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Employment Self Advocacy Skills Sessions

  Employment Self Advocacy Skills Session: 22nd August

  What self advocacy in employment is about

  The history of self advocacy

  Who are employment self advocacy skills sessions for?

  What do the sessions involve?

  What the sessions are not

  Top tips on advocating for yourself at work

  Contacts for more information

Employment Self Advocacy Skills Session: 22nd August

Our next Employment Self Advocacy Skills Session will be on:

Wednesday August 22nd, 10.30am to 1pm at:

Breakthrough UK Ltd. Business Employment Venture Centre, Aked Close, Ardwick, Manchester M12 4AN

These free sessions are aimed at disabled people in Greater Manchester who would like to find out more about using self advocacy skills in work situations. They are a great way to share experiences and learn more about what has worked for other disabled people when dealing with employment barriers.

If you would like to come, please contact us as soon as possible to reserve your place and to tell us about any access requirements.

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What self advocacy in employment is about

Knowing your employment rights and responsibilities

Speaking up for yourself assertively at work when appropriate

Being listened to by colleagues and managers

Creating an environment where people are treated with equal respect in your workplace

Putting your employment rights into practice

Challenging employment barriers and discriminatory policies / procedures

Self advocacy skills empower disabled people at work whilst encouraging organisations to create a positive culture and do away with disabling attitudes and practices.

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The history of self advocacy

Ideas about self advocacy have been developed by groups of learning disabled people. They were – and still are - angry about not being involved in important decisions about their lives and not having their views listened to and respected. To tackle this, they set up self advocacy groups such as People First across the country to support each other to find out about their rights, to speak up, to make sure other people listen to them and that they involve them properly in important things that affect their lives.

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Who are employment self advocacy skills sessions for?

At Breakthrough’s Independent Employment Advocacy Centre, disabled people from all impairment groups have told us that they have been treated badly by employers or have had negative experiences at work.  They may not have been told about their employment rights or been allowed to use them, they might have been bullied, lost their jobs unfairly or been turned away from employment or promotion because they are a disabled person. Employment self advocacy is one approach to dealing with such barriers. It is a tool that could be useful to any disabled person who would like to develop more confidence in knowing and using their employment rights. It would suit people who would like to become more self-assured when dealing with barriers at work (paid or unpaid), including barriers to finding a job. It is also a useful way of sharing your employment experiences with others and finding out about what has worked for other disabled people in similar situations. Any disabled person in Greater Manchester can access this free support.

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What do the sessions involve?

Traditionally, self advocacy work is done in groups. We can work with people in a workshop or group (perhaps a group of disabled people from the same workplace), or we can work with people on a one to one basis to develop the skills and knowledge needed. This could be a one off session, or a series of sessions, depending on what is required. We can also draw on the expertise of outside agencies when running sessions.

We will start with an informal discussion with you to find out about your requirements and then identify a way forward. Individuals can refer themselves or agencies can refer disabled people, as long as they have the person’s consent.

  Download a text only referral form

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What the sessions are not:

In common with other types of advocacy, self advocacy skills sessions do not offer advice and no-one will tell you what to do about a particular situation. However we will try to give you all the information you need to tackle employment barriers, and we will support you to develop the skills and confidence to do this. If you need training on something in particular, we may signpost you to a reputable training provider.

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Top tips on advocating for yourself at work:

1. Find out as much as you can about your employment rights, especially under the Disability Discrimination Act. We can help you with this. Familiarise yourself with company policies and procedures.

2. Express any concerns clearly, at an appropriate time, and listen carefully to the response. You may wish to refer to notes and record answers given.

3. If you feel you are being bullied or treated unfairly, keep a record of incidents and retain copies of any correspondence. This may prove invaluable in the future.

4. Find out if there is a Trade Union at work and consider joining. Some unions also have a disabled members group.

5. If an employer is unaware of their obligations or is unclear about how to support disabled people at work, you can tell them about Breakthrough UK’s free, confidential information service for employers.

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Contacts for more information:

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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