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- Full Disability Equality Scheme
- DES section 3: Wiltshire County Council and the Current Situation on Disability Equality
- DES section 5: Involving the County Council Service Providers
- DES section 6: Involving Disabled People in the Community (including Appendix 3)
- DES section 7: Action Plan & 9: Consultation and Information Gathering, Monitoring, Evaluating and Reviewing Actions (including Appendix 5) (pdf 194Kb)
- Appendices (pdf 135Kb)
Section 4: Involving Disabled Employees
November 2006
Contents
4 Involving Disabled Employees
4.1 Employment information and monitoring
4.3.1. Disability Symbol Survey
4.3.2. Survey of the County Council’s Employment Practices
4.3.3. Survey of the County Council’s Recruitment Practices
4. Involving Disabled Employees
* Wiltshire County Council recognises that the term ‘disabled people’ is the preferred terminology compatible with the social model of disability. We have therefore used this term throughout this document. This is not to exclude people, however, who are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act but prefer not to be referred to as a disabled person.
The Disability Equality Scheme has a specific duty relating to employment. This duty requires the County Council to set out how it will monitor employment on a continual basis with a view to setting specific targets covering all aspects of employment including disability equality. Wiltshire County Council is committed to building a workforce that reflects the diversity of the local community and improving access to careers within the council. We are committed to fair employment practices, and believe that we can offer better services to our customers by harnessing the diverse skills and life experiences of our workforce.
4.1. Employment information and monitoring
The council reports workforce data in its annual Equality and Diversity Report. The report includes an analysis on disability, ethnicity, gender and age, providing a holistic view of equality issues across all service areas and taking account of the Best Value Performance Indicator requirements.
The 2001 census data records that 11.03% of Wiltshire’s economically active population considered themselves to have a ‘limiting long-term illness’. As at 30th June 2006, the County Council has 120 staff who have declared that they consider themselves to be disabled, equating to 0.98% of the workforce. The council wrote to all of its employees in February 2005, asking them to check a number of personal details, including disability. This has greatly improved the detail available, although disability remains unknown for over 21% of staff.
4.1.1. Recruitment
The table below shows recruitment data for 2005/06 from our monitoring forms, where returned (see note below). The figures show the percentage of job applicants and appointees, as well as the “success rate”, i.e. the percentage of applicants of each group who were successful in being appointed. As annual figures are based on small numbers and prone to variation, the average success rate over a 3 year period 2003 – 2006 is also given.
|
Total applications where monitoring form received |
Disabled Applicants |
Others |
|
|
Applicants |
6020 |
61 (1.0%) |
5959 (99.0%) |
|
Shortlisted |
2407 |
25 (1.0%) |
2382 (99.0%) |
|
% of applicants shortlisted |
40.3% |
41.0% |
40.0% |
|
Appointed and took up post |
817 |
5 (0.6%) |
812 (99.4%) |
|
% of shortlisted applicants appointed |
33.9% |
20.0% |
34.1% |
|
“Success Rate”– % of applicants appointed |
13.6% |
8.2% |
13.6% |
|
Appointees who turned down offer |
28 |
0 (0.0%) |
28 (100.0%) |
|
% of offers turned down |
3.3% |
0.0% |
3.3% |
|
“Success Rate” over 3 year period (03-06) |
13.2% |
10.2% |
13.2% |
These figures suggest that:
- the proportion of the workforce who have declared themselves as disabled remains low compared to the proportion within Wiltshire’s working age population. It may, of course, be that some employees are disabled but choose not to or are unable to declare it.
- there was a slight increase in the number of disabled people applying for jobs with the County Council – up from 46 applicants in 2004/05 to 61 in 2005/06 but this is still significantly lower than in the previous 2 years when there were 147 and 146 disabled applicants. However, the figures are for applicants who completed their monitoring forms, which is voluntary. It is clear that these forms have not been completed by a significant proportion of applicants. We are working to improve this aspect of our monitoring. In particular, we are redeveloping our jobs website, which, as well as reinforcing our commitment to diversity, will allow for more robust monitoring data.
- applicants declaring themselves as disabled are as likely to be shortlisted as other applicants, however this can be explained in part because disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria should be guaranteed an interview under our recruitment policy.
- those disabled applicants who were shortlisted were appointed less often than other shortlisted applicants (20.0% against 33.9% for all applicants), resulting in a lower success rate of 8.2% than the average of 13.6%. However, where figures are based on such small numbers they clearly vary as a result and the 3 year average of 10.2% is likely to be more reliable.
The County Council gathers information on the recruitment, development and retention of its disabled employees including salary levels, promotion, training courses attended, disciplinary action, bullying and harassment cases, leavers and reasons and exit interviews. Figures collected at 31 March 2006 show that:
- Of the top 5% of earners, which represents a salary of around £42,000 p.a. and includes 139 fte staff, two employees are disabled (1.44%).
