict
Advice from Acas
Acas also offers practical tips for employees and employers on reasonable adjustments.