2. Working

How our bosses treat us, how we treat people we work with and for, who is employed - at each stage there are cost-free ways of making these experiences more emotionally, socially and financially rewarding.

Employing ex-offenders

It can seem logical to want to avoid employing people who have committed criminal offences. Until we realise that:

  • 1 in 3 men over 40 have a criminal record, and this doesn't include all those with traffic-type offences. That's a lot of potential employees to rule out
  • there are therefore inevitably loads of people in most organisations who already have criminal records.
  • crimes can include the relatively trivial - even officially 'violent' crimes can mean shoving someone rather than killing them.

There are, of course, important issues to consider before employing someone you know has a criminal record, such as:

  • how relevant is the crime to the job role and the nature of the organisation? An obsessed bird egg collector would obviously be a no-no for the RSPB but may have exquisite accounting skills which make them perfect for a city firm
  • how long ago was the crime committed? How relevant is it today that someone committed a crime 20 years ago?

The business case for employing ex-offenders is well described by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

And the social case by Nacro.

Making jobs, offices etc accessible for disabled people - eg using government grants

About 30 years after it became not just naff and daft and prejudiced but illegal to discriminate against women and people from ethnic minorities; there is now a parallel law for people with disabilities. The Disability Discrimination Act hasn't exactly had the nation's citizens sitting on the edges of their chairs with anticipation. And given that it was introduced in 1995 but only became fully operational in October 2004, one can't fire accusations of indecent haste. But... it is powerful legislation, and in relation to employment it applies to employers with 15 or more staff. As with all employment practice, it makes sense to recruit and retain the best possible staff and (to use the language of the Act) to make 'reasonable adjustments' to do so. This includes ensuring that disabled people with the relevant skills are included as potential employees.

Here's a dull, clumpy, official explanation of the Act

While here's a readable and practical guide.

Access to Work is a very under-publicised but truly excellent source of funding support to enable people with disabilities to be in employment. The website address for the main internet source of information is a real giveaway. Nothing user-friendly like www.A2W.net. Don't be put off. As the website says,:

AtW can help in a number of ways. For example, it can help pay for:

  • communicator support at interview (CSI) which meets the full cost of hiring an interpreter to remove barriers to communication at interview;
  • a support worker, which allows the applicant to use the services of a helper. Types of support might include reading to a visually impaired person, communicating for a hearing impaired person via sign language (other than at interview which is covered by CSI), providing specialist coaching for a person with learning difficulties or helping a person with care needs;
  • special aids equipment to help a disabled person function in the work place;
  • adaptation to premises or to existing equipment;
  • help with the additional costs of travel to, or in, work for people who are unable to use public transport.
It's a bit of a performance to secure this funding in the first place and then they can be fairly enthusiastic about demonstrating that the disabled person no longer needs that help. But it's well worth the hassle.