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The Guernsey Employment Trust is encouraging more businesses to sign up for its Disability Charter ahead of the incoming anti discrimination legislation coming into force from October.
The charity says adhering to its nine-point charter would put businesses in a good place for the new laws.
Chief Executive Nikki Ioannou-Droushiotis said the charter is something she is very proud of.
Pictured: The Guernsey Employment Trust's Employers' Disability Charter.
"We developed this in 2017, and that was when the talks of legislation, the discrimination legislation, seemed like years away. What we wanted to do is create something tangible for employers who were committed to providing equity of opportunity but wanted to know ways of going about it.
"We wanted to give them something practical to work towards.”
Ms Ioannou-Droushiotis said the nine commitments within the charter are targets and don’t all need to be met in one go or before a business can sign up to it.
"At the point of signing up, you're not saying that you are a a platinum standard employer with regards to equity. It's more of an acknowledgement that you're starting out on a journey and here are nine steps that you could be taking, and you're acknowledging that you're working towards them.”
Pictured: GET Chief Executive Nikki Ioannou-Droushiotis.
With just three months until the new legislation comes into force, which asks businesses to make reasonable adjustments to meet employee’s needs among other requirements, GET is expecting many organisations to have questions.
"We currently have 70 plus businesses signed up, and that ranges from very local businesses to the national and the international businesses,” said Ms Ioannou-Droushiotis.
"We've got charities, we've got private sector and we've got the States of Guernsey.”
Ms Ioannou-Droushiotis said the charter is not just a ‘tick box’ exercise to meet the requirements of the new law though.
"Guernsey is facing a recruitment crisis so it makes good business sense for employers to really review and diversify how they attract new talent. We are one solution to that and more.
Above: The Guernsey Employment Trust helps people to find and maintain employment.
"Every day we receive emails from organisations with them sharing their vacancies because they want our help to fill their vacancies. It's wonderful that we've got that wealth of knowledge to then share amongst amongst our client group. Also, many businesses as well.
"By signing up, it can act as a bit of a badge of honour. We physically give organisations a certificate, a trophy and our logo that they can include in their adverts or their signatures if they want or on their websites. Many businesses...there is this push to work towards, CSR objectives or ESG initiatives. It's a way of them being able to do that, but also helping them to work towards the legislation and meeting the requirements of that because it's getting employers into good practise.”
Ms Ioannou-Droushiotis said the charter will help businesses diversify their workforce by breaking down stereotypes.
"It's providing opportunities for disabled people and getting them used to providing reasonable adjustments, just as they would do in everyday life.
GET also offers tailored tuition for businesses which Ms Ioannou-Droushiotis said there is a charge for but she thinks it could also be useful for organisations ahead of the new legislation being enforced.
Pictured top (l-r): Niamh (Guernsey Post, HR Officer), Nikki (GET, Chief Executive), Kate (GET, Employment Support Officer), and Rosa (GET client).
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