ÌìÃÀÓ°Ôº

Introduction

The Disability Confident scheme is creating a movement of change, encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. Becoming Disability Confident presents a distinctive opportunity to demonstrate leadership and establish yourself as an employer that prioritises disability inclusion.

The Disability Confident scheme is designed as a continuous learning journey, encouraging employers like you to evolve and improve with every step. It’s not about achieving a static level of the scheme; it’s about embracing a mindset of growth and adaptation. Using the scheme resources, you’ll find yourself better equipped to nurture a workforce where every member feels valued and empowered to harness their unique talents.

The three levels of the scheme are designed to support you on your Disability Confident journey.  It might be that you have an interest in the scheme and are looking for more information on what the whole journey entails or you may already be a level 1 employer and looking to take that next step to become a level 2 employer. Wherever you are on your journey, this guide will help you take that next step.

The 3 levels are:

• Disability Confident Committed (Level 1)
• Disability Confident Employer (Level 2)
• Disability Confident Leader (Level 3)

Membership for a Disability Confident Employer is for 3 years. You must complete each level before moving on to the next and you are encouraged to progress to this level (Disability Confident Leader – Level 3) as soon as you are ready which will re-start the three-year membership period.

If you have not already signed-up as a Disability Confident Committed employer you will find further information and guidance in the DC Committed (level 1) guidance on .

More information

– the benefits of employing people with a learning disability.

(video)

The helps recruiters and employers to become disability confident and offer more job opportunities to people with disabilities.

Employing disabled people: Disability Confident and CIPD manager’s guide

Getting started

So, what are the first steps?

Congratulations on taking this next step on your Disability Confident journey to become a Disability Confident Leader.

This document provides a comprehensive guide to achieving Disability Confident Leader (Level 3) status. It outlines the next steps required to reach this level and offers a wealth of information and resources to support you along the way.

As you will know at this stage, it’s important to take a business-wide approach to being Disability Confident. No matter the size of your business, your collective effort and commitment is what will continue to make the difference to your business. Your business owners and senior leaders should continue to lead on implementation of the Disability Confident principles and your whole organisation should be encouraged to show continued engagement with progressing and embedding your disability inclusive culture.

Thank you for your continuing commitment to making a positive impact through the Disability Confident scheme. Together, we can create a more inclusive and equitable workplace for all.

There are 3 steps that you will need to take to become a Disability Confident Leader.

Step one - Challenge

You will need to:

• Transfer the evidence in your self-assessment to the validation template and include updated evidence where appropriate
• Confirm you are employing disabled people
• Identify and agree a suitable validator
• Provide your chosen validator with your completed validation template and the and the evidence confirming you are delivering all the core actions

Step two - Leadership

• Provide a narrative of the activities you are undertaking in support of being a Disability Confident Leader and add this to the section on the validation template

Step three - Reporting on disability, mental health and wellbeing

• Using the Voluntary Reporting Framework as a guide to record and publicly report on disability, mental health and wellbeing in the workplace and complete the section on the validation template

1. Challenge

To become a Disability Confident Leader, you will have the self-assessment which your organisation completed for level 2 of the scheme independently validated.

Your validator will:

• review the evidence you are submitting to confirm that you are delivering all core activities and the additional activities you committed to provide across the themes of;
  • getting the right people for your business
  • keeping and developing your people
• confirm that you are employing disabled people and are publicly reporting on disability or have a detailed timeline to report soon.
• the validator will also assess your leadership statement which contains details of how you are showing leadership as a Disability Confident employer.

You can have a look at the which you will work through with your Validator. Prior to validation you will need to transfer information from your level 2 self-assessment into the validation template so your validator can add their comments.

Hints and tips for your validation

Effective validation requires a validator who is skilled, knowledgeable, and capable of providing an adequate level of challenge. Your validator will recognise that businesses vary in size and complexity and work with you to understand how best you can evidence how you’re adhering to the scheme principles.

Validations are carried out by individuals and organisations who have already undertaken and met the standard to be a Confident Leader or have expertise in disability employment. They understand the scheme and business, so this is also a great way to develop your professional network with like-minded people.

Once your validation is complete and the validator agrees you are meeting the Leader criteria, you will need to update your status on the . Make sure you have your validators organisation, contact name, email address, phone number and the date of the validation to hand. You will also need to copy and paste your leadership statement into the online form. All this information can be found on your completed validation template.

Types of evidence for successful validation

For businesses with fewer than 49 employees

• Recruitment Practices: Examples of how you have made sure your recruitment process is accessible, such as flexible interview arrangements or alternative application arrangements (e.g. working interviews)
• Informal Policies: Descriptions of informal practices that support employees, even if not formally documented, such as verbal commitments to making reasonable adjustments or flexible working arrangements
• Employee Testimonials: Statements from employees about their experiences and the support they have received
• Engagement with Disability Organisations: Evidence of engagement with disability organisations or participation in disability-related events and supporting such activities.
• Jobcentre Plus: Evidence of working with Jobcentre Plus and Disability Employment Advisors to offer employment related opportunities to disabled people
• Adaptations: Examples of any workplace adjustments, changes to the workplace of changes to ways of working made to accommodate disabled employees or customers
• Diversity and Inclusion training: Evidence of either formal or informal sessions which have been provided for your teams to raise awareness of inclusion in the workplace

For businesses with over 50 employees

• Recruitment Processes: Evidence of inclusive recruitment practices, such as copies of job advertisements that encourage applications from disabled candidates, and evidence of reasonable adjustments made during the recruitment process
• Policies and Procedures: Written policies on disability inclusion, such as an equal opportunities policy, and procedures for making workplace adjustments
• Training Programs: Records of training sessions on disability awareness and inclusion for staff at all levels
• Employee Support: Evidence of support mechanisms for disabled employees, such as mentoring programs, employee resource groups, access to assistive technologies, records of workplace adjustments being implemented and reviewed, flexible working and staff satisfaction surveys
• Performance Metrics: Data on the recruitment, retention, and progression of disabled employees within the organization
• Scheme Promotion: Evidence of how you promote the scheme in your business networks
• Accessibility: Evidence of website accessibility testing
• Offer of an Interview: Demonstrate evidence of offering interviews to disabled people via the scheme’s positive action commitment
• Senior Leadership Engagement: Evidence of senior leaders acting as role models for disability within the organisation

Who could complete my validation?

The size of your organisation can impact who might be most appropriate to support your validation.

I have fewer than 49 employees

You could reach out to:

• existing Disability Confident Leaders
• a disability organisation you have links with or who is within your community
• a local diversity and inclusion network

A list of organisations that can offer support with undertaking the validation process can be found on ÌìÃÀÓ°Ôº (some of these organisations may charge for this service).

I have 50 employees or more

You could reach out to:

• existing Disability Confident Leaders
• internal diversity and inclusion network
• a network of disabled employees
• disabled stakeholder groups or forums
• national or local disability organisations or networks
• disabled people’s user led organisations (DPULOs)

2. Leadership

Your leadership statement highlights how your organisation aligns with the Disability Confident Leader principles and the additional actions you take to promote disability employment in your sector or local area. You should provide specific examples of where you are being proactive. The statement is an opportunity to share the great work you are doing and might also inspire other employers to do more in their organisations and/or begin their Disability Confident journey.

Add your leadership statement to the validation template. When applying to update your Disability Confident level you can then paste your contribution into the relevant field in the online submission when asked to do so.

How do I demonstrate the leadership part of being a Disability Confident Leader?

Part of being a Disability Confident Leader is about encouraging other employers to embark on their Disability Confident journey.

Demonstrating leadership may include:

• prominently displaying your Disability Confident badge in your business
• using social media to promote or business communication materials to share good practice on Disability Confident
• discussing your diversity and inclusion practices at networking events, this could be within your industry or through local business networks and events
• sharing details about your ways of working with your customers
• encouraging other employers in your supply chain (e.g. by offering disability awareness training, through networking events or procurement requirements)
• being a mentor, coach, buddy or providing peer support to others to help empower your teams and raise the profile of the importance of diversity and inclusion in all aspects of your business
• engage with other local employers to share good practice. You can always see who else is a Disability Confident member through our online database
• celebrating success, for example nominating your organisation for the annual Disability Confident Awards
• using your examples of good practice, consider proactively searching for other ways you can highlight what you’re doing by nominating yourself for other local, regional and national awards celebrating diversity and inclusion in the workplace
• Sponsoring or hosting Disability Confident inspired events – these could be as small or large as you like!

If you have over 50 employees, a valuable way you can demonstrate your commitment to leadership is through:

• validating the self-assessment(s) of other employers. By undertaking validations, Leaders help maintain high standards and consistency across all accredited organisations, fostering a trustworthy and effective network of inclusive employers. This peer-review mechanism also promotes a culture of continuous improvement and shared learning, as Leaders can provide valuable feedback and guidance based on their own experiences

3. Reporting on disability, mental health and wellbeing

Disability workforce reporting involves gathering data and insights about disability and disabled employees within an organisation. This information is then used to enhance policies, practices, and organisational culture, with the goal of creating more inclusive workplaces for disabled employees and those with long-term health conditions.

How should I start to collect this data and insight?

We recommend using the Voluntary Reporting Framework. The framework is a 2-page guide covering what you should report and aims to support you on your journey towards greater transparency.

It is divided into two parts.

1. Disability

2. Mental health and wellbeing

It is worth noting that the Voluntary Reporting Framework was originally aimed at large employers with over 250 employees but can also be used to support smaller organisations who are keen to drive greater transparency in their organisation.

Part One: Disability

You will need to:

A. Provide a narrative to explain the activities in your organisation in relation to the recruitment and retention of disabled people aiming to include information about:

• organisational policies in relation to the recruitment and retention of disabled people
• support offered to employees with specific disabilities
• the role of networks and support groups
• progression and pay of disabled people
• workplace adjustments
• employee engagement scores

B. Report the percentage of individuals within your organisation who consider themselves to be disabled or have a long term physical or mental health condition.

Considerations should include:

• whether the data is reliable enough to publish, including how non-disclosure rates may affect the data
• state the question used to gather the information
• explain the collection methodology

There are different ways to collect the data, you should adopt the method that works best for your organisation given the resources you have available. Collection of information could be completed through employees updating existing self-service HR records or through anonymous staff surveys.

It is important to be transparent with employees about how their data will be used, handled and stored and ensure compliance with General Data Protection Regulations.

Recommended question

Do you consider yourself to have a disability or long-term health condition (mental health and/or physical health)?

Part Two: Mental Health and Wellbeing

Again, there are two things you will need to do.

A. Provide a narrative to explain the activities in your organisation in relation to supporting the health and wellbeing of your employees. The following list is not exhaustive, but your narrative could include:

• employee take up of mental health support offered by the organisation
• the training offered to employees related to mental health
• the percentage of individuals within the organisation that are comfortable disclosing a mental health condition
• whether a public commitment has been made to adhere to both the core and enhanced standards as set out in the Thriving at Work – (Stevenson/Farmer) review of mental health, and how you are achieving these

B. Report the output of staff surveys that provide measures of employee wellbeing. There are some recommended questions which can provide a starting point to measure the wellbeing of your employees.

The conducted by the Office for National Statistics recommends the following questions:

• overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?
• overall, to what extent do you feel that things you do in your life are worthwhile?
• how happy did you feel yesterday?
• how anxious did you feel yesterday?

The suggested:

• all in all, how satisfied are you with your job?
• I would recommend my organisation as a great place to work
• how would you rate your overall physical health now?
• how would you rate your overall mental health now?
• I feel safe from threats and physical hazards in my work environment
• my line manager helps and supports me
• my colleagues help and support me
• I am satisfied with my physical working environment
• my work gives me the feeling of a job well done

Other examples can be found in the .

What should I do with the Voluntary Reporting Framework once I’ve completed it?

