The LGA gained their Level 3 Disability Confident Leader status in August 2018 and are taking an active leadership role in encouraging and helping other employers on their journey to becoming Disability Confident.
The Disability Confident scheme has been live since November 2016. It supports the Government’s commitment to help one million more disabled people into work within the next ten years.
The LGA had previously acted in the faith of the Disability Symbol ‘Two Ticks’ scheme and were keen to move over to the Disability Confident Scheme in order to continue to attract, recruit, retain and promote disabled people within the workplace.
The LGA gained their Level 3 Disability Confident Leader status in August 2018 and are taking an active leadership role in encouraging and helping other employers on their journey to becoming Disability Confident.
What we did and why
All employers start at Level 1 and progress through the scheme at their own pace. The journey is as follows:
- Level 1: Disability Confident Committed
- Level 2: Disability Confident Employer
- Level 3: Disability Confident Leader
Process followed for the Disability Confident Leader status
Process stage 1
For the Disability Confident Leader level the Disability Confident Employer self-assessment document was required to be completed and submitted as part of the validation.
We then put together three to four Disability Confident Leadership statements as part of a short narrative on what the LGA will do to show their commitment as a Leader. These would be then used towards the final validation following the assessment.
Process stage 2
We compiled information within the self-assessment template and collated all evidence as supporting documentation.
Process stage 3
A meeting was arranged with an independent external assessor to challenge and validate the criteria and evidence provided within the Disability Confident Employer self-assessment document. The assessor reviewed the submitted self-assessment and supporting documents.
Confirmation from the assessor was emailed over and we then submitted the outcome on the GOV.UK website. Following this DWP forwarded the official certificate separately.
The last stage of the process was to login to the DWP website to confirm the completion and validation of the application to become a Disability Confident Leader. This is where the leadership statements (from process stage 1) were then submitted.
As a first step towards our commitment towards being a Disability Confident Leader, we implemented an accessibility tool on our vacancy web page. This aids prospective candidates in applying to our organisation.
We have also begun work on implementing a Health and Wellbeing strategy, which specifically focuses on supporting and promoting our employees in our workplace.
Now the LGA has become a leader we are working with the Department of Work and Pensions to promote and encourage all local authorities to sign up and progress through the scheme. We are achieving this through workshops with heads of HR and equality and diversity managers within London based boroughs to promote and assist them to progress to the next level.
As an incentive, employers who sign-up to the Disability Confident scheme will also have access to specialist information from Disability Confident Leader organisations about specific topics, such as:
- workplace adjustments
- mental health in the workplace
- recruitment and retention, and much more.