The Government’s Disability Confident Scheme is designed to help employers recruit and retain people with disabilities and long-term conditions. There are three levels of accreditation: Level 1 (Disability Confident Committed), Level 2 (Disability Confident Employer), and Level 3 (Disability Confident Leader). Employers can undertake the first two levels on their own but, for the third level, employers need to seek external validation on their Level 2 self-assessment. Business Disability Forum can help you with this.
- Our Advice Service offer a free Disability Confident Level 3 (DCL3) validation to Business Disability Forum Members and Partners. We are keen for the Level 3 validation process to be as helpful as possible to organisations in planning their disability-related work. Therefore, a DCL3 validation by Business Disability Forum consists of the following:
- Validator commentary – which includes recommendations for moving forward and best practice comparisons with other organisations; and
- An hour’s phone call – where a Business Disability Adviser will present the validation and for the organisation to ask questions to help them move forward.
For a list of organisations who have achieved Level 2 (Employer) and Level 3 (Leader), please see here.
Did you automatically become Level 2 (Employer) accredited because you were a ‘Positive About Disabled People’ employer?
For employers who were already signed up to the ‘Two Ticks: Positive About Disabled People’ scheme prior to the implementation of the Disability Confident scheme, you may have ‘automatically’ been awarded Level 2 (Employer) by the Disability Confident team. For employers who did this, you would have been given a specific timeframe in which to renew this accreditation. The time period given to the majority employers in this situation would mean an expiration date of around November/December 2017.
Therefore, if you were one of the employers who ‘automatically’ migrated from the ‘Two Tick’ scheme to Disability Confident Level 2 in this way, do check with the Disability Confident team whether your accreditation has now expired, as you may have to reapply for your Level 2 award.
If you would like more information about the Disability Confident scheme or to discuss having a validation with Business Disability Forum, please contact the Advice Service team on advice@businessdisabilityforum.org.uk or 020 7403 3020.
