Member Article

â??Employ Abilityâ?? is focus of new employer campaign

A campaign has been launched in the North East to encourage employers to judge disabled people on their ability to do the work, rather than assumptions about what they can’t do.

Almost 50 per cent of disabled people of working age in Britain are not in work and there are more than 275,000 people in the North East alone who have a limiting long-term illness or disability.

The ‘Employ ability’ campaign from the Department for Work and Pensions highlights individuals’ experiences with a view to challenging companies to think differently about employing disabled people.

Anne McGuire, Minister for Disabled People, said of the campaign: “The vast majority of employers are probably not consciously discriminating against disabled people or people with a health condition, but perhaps unintentionally their recruitment processes prevent disabled people applying. The campaign aims to encourage them to think about making it easier for disabled people to work for them.

Employers can also attend free workshops taking place in July in Newcastle and Middlesbrough where they will have the opportunity to learn about improving access to jobs for disabled people and those with long-term health conditions.

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This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .