Event Details

Roundtable at the Labour Party Conference 2025 that will discuss how A Right to Try policy can be introduced in a way that unlocks opportunities for disabled workers and those with long-term health conditions to access secure and flexible work.

The Government has committed to Get Britain Working and raise the employment level to 80% to help drive economic growth.

In June, Ministers introduced a draft Right to Try Guarantee – promising to enshrine the right for people receiving health and disability benefits to try work without risk losing their benefits if they fall out of work.

DWP research found that a third of claimants (37%) that want to work but are held back by fear of losing their benefits and a quarter (25%) of those who are out of work and claiming health and disability benefits might be able to work, if they could do this from home. However, for a Right to Try to be effective, there needs to be enough flexible and secure employment opportunities. There is high demand for remote and hybrid working to manage health conditions and impairments, but Lancaster University analysis of the DWP jobs portal has shown that just one in 26 vacancies offers remote or hybrid work.

This roundtable will bring together policymakers, academics and employers to discuss how A Right to Try can be introduced in a way that unlocks opportunities for disabled workers and those with long-term health conditions to access secure and flexible work.

Key questions include:

• How can policymakers reduce the risks for disabled people to re-enter the labour market?
• How can Government work with employers to drive up the stock of secure, hybrid and flexible work on offer?
• How can employers be supported and incentivised to offer more opportunities to disabled people and those with long-term health conditions who have been out of the labour market?