Completing the Voluntary Reporting Framework will support you to fulfil the Disability Confident Leader requirements of collecting information about disability, mental health and wellbeing.

It is your decision where you report this information, for many organisations this is done on their website or within annual reports. If you don’t have these things, you should make the anonymised information available within your organisation.

It’s important to remember that gaining this insight is also a valuable tool for your organisation and, although not a requirement of the Disability Confident scheme, you can use this information to understand more about your organisation and shape future decisions.

More information

– CIPD

What next?

Once you’ve completed these actions you can apply to be a Disability Confident Leader.

You will need your Disability Confident reference number, which is on your certificate and validation form, it starts with DCS, followed by 6 digits.

• use the form to make changes to your membership
• after entering your Disability Confident number an email will be sent to your primary and alternative contact email addresses
• click on update your Disability Confident details. This link will expire in one hour.
• you can then confirm details of your validation
• click confirm details to submit your changes
• we will review your changes and contact you if we have any questions. You will receive an email confirmation once your changes have been accepted. This may take up to 10 working days

If you can’t find it please email us at Disability Confident Team.

In return we will send you:

• a confirmation email
• a certificate in recognition of your achievement; and
• a Disability Confident Leader badge that you can use in your own business stationery and communication material for the next 3 years

As a Disability Confident Leader, we will continue to include your business name, town and DC status (which level you are at) in a list of all businesses signed-up to the scheme on our Disability Confident website.

Through the form, you’ll confirm:

• you have had your evidence validated, and by whom
• your validator(s) agree with your evidence and assessment, and that you are delivering against all of the core actions as a Disability Confident Employer
• you are employing disabled people
• you are recording and publicly reporting anonymised information about disability, mental health and wellbeing in your workplace
• you are including a narrative of the activities you are taking in support of being a Disability Confident Leader

Annex 1: Checking or updating your Disability Confident details

It is important to keep your details up to date and tell us if any of your details change or you discover they are incorrect.

You can review and update your account information (including providing additional contacts) and review your disability confident commitments.

You should tell us about changes to your:

• named contact
• email address
• telephone number
• business name
• business address and postcode

Also tell us if your business has ceased trading.

When to let us know about a change

You should make any changes to your details as soon as you can.

Who can make the change

Changes can only be made by the primary or alternative business contact who is registered with the scheme. If you don’t know who that was or they have left the business, then you will need to follow the instructions below under other ways to change your details.

How to make a change

To make a change you will need your Disability Confident reference number, which is on your certificate, it starts with DCS, followed by six digits.

• use the form to check or make changes to your membership
• after entering your Disability Confident number an email will be sent to your primary and alternative contact email addresses
• click on update your Disability Confident details. This link will expire in one hour
• you can then check the details we hold for your business
• you can then use the change links to update your details
• click confirm details to submit your changes
• we will review your changes and contact you if we have any questions. You will receive an email confirmation once your changes have been accepted. This may take up to 10 working days

Other ways to change your details

If you are not able to use the form, do not know your Disability Confident reference number or need to tell us your business is merging or ceasing trading, you can report these changes by emailing disabilityconfident.scheme@dwp.gov.uk.

Include details of what has changed. For example, your new telephone number or email address.

To help us trace your records, include in the email your:

• Disability Confident reference number, if you know it (this begins with DCS0)
• Business name
• Postcode

As part of awarding you your Disability Confident Leader status we will include your business name, town, postcode, sector and Disability Confident status on the list of Disability Confident employers that have signed up. You may also be contacted by Jobcentre Plus, DWP and or a DWP Work and Health Programme provider to help you attract, recruit and retain disabled people.

Annex 2: Disability Confident Leader Renewal Process

You will receive reminders before the end of your three-year membership period. These will be sent out 180, 60 and 30 days before the renewal date.

What do I need to do?

• undertake a review of your self-assessment and update your validation template including your evidence on Voluntary Reporting
• arrange for your evidence to be re-validated. Details on what is required are contained in the Challenge section
• complete the actions in the What happens next section