Secrets and Big News
Employers continue to tell us that they find it hard to encourage disabled people to let them know, either at application, interview, on appointment or during the course of their employment, that they have a disability or a health condition that may fall within the terms of the Equality Act.
In the section about declaration and disclosure we shared some of the reasons why that might be the case. We are therefore running a series of courses to help employers understand how to make it easier for them to engage with their disabled employees. The courses are called Secrets & Big News - see the events page for more information. This year we are developing a new publication called Secrets & Big News to help address this issue. Based on research with employers and disabled people it will build a bank of good practice case studies which will help both parties understand the need for and benefits of being open about disability.
How Secrets & Big News will help disabled people
Secrets & Big News will feature a range of stories from disabled people about how they feel about the language of declaration and disclosure. It will help:
- Disabled people become more confident at sharing personal information when an employer is signalling that it wants to collect data about their disability or health condition;
- Promote the continued need to remove the stigma of disability at work;
- Remove the stress of ‘not telling’ – which can exacerbate a condition and feelings of fulfilment;
- Engage the support of others;
- Create an environment where employees know that, should they become disabled, they will be treated fairly and adjustments will be made.
Employers will benefit too
Secrets & Big News will help employers decide what information they need to know about their disabled employees, why and how to use it. Crucially it will help develop appropriate employer communication messages and thereby help their employees who may have an illness or disability to express their needs in a way that is useful to them. This is good news for employers because:
- Being flexible for people with disabilities makes it easier to be flexible for all employees, e.g. flexi-working for parents, time to pray etc;
- Creating an open and fair environment where all employees are valued is good for morale;
- Enabling all employees to work to their full potential creates greater efficiencies.
Campaign partners
We are looking for case studies – employers who are open to sharing information about how they approach the subject of declaration and disclosure and examine the areas where improvements can be made. The purpose of the partnership approach is to build a common understanding as to how employers can encourage disabled people to share sometimes difficult and sensitive information in a way that maximises a positive business response and willingness to make appropriate adjustments.
We will also be looking for a small number of campaign sponsors who will be asked to fund and pioneer the project.
Further information
For further information about the content of Secrets & Big News please contact Angela Kefford-Watson.
