With the Carer’s Leave Act 2023 receiving Royal Assent, working carers will soon be entitled to one week’s unpaid leave per year for caring responsibilities. Employees can take this leave with some flexibility, using bits of their entitlement through the year when they need to, in increments of full or half days. These are intended…
Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) last month was an important reminder of the need to make digital products and services accessible to everyone, including disabled people. When designed with inclusion mind, technology can remove barriers and bring huge benefits for disabled people. When the needs of disabled people are not considered, however, tech can make…
BBC’s Panorama documentary about private ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) clinics caused some controversy in recent weeks by looking at the issue of whether ADHD was over- or mis-diagnosed, prompting a storm of debate in the press and on social media. For some, it reinforced the misguided narrative that ADHD has become a kind of…
The popularity of chatbots has once again put artificial intelligence (AI) in the spotlight, not least because of the many challenges the technology poses for organisations. One aspect that is too often overlooked is the role AI can play in inclusion – or exclusion. How do we ensure that AI doesn’t replicate or intensify barriers…
Becky Elliott recently joined Business Disability Forum as a Disability Business Partner. Here’s her take on this year’s Disability Smart Awards ceremony, sponsored by Microlink and hosted by Freshfields. As the newest Disability Business Partner to join the BDF team, I felt incredibly fortunate to be sitting on the 22nd floor of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer…
The extra costs of being disabled are many and diverse. Scope calls this the Disability Price Tag, and their latest findings are that disabled people’s households need an additional £975 a month to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households. Earlier this year, Angela Matthews, Head of Policy and Research at Business Disability…
By Diane Lightfoot, CEO of Business Disability Forum I was recently asked to write for CEO Strategy Magazine on being a leader. I discussed the influential and unique role senior leaders can play in driving culture change around diversity and inclusion. I have summarised the 5 key areas I covered in the article below….
Tailored adjustments plans, disability plans, workplace adjustments plans – whatever you call them, they are a regular topic of discussion with our members across almost every sector. At our last Higher Education Network meeting, our Head of Policy and Research presented some findings about these types of plans and passports, along with five key common…
The Government has been putting more emphasis on access to employment – especially good quality, well-paid jobs. Encouragingly, the Government have acknowledged that making this happen for disabled people is crucial to building stronger economy overall. The proof of the government plans announced in the Budget and Health and Disability White Paper will very much…
Last Wednesday (15 March) saw both the Chancellor’s budget statement and the release of the Government’s ‘Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper’. The Government’s focus , including in the White Paper, was very much on getting ‘back to work’. This meant getting more people into high quality jobs, especially those who are not…
Disability workforce reporting and how the number of disabled people in organisations is hardly ever accurately reflected in workforce data stays on our agenda. A recent article in Practice Business by the Head of Diversity and Inclusion at NHS Employers reflects on this issue; he sees the same thing happening in the NHS’ Workforce Disability…
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