Employers get disability aware at city event
DOZENS of businesses have been finding out how they can be more accommodating for disabled employees.
The Disability Confident event was hosted by the Inverness Jobcentre Plus in partnership with the Highland Council in a bid to make city businesses more aware of the scheme and potentially consider signing up too.
This is part of a nationwide scheme that businesses from across the country agree to that benefits employers and employees.
The event raised awareness of the Disability Confident scheme and Access to Work scheme for employers. Its aim was to start conversations with local employers on what they involve. Around seven million adults of working age throughout the UK are either disabled or have a health condition.
The scheme strives to lessen the gap on the number of non-disabled and disabled employees. It is designed to help fulfil the UK government’s agenda to get one million disabled people into work in the next 10 years.
Inverness and Nairn MP Drew Hendry opened the event at the city’s town house with a speech on the importance of supporting disabled people.
Following the event, Mr Hendry said: "This was a great opportunity to highlight to employers the wide range of support there is available to them, to become Disability Confident employers.
"Being an inclusive employer, not only supports disabled people in the workplace, it’s also good for business, the work environment and will help tackle the widening skills gap we see resulting from Brexit.
"As an employer of parliamentary staff, I have already signed up to the scheme and I was really encouraged by the enthusiasm of people at the event, to address the challenges people with disabilities encounter when trying to access work."
Some 50 people were at the event representing about 30 businesses from in and around Inverness.
The organisations included Velocity Café, the Shirlie Project and Health and Happiness in the Highlands.
May Forsyth, employer and partnership adviser for Inverness Jobcentre Plus, said: "The event truly exceeded our expectations.
"Now more people around Inverness are aware of both the Disability Confident scheme and the Access to Work scheme."
The event also provided the opportunity for local employers to network and share experiences.
It was not the first of its kind in Inverness because there was a similar gathering held in January 2017 which also strived to make local organisations more aware of what they can do.
Employing a disabled person benefits employers as not only does it help to create a diverse workforce but it can also draws on a wider pool of talent.
The Libertie Project was the first organisation in the Highlands to achieve Disability Confident Leader status which they received two weeks ago. This organisation offers arts and crafts activities to offenders.
Liberty Bligh, the founder of this social enterprise group, gave a speech at the event addressing the importance to the Access to Work scheme.
Miss Bligh said: "Being a disabled person myself it is important to me to ensure that work spaces are disability friendly."
Miss Bligh has psoriatic arthritis which is a disease where the body’s immune system turns on itself. She said: "If it were not for the Access to Work scheme I would not be able to do the work that I do.
"What I would say to encourage other businesses to sign up to the scheme is that when you start to make the workplace more accommodating for your disabled employees, you start to make it better for everyone.
"From my own experience I have found that it helps improve morale which means people are therefore more productive.
"There is a myth that making the reasonable adjustments to the workplace costs a lot of money. It makes such a big difference and it helps businesses save money as well as retaining staff."
Becoming Disability Confident involves agreeing to comply with at least one of several commitments.
These include providing reasonable adjustments to the working environment, offering interviews to disabled people, supporting existing employees, offering suitable recruitment and advertising vacancies.
The cost of making reasonable adjustments is often inexpensive and can be done in various ways such as training or monitoring as well as making alterations to the workplace.
This should be provided to those either in paid employment, student placements or apprenticeships.
Drew Hendry will host a presentation on the impact universal credit is having on the Highlands at an event in the Spectrum Centre, Inverness tomorrow (Thursday, October 18).
