We were first awarded the Positive about Disability Two Tick symbol in 2002.
The accreditation is awarded to employers who demonstrate to the Department for Work and Pensions (Job Centre Plus) that they have achieved, and are committed to, continually achieving 5 commitments relating to the employment of disabled people.
The 5 commitments are to:
- Interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job
- Ensure a mechanism is in place to discuss, at any time, but at least once a year, with disabled employees what can be done to ensure that they can develop and use their full abilities
- Make every effort to ensure that when employees become disabled, they stay in employment
- Take action to ensure that all employees develop the appropriate level of disability awareness needed to make these commitments work
- Conduct an annual review on what has been achieved and plan ways to improve on them. This is reported to the Department of Work and Pensions
The award of the accreditation is reviewed annually when the employer has to demonstrate to Job Centre Plus what action it has taken to meet the 5 commitments - this is an ongoing commitment.
The retention of the 'Positive about Disability' Two Ticks symbol is one of the employment priorities in the Action Plan for our Disability Equality Scheme, launched on 4 December 2006.
It is one of the ways we demonstrate our commitment to creating 'an environment, which encourages disabled people to seek and maintain employment with us'.
We also receive enquiries from other organisations about the symbol and encourage employers to apply, as it is the national standard recognised by disabled people.
The symbol is awarded by Job Centre Plus and information on the standard and how to apply is available on the Direct Gov website.