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Employer's Toolkit

This toolkit is an evolving online resource for employers. It looks at barrier removal when employing and retaining disabled people. The toolkit draws on what we have learned when advocating with disabled people in work situations and the experiences that disabled people and employers bring to us. Many thanks to all who have contributed ideas so far. Please contact us if you would like to get involved and do check back regularly for new information and resources. Last update: 26th October 2007

Key Messages for Employers from Disabled People

Advertising Directly to Disabled People

Recruiting Disabled People

Disability Symbol

Reasonable Adjustments

In an Ideal World... Thoughts from an Advocate

Obtaining Information and Support from Disabled People's Organisations

Contact Details and Getting Involved

Key Messages for Employers from Disabled People

As a starting point, we asked disabled people working with or for Breakthrough UK what key messages they would like to give to employers. Four distinct themes emerged. The responses were very consistent but cannot be taken to be representative of the opinions of all disabled people. Many thanks to all who contributed:

Don’t make assumptions about disabled people’s skills and capabilities and be particularly careful to avoid negative stereotyping. Always ask the person what their requirements are.

Disabled people are a valuable and dedicated asset.

Making appropriate adjustments is often a case of doing things a bit differently and thinking laterally rather than spending lots of money.

Be aware of, and use, the support networks available, especially the government’s Access to Work scheme.

These themes will be developed throughout the toolkit and we are keen to hear from disabled people who would like to add to them.

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Advertising Directly to Disabled People

Promoting your advertisements to a wide section of the community is vital in encouraging a diverse workforce. We have a short list of organisations that can help you to do this, whether through their publications, membership mail outs or more formal paid advertisements. Download our booklet on Advertising Job Vacancies to Disabled People (Rich Text Format)

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Recruiting Disabled People

We have produced guidance on the main things to think about when recruiting staff and potentially taking on a disabled person. A thread running through this is always to ask the person what their requirements are and avoid making assumptions. Two people with similar impairments may have very different requirements depending on what their job or potential job involves, and how their impairment affects them. Read our guidance on recruiting disabled people here.(Rich Text Format)

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Disability Symbol

Several disabled people have asked us to include information on the disability symbol in the toolkit. Jobcentre Plus has a scheme that allows employers to display a two tick disability symbol if they agree to do the following (quoted from the Jobcentre Plus website):

  Interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy and consider them on their abilities

  Ensure there is a mechanism in place to discuss, at any time, but at least once a year, with disabled employees what can

be done to make sure they can develop and use their abilities

  Make every effort when employees become disabled to make sure they stay in employment

  Take action to ensure that all employees develop the appropriate level of disability awareness needed to make these commitments work

  Each year to review the five commitments and what has been achieved, plan ways to improve on them and let employees and Jobcentre Plus know about progress and future plans.

Many public sector organisations in particular have adopted this symbol and some disabled people say that they look out for it to determine whether an employer is fully committed to welcoming disabled employees. However, other disabled people argue that it does not go far enough in promoting disabled people’s rights and in removing barriers to and within employment. Having the symbol does not necessarily mean that the employer is fulfilling the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act either.

More information on the scheme can be found online at: www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/HelpForDisabledPeople/DisabilitySymbol/index.html

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Reasonable Adjustments

We are often contacted by employers wanting to know whether a particular adjustment they have made or are considering making is 'reasonable enough?'.

This can be a difficult area as legally only the Chair of an Employment Tribunal can make that ultimate decision, and obviously most employers would not wish to let things get to that point!

From a good practice as well as a common sense point of view, the best person to answer the question ‘how reasonable is this adjustment?’ is the disabled person themself. Always ask them first: they are the expert. It is often going to be a case of doing things a bit differently rather than spending lots of money. Thinking creatively around a barrier and involving the employee / potential employee in this process is a very useful first step.

Some areas to consider are:

  How effective is the adjustment likely to be? What does the disabled person themself think?

  What resources do you have available – financial and otherwise (staffing etc.). There will be higher expectations on large public sector organisations than on small private enterprises.

  Is there a likely cost? Have you considered whether the Access to Work scheme will be able to meet this? (for more on the government’s Access to Work scheme, visit the Jobcentre Plus website at: www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/HelpForDisabledPeople/AccesstoWork/index.html )

  What impact will the proposed adjustment have on other staff or the running of the business? Often an adjustment made for one person will benefit a range of other employees and customers, so don't assume the impact will be a negative one.

Possible examples of reasonable adjustments could be:

  Alter premises

  Allocate some duties to another employee

  Alter working hours

  Transfer the person to another place of work

  Allow absences during working hours for rehabilitation, assessment or treatment

  Give or arrange additional training

  Provide specialist equipment, acquire or make changes to equipment

  Alter instructions in reference manual

  Modify procedures for testing or assessment

  Provide a reader or interpreter or support worker / P A (personal assistant

  Provide supervision

The former Disability Rights Commission produced ‘A practical guide to the law and best practice for employers’. Chapters 2 and 3 address reasonable adjustments giving worked examples. This is now available as a Word document on the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s website.

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In an Ideal World... - Thoughts From an Advocate

Employees would be aware of their rights at work, have a copy of their employment contract and know how to get hold of company policies that affect their work.

In reality many of our clients are not fully aware of their employment rights, have not got a copy of their work contract and do not know what is in the company equal opportunities/dignity at work/health and safety policy, or if there is one.

Effective training on disability issues would be compulsory throughout large public sector employers, so that all employees can benefit from an informed work environment.

Large public sector employers are paying for senior managers to receive training on disability issues, but that training is not reaching junior managers who are responsible for understanding and managing front-line staff.

Employers would take into account their employees’ knowledge of their own abilities, and think laterally about adjustments that could be fairly easily made to enable an individual to carry out work tasks.

All too often our clients are not listened to at work and too much focus is on the things that they can’t do, due to the way that things have been done before. Many clients have lost confidence in their own ability as a result.

So here is the challenge for all employers reading this: keep working towards what will happen in an ideal world, and one day we will not be needed!

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Obtaining Information and Support from Disabled People's Organisations

A key source of information on employing disabled people is local organisations run by disabled people. We believe that experience and expertise of disabled people should be valued and paid for.

For Manchester, there is already a network of organisations of disabled people. A list of its members can be found on the Disabled People’s Network Website at: www.dpnsg.org.uk

We will add more links to organisations of disabled people soon.

Other sources of support for employers can be found on the links page of our website.

You can also download our factsheet, Sources of Information and Support for Employers (Rich Text Format).

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Contact Details and Getting Involved:

What would you like to see in this toolkit? Over the next few months we will be setting up short (half hour) interviews with employers, providers and disabled people in Greater Manchester to find out what would be useful. Please get in touch if you would like to get involved or have further questions.

Independent Employment Advocacy Centre
Breakthrough UK Ltd.
B.E.V.C.

Aked Close
Ardwick

Manchester
M12 4AN

Telephone:                         0161 273 5412
Fax:                                     0161 274 4053

Answerphone Minicom:   0161 273 5727

E-mail:                              advocacy@breakthrough-uk.co.uk

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