Disability Confident and Your Business
| Here we share the latest news from Disability Confident. It is free to join and you could make a real difference. If you do get involved please do tag the DC team and us in a post on social media. You can access all of our social media at the top of the page – thank you! Disability Confident – Members’ News February 2022 This is best viewed in your web browser, please click here. This edition includes… RNIB Visibly Better Employer Quality standard Getting WorkFit for World Down’s Syndrome Day Microlink hosting Digital Accessibility events for businesses Way to Work – an introduction for employers To hear for life, listen with care – World Hearing Day Access to Work Mental Health Support Service 3 steps to Level 3 – becoming a Disability Confident Leader Things to remember – check and renew your registration, promote your disability confidence Time is running out to have your say RNIB Visibly Better Employer Quality standard According to RNIB only one in four people with sight loss of working age are in employment. Currently 11,000 people with sight loss in the UK are actively seeking work. RNIB is offering employers the opportunity to work with them, to become a better and more inclusive employer for people with sight loss. RNIB is encouraging Disability Confident employers like you to find out how their new Visibly Better Employer Quality standard will complement and enhance the steps you have already taken to improve your recruitment practices for people with sight loss. Check out the RNIB website today, to find out more. Getting WorkFit for World Down’s Syndrome Day World Down’s Syndrome Day on 21 March 2022 aims to raise global awareness of Down’s syndrome. You can find out more about the day in the UK and how your organisation can get involved through the Down’s Syndrome Association (DSA). The DSA supports people who have Down’s syndrome into work through WorkFit, delivering successful supported employment by finding the right role for the right candidate, with the right level of support. A range of support is provided for employers, delivered by an assigned Employment Development Officer to ensure consistency and strong partnerships. This support includes bespoke training about Down’s syndrome including how candidates can be supported in the workplace, and a range of resources and advice. All support is free and lasts for the lifetime of the placement. WorkFit recently featured on BBC1’s The One Show (from 2 minutes in) and BBC News. You can hear from people who have Down’s syndrome and their employers on the WorkFit YouTube channel, and you can even hear Sting sing about why you should get involved in The Hiring Chain. To find out more email dsworkfit@downs-syndrome.org.uk or call 0333 1212300. Microlink hosting Digital Accessibility events for businesses Disability Confident Leader, Microlink, is hosting events in February and March on digital accessibility. In February’s webinar, Dr Neil Rogers, Microlink’s digital accessibility expert, will explain what we mean by digital accessibility, the business benefits and how to ‘think accessibility’ from the start. He will also be looking at how to ensure your website is accessible and why your documents (such as pdfs, PowerPoint slides and Word / Excel files) need to be accessible for all in 2022 and beyond. Dr Rogers will also be hosting a workshop / clinic on 1 March where you can ask for advice on the accessibility challenges you’re facing. Sign up today. Tuesday 1 March 2022 @2pm – Digital Accessibility workshop/clinic with Dr Neil Rogers, head of digital accessibility at Microlink. Register here: Clinic For more information about Digital Accessibility support from Microlink, check out this Animation or go to www.microlinkpc.com for more free resources about being Disability Confident. Way to Work – an introduction for employers Way to Work is a new partnership between government and employers to get 500,000 jobseekers into work by the end of June 2022. This partnership will help fill record numbers of vacancies, supporting job-ready people into the labour market and helping them progress into a career. If you’re looking to fill a vacancy, Jobcentre Plus will offer you a named employer adviser in your local jobcentre (or a dedicated national account manager if you’re a national employer) and access to a range of recruitment services. Having Disability Confident employers involved will help to ensure jobseekers, including those with disabilities, have the opportunity to access roles with businesses that value diversity and inclusion. Find out more about Way to Work and how you can take part. To hear for life, listen with care – World Hearing Day It’s the World Health Organisation’s World Hearing Day on 3 March 2022. The focus of this year’s event is the importance of safe listening to maintain good hearing throughout your life. The campaign website has more details about events on the day and how you can take part, and further information about safe listening. You can get advice and guidance on noise at work on the Health and Safety Executive’s website. There is also a new free download on controlling noise at work regulations. The RNID also have information for employers on being deaf aware at work and how to support colleagues with hearing loss. Remploy: https://www.remploy.co.uk/employers/mental-health-and-wellbeing Able Futures is running a mental health webinar in March. Anyone can join and you can book through the following link: Friday 18 March @2pm – The importance of sleep on mental health at work. Remploy also run free webinars where you can learn more about the service and how it can benefit your business. The next sessions can be booked here: Thursday 3 March @12pm and Wednesday 30 March @12pm. 3 steps to Level 3 – becoming a Disability Confident Leader If you’ve completed the employer self-assessment and are a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2), you will be thinking about what you need to do to reach the scheme’s top level – Leader. You are only three steps from the summit. These are: challenge; leadership; and reporting. Each of these build on the work you’ve already done. Challenge means you have your self-assessment validated by another organisation, and you confirm that you are employing disabled people. Leadership means describing the activities you are undertaking that show leadership in disability employment, such as, sharing good practice with other employers or hosting Disability Confident-related events. And finally, reporting is about the action you’re taking to record and report on disability, mental health and wellbeing in the workplace (following guidance in the Voluntary Reporting Framework). There is further guidance available on gov.uk or you can take a look at the video on becoming a Disability Confident Leader. Things to remember – check and renew your registration, promote your disability confidence Not sure when your Disability Confident accreditation is due to expire? It’s easy to do a quick check. Your expiry date is on the certificate issued when you joined or when you progressed to the next level. Or you can email the team at disabilityconfident.scheme@dwp.gov.uk if you’re not sure. You can also advise of any changes to your contact details at the same email address. When it’s time to renew your membership, guidance on what you need to do is available on the Disability Confident website. And whether you’re renewing your membership of the scheme or have just joined, don’t forget to tell the world that you are committed to being an inclusive employer. Use your Disability Confident badge in your recruitment information, and your business and customer communications. If you need a badge in a different format, please email your request to disabilityconfident.scheme@dwp.gov.uk. Time is running out to have your say The Cabinet Office’s consultation on workforce reporting on disability for large employers is open until 25 March. Go to theconsultation website if you want to respond. |