Disability-friendly employers

Increasingly employers are recognising the advantages of recruiting a diverse workforce including people with disabilities. Many employers openly promote their commitment.

How do I identify employers committed to good practice?

Employers who use the JobCentre Plus "two ticks" symbol in their job advertisements and corporate literature are publicly announcing their commitment to attracting disabled applicants

There are five parts to this commitment:

A guaranteed job interview: to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for job vacancies and to consider these applicants on their abilities.

Consulting disabled employees:
to ensure that their skills and abilities are being best used within their work.

Keeping employees on if they become disabled:
to make every effort to retain employees who may become disabled.

Improving knowledge: to ensure that key personnel within the organisation develop and maintain their knowledge and awareness of issues around disability needed to ensure these commitments work.

Checking progress and planning ahead: to monitor and annually review these commitments and achievements, identify improvements and inform employees of progress and future plans.

What else I can I do to check an employer's commitment to recruiting disabled applicants?

Check if they are members of the Employer's Forum on Disability (EFD). The EFD has hundreds of corporate members. Its purpose is to improve the job prospects of disabled people by making it easier for employers to recruit, retain and develop disabled employees. Membership of the EFD indicates a company's positive attitude towards disabled people.

What if my preferred employer doesn't appear to subscribe to the above initiatives?

You can glean further information from brochures, advertisements and annual reports. These will inform you about an organisation's culture as well as its initiatives in areas such as career breaks, paternity leave and job sharing. These can tell you a lot about its attitude to diversity and equal opportunities which clearly includes more than just disability. If a company seems flexible in all these ways, then it's reasonable to assume that disability won't be an issue either. Check out their equal opportunities policy statement; it should cover disability.

Increasingly employers are recognising the advantages of recruiting a diverse workforce including people with disabilities. Many employers openly promote their commitment.

Consulting disabled employees:

Keeping employees on if they become disabled: