Advice Service

About the Advice Service

Our Advice Service is staffed by expert, specialist advisers who can help with a wide range of disability-related enquiries. We provide practical, pragmatic advice and can also advise on strategic issues and policies.  

Who can access the Advice Service?  

We advise managers and leaders from our Member and Partner organisations, and regularly speak to people in the following roles:  

• Human resources
• Diversity and inclusion leaders 
• Line managers  
• Customer service managers  
• Disability and accessibility teams  
• Estates, premises, and facilities 
• Procurement and contract management  
• Health and safety
• Recruitment and resourcing  

We do not advise disabled individuals on their own difficulties and complaints; for example, if an employee has a grievance with a line manager, or a customer has a complaint about a service.   

Why do Members and Partners contact the Advice Service?  

People get in touch with us for a number of reasons, including:  

• Something has gone wrong and they want to know the best way to fix it.  
• To get advice on a specific situation.  
• To check something they have been told by someone else or read in guidance.  
• To talk something through, run an idea by us or to get a ‘second opinion’ on a situation.  
• To seek advice or build an evidence base for a consultation, equality analysis, or other evidence gathering exercise.  
• To request a connection to another Member to share ideas and challenges on a shared interest or practice.  

Specific queries  

We also provide advice on specific queries including:  

• Case management support – for example, when carrying out absences, performance, or dismissal procedures.  
• Reviewing language and accuracy of forms, documents, organisational communications, announcement, surveys, and consultations.  
• Advice on customer complaints and disputes.  
• Advice on how to understand when adjustments may and may not be ‘reasonable’.  
• Managing employees and customers with a disability or long-term condition.  

On-going case support 

We keep case-support queries open and encourage follow up check-ins to review how things are progressing.

Contact the Advice Service  

The Advice Service operates between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday and is only available to Members and Partners. You can contact us by post, phone or email. 

Address: Business Disability Forum, 5th Floor Dowgate Hill House, 14-16 Dowgate Hill, London , EC4R 2SU

Telephone: +44-20-7089-2400

Email: advice@businessdisabilityforum.org.uk  

Information for British Sign Language users 

We are committed to making access to our products and services as accessible as possible. If you prefer to talk to the Advice Service using British Sign Language (BSL), you can contact us through our SignVideo BSL Live service. 

The service will connect you to a BSL interpreter who will communicate what you are saying to a member of our team. 

Please find out more about using SignVideo BSL Live service. 

“I have been impressed with the support from the Advice Service. The support is both practical and informative. On every occasion I have called, I have left with confidence in the advice provided.”

“The most useful twenty minutes I’ve had in months.”

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