Recruiting people with a disability

What is the council's policy?

The county council believes that work opportunities should be open to all people regardless of any disability. This applies both before and during employment. The points of best practice that we have developed ensure that we comply with:

Disabled people represent a valuable and untapped resource to an organisation, and it is important that we encourage and support their application. We can achieve this by applying good practice throughout the recruitment and selection process.

What is the law?

The Disability Discrimination Act requires employers not to discriminate against people with disabilities and to make reasonable adjustments to workplaces and practices to enable them to undertake work.

Any person who has or has had a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial long term effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities, is defined as disabled for the purposes of the Act.

How do I recruit a disabled person?

The disability employment advisor based at local Job Centres can provide advice on the Access to Work scheme and the Supported Placement Scheme.

The council also operates the Workstep scheme through the Employment and Disability Service (EDS)

What is `Workstep'?

This is a government scheme that has been operated by the EDS since 1986. Its aim is to find employment for disabled young people. It takes positive action by specifically targeting vacancies to them. It is funded both by the government and the county council.

If you have a suitable vacancy you should inform Corporate Recruitment and get in touch with the EDS. The EDS will then allocate a Monitoring Officer who can tell you about the process and take details of the post. The Employment Development Officer will then liaise with the Disability Employment Adviser at the local Job Centre to try and find suitable candidates.

The viability of taking on someone in this way will depend on:

For more information on this scheme and other programmes suitable for people who wish to return to work, run by the service, please speak to the EDS who can be contacted on Kettering (01536) 313050, fax no (01536) 313055, Email: [email address].

How do I ensure that I give disabled applicants equality of opportunity?

Make sure that the job descriptions and person specifications are not directly or indirectly discriminatory, and, where certain qualifications or attributes are deemed to be essential, that they can be objectively justified.

For example, if you ask for a secretary with a particular typing speed, this may discriminate against someone with arthritis. Yet, by making reasonable adjustments it may be possible to provide adapted equipment and therefore overcome any potential problems.

Make sure advertisements do not discriminate in any way. Check that your job criteria can be justified. For example, if you stipulate working hours, this may discriminate against someone whose disability makes it difficult to use public transport during rush hours.

Make sure that the Disability `two tick' Symbol, is included on the advertisement. This underlines the county council's commitment to disabled employees.

Remember that, if requested, we can provide job and application details in other formats, such as: large print, cassette tape, floppy disk, braille

We can also accept applications on floppy disk or tape. These are then transcribed onto an application form before shortlisting.

Make sure you shortlist in a way which is clearly non-discriminatory, basing your decisions on objective data.

You must always interview a disabled person if they meet the essential criteria.

If you invite a disabled person to interview, take steps to make sure that any special needs are met. This might include such things as helping with access, providing a signer etc.

If using tests or activities, be aware of the potential problems those with disabilities may have and make sure any necessary adjustments are made. Remember that you should be able to:

What help might I need to give at work?

Before an employee with a disability takes up their appointment you need to consider with them whether any adjustments need to be made.

Look at the job description and identify those duties that are core and non-core. It may be that another employee could take on a non-core activity, if the disabled person was unable to do it.

For example, someone with epilepsy may not be able to drive. If the job requires occasional driving duties, then another employee may be able to do it.

Some employees may need special equipment to help them work with their disability.

For example, someone with sight difficulties may need a large screen computer. Or, an employee with mobility difficulties might need a ramp or special toilet facilities.

Remember that most jobs can be made accessible to people who are disabled.

Where can I get further advice?

If you need further advice on addressing someone's disability you can contact:

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