Good practice: Disability

Summary

• There are a number of advantages for businesses that employ disabled people, including having access to a resourceful group of loyal employees. (See The importance of employing disabled people)
• An inclusive ethos should be embedded into all organisational policies and procedures to help eliminate attitudinal bias. (See The importance of effective policies)
• To encourage disabled people to apply for vacancies, employers can ensure that adverts are disability-friendly. (See Attracting disabled people to the workforce)
• Employers should consider job descriptions and application forms to enable disabled employees to have an equal chance of being invited to a job interview. (See Accessibility in the application process)
• Employers should put in place procedures to enable employees to request and receive adjustments at a job interview. (See Pre-interview preparation)
• Employers that create an inclusive workplace culture and train interviewers to be disability confident, will enable disabled applicants to succeed at job interviews. (See Accessibility at interview)
• Employers could consider work interviews in place of job interviews and offer work experience throughout the year, to enable disabled candidates who might not come across well at interview or who may not have the relevant employment experience, to have access to employment opportunities. (See Work interviews and work trials and Open days and work experience)
• Candidates should be asked to complete assessments only if the particular test is relevant to the job. (See Screening and testing)
• Employers should continue the inclusive ethos once they have recruited a disabled candidate, by considering the necessity of medicals, what reasonable adjustments could be put in place, evacuation procedures, whether or not to disclose an employee's disability, and the induction process. (See Post interview and induction)
• Once a disabled candidate becomes an employee, the employer should consider all aspects of employment to create an inclusive and safe workplace for him or her and an environment where the employee can work to the best of his or her ability. (See Inclusive employment)
• There are a number of different adjustments that employers can make to assist employees with a disability. Employers should consider a range of factors to determine whether or not a particular adjustment is reasonable. (See Reasonable adjustments)
• The support of line managers is vital to the success of disabled people at work. (See The line manager's role)
• Employers should monitor decisions on recruitment and other employment practices, by comparing data relating to disabled employees with that of non-disabled employees. (See Monitoring)

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Overview

This section of the XpertHR good practice manual discusses the key actions and considerations for establishing disability-confident workplaces, so that disabled people are employed productively for their skills and expertise. It covers how to attract disabled people to the organisation, making the application and interview processes inclusive, and the ongoing considerations to ensure that disabled employees, once recruited, want to stay.