- Of 448 managers in the council (as defined internally), 15 are disabled (3.3%)
- Of 1962 leavers during the year 2005/06, 21 were disabled (1.07%), i.e. an accurate reflection of the composition of the workforce.
The council sets employment targets on an annual basis specifically for engaging employees from underrepresented groups. These targets are reviewed annually in the light of monitoring information and targets seek to be representative of Wiltshire’s population. Improvements in the quality of the data held on disability will help Wiltshire to act on its commitment to equality and diversity.
The County Council has undertaken to carry out an equality impact assessment on its recruitment processes to ensure the fairness of policies and procedures. The council’s Recruitment & Selection course for managers is also reviewed continually from feedback given by course participants and to take account of legislative changes. All recruitment interview panels must be chaired by an employee who has attended the course.
Shaw Trust
Starting from October 2006, the County Council has secured a European Social Fund contract with the Shaw Trust, worth £45,000, to capacity build within the public sector in Wiltshire. The contract is overseen by the County Council but also covers other public sector employers. The contract is designed to create meaningful work placements for disabled people and to raise awareness of disabilities issues amongst managers and staff. The contract runs until December 2007.
4.2. Staff Disability Forum
The Staff Disability Forum is attended by several enthusiastic disabled staff – whether the impairment is physical and obvious, sensory and less apparent, or hidden, such as diabetes or dyslexia. Details about the forum are in Appendix 4 and how the Forum feeds into the Corporate Equality and Diversity structure can be found in Section 3.2.
Forum members have been involved in the development of this Disability Equality Scheme as well as taking an active part in the staff consultations and the community involvement pilot survey (see Section 6.2).
4.3. Employee Consultations
The County Council has undertaken a range of consultation and information gathering exercises on employment detailed below. You can find details about these exercises on our website at http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/jobs-and-careers/equalities/disability-equality-scheme.htm
4.3.1. Disability Symbol Survey
In June 1991 the Department of Employment awarded the County Council the right to use the ‘Disability Symbol’ (also known as the ‘Double Tick Symbol’) for its commitment to promoting employment opportunities for disabled people. There are five commitments which must be met (see Section 3.6), and regularly monitored in order to maintain the right to use this symbol.
In 2005, our Staff Disability Forum produced a report on how well the members felt the County Council is meeting these requirements - through members’ comments, views and experiences. The forum made a range of detailed suggestions and criticisms with common themes concerning:
- our website / application form need to highlight the Guaranteed Interview for disabled applicants who meet the essential requirements
- all managers and staff should receive awareness training re. disabilities
- managers need to be fully aware of their responsibilities re. guaranteed interviews, funding available (Access To Work and our DDA Budget) and the redeployment process
- person specifications should not overstate what is needed to do the job
- we should monitor what happens to applications from disabled people.
Developments in the areas highlighted include the launch of our new jobs website and application forms and a range of measures to raise awareness by developing our managers and staff. The County Council’s recruitment website has been updated and its content improved, to better reflect diversity issues and to allow on-line applications, which will be of specific benefit to some disabled applicants. Equality and diversity training is now included in our Corporate Induction programme for new starters with the council and is a module on our management development programme. Our standard Person Specification form and guidance have been amended to highlight the guaranteed interview. See the Action Plan for further information (Section 7).
4.3.2. Survey of the County Council’s Employment Practices
Our Human Resources section has undertaken a consultation exercise with members of our Staff Disability Forum. The aim was to gather views on all aspects of employment with the council, from adjustments needed to attitudes, policies and management practices.
Again, a very detailed range of comments was received. Issues raised and common themes include:
- access issues need to be considered when changes are made to buildings
- adjustments need to be considered properly and made more quickly
- there needs to be greater awareness of disabilities across the organisation (e.g. of particular impairments – Deaf employees, people with learning disabilities)
- more support for employees is needed from managers, HR and Occupational Health
See the Action Plan for further information (Section 7).
4.3.3. Survey of the County Council’s Recruitment Practices
The ‘Disability Equality Project Pilot Survey’ (see Section 6.2 ) gathered a range of views from the Wiltshire community concerning employment and recruitment. In addition, the council has undertaken a consultation exercise involving the Shaw Trust, Job Centre Plus, our Staff Disability Forum and individual contacts. The aim was to gather views on recruitment from job seekers and those with experience of applying to the council in order to address the issues arising during the recruitment process, from the point that a manager needs to fill a job, through our application forms and interview process to the time that a new employee starts.
Issues raised and common themes include:
- our website needs to be made more attractive to disabled applicants; application needs to be made easier
- we should use work experience / placements for disabled people
- our job information says we are “committed to equalities” - we need to prove this
- we should consider transferable skills in our job requirements and adapt job roles to allow people to do the job
- we should make better links with the Job Centre.
See the Action Plan for further information (Section 7).
Contact Details
By Post
Equalities Team
Development Services
Wiltshire
County Council
County Hall
Bythesea Road
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14
8JN
By Email
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01225 713000
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01225 713145
