Businesses committed to employing people with disabilities
21 July 2014
More than 1,000 businesses have signed up to a government campaign designed to increase the employment of people with disabilities.
Mon, 21 Jul 2014 | By Nicola SullivanMore than 1,000 businesses have signed up to a government campaign designed to increase the employment of people with disabilities.
Figures from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) showed that disabled people are moving into jobs or training opportunities at a rate of over 750 placements every single week.
In addition, more than 61,000 disabled people have been brought into work through the Work Programme and 24,000 have got jobs through the Work Choice scheme.
This follows an admission from DWP in June that its ‘two-ticks positive about disability’ initiative was outdated and needed revamping. Research found that employers displaying the ‘two ticks’ symbol were no more committed to treating disabled people fairly than those that didn’t show it.
Since it was launched in 2011 the Disability Confident campaign has toured the country to showcase the talents of disabled people to more than 1,100 business and public sector employers. It’s also worked to dispel myths about employing people with disabilities.
Chris Randall, a spokesperson from Remploy, a disability recruitment firm, told Recruiter: “Our experience is that more and more employers do understand both the social benefits and indeed the business benefits of employing people with disabilities.” He added: “It is a whole lot easier to employ a disabled people than employers may have thought.”
Remploy advises employers on a number of issues, including the provision of specialist equipment, adjustments that need to be made to the workplace remote and flexible working and using the Access to Work scheme, which provides advice and financial assistance to employers taking on disabled employees. Randall said that a large proportion of candidates dealt with by Remploy find positions in the retail sector.
Figures from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) showed that disabled people are moving into jobs or training opportunities at a rate of over 750 placements every single week.
In addition, more than 61,000 disabled people have been brought into work through the Work Programme and 24,000 have got jobs through the Work Choice scheme.
This follows an admission from DWP in June that its ‘two-ticks positive about disability’ initiative was outdated and needed revamping. Research found that employers displaying the ‘two ticks’ symbol were no more committed to treating disabled people fairly than those that didn’t show it.
Since it was launched in 2011 the Disability Confident campaign has toured the country to showcase the talents of disabled people to more than 1,100 business and public sector employers. It’s also worked to dispel myths about employing people with disabilities.
Chris Randall, a spokesperson from Remploy, a disability recruitment firm, told Recruiter: “Our experience is that more and more employers do understand both the social benefits and indeed the business benefits of employing people with disabilities.” He added: “It is a whole lot easier to employ a disabled people than employers may have thought.”
Remploy advises employers on a number of issues, including the provision of specialist equipment, adjustments that need to be made to the workplace remote and flexible working and using the Access to Work scheme, which provides advice and financial assistance to employers taking on disabled employees. Randall said that a large proportion of candidates dealt with by Remploy find positions in the retail sector.
