We have received the following letter from British Council in reply to our letter about issues of disability discrimination for Emily (full name withheld). Their reply is reproduced below. We are consulting with Emily and considering our response to it.
To whom it may concern,
Thank you for your email.
We do understand that the support we provided to Emily during the initial stages of her employment in Morocco, in 2017, fell below our level of commitment to supporting individuals working with impairments, and we are sorry for the distress that this has caused her.
As an organisation, we know that people with impairments face discrimination and barriers. With the help of our Internal Disability Working Group, our External Disability Advisory Group and, in line with our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, we are working to identify and remove those barriers, so we can improve both our practice and the working conditions for colleagues who have disclosed a disability to us.
As an example, we are reinforcing our approach to how we ensure employees with an impairment can complete self-assessments and Occupational Health assessments as an integrated part of the recruitment process or when diagnosed during employment. This will mean reasonable adjustments can be put in place much more quickly: either before an employee starts or within the first week if they need to be in post before the adjustments can be made.
I recognise the above does not directly change the experience that Emily has had but it is a key learning from her employment with us and we want to make sure this type of experience does not happen to other individuals in a similar situation. We are fully aware that we need to be able to offer all our colleagues the right level of support and learn all appropriate lessons when we don’t. We are continuously working to develop programmes and ways of working that are inclusive and ensure the success of a diverse range of colleagues and partners. We have been in regular contact with Emily over the past few years regarding her case.
Yours sincerely
If Councils were investigated people would be shocked at what was found. Since the inplimentation of Addendance Management. It needs to be asked. How many disabled were in their employment before A.M.P came in to effect and how many are employed now. Also how many lost their jobs due to abcences related to their disability.
The attendance management policy discriminates disabled as it makes no allowances for those whose health issues cause them to be off. And it reflects on their sickness record which shouldn’t happen.
Well done DPAC in securing this first order response from The British Council. Wisely using what power we have to rescue others or ourselves from effective powerlessness in dealings with those and that possessing power.