CIPD publishes guidance on disability workforce reporting

The CIPD has published new guidance for employers on disability workforce reporting setting out how to do it and why it matters. The guide makes the business case for reporting and urges employers to take a proactive and inclusive approach. We’ll take a look.

In 2021 the UK Government published a consultation to consider whether employers with over 250 employees should be required to report the number of disabled people they employ. The outcome of that was to keep it voluntary and, despite regular campaigning by the CIPD and the Business Disability Forum, it remains that way, for now at least. However, according to the CIPD’s latest data, just two-fifths of respondents report that their organisation currently collects some form of workforce disability data or narrative information, and very few publish the information they collect externally. Both the CIPD and the BDL want to change that picture, hence the new guidance.

Alongside the guide, which was published on 17 October, the CIPD has also published a separate paper setting out the business case for disability reporting, and it’s a strong one. In summary, they say: 

‘There are a range of potential benefits for organisations publishing disability workforce information, including improving external reputation as a business or service provider by signalling a commitment to fairness, equality and human rights, and valuing diversity. This is an opportunity for an employer to show they care about the experience their employees have in their workplaces. It can also set an industry example for corporate social responsibility and help drive change on a wider stage, including across their supply chain. This approach can boost an employer’s profile as an employer of choice and help them to tap into a wider pool of talent and skills at a time of skills shortages, thereby boosting an organisation’s performance and productivity. It is an opportunity for an employer to publicly demonstrate the value that disability inclusion and progression can bring to an organisation.’

So, let’s get a view on the guide. Earlier Helen Corden joined me by video-link to discuss it:

Helen Corden: “I think it's really useful guidance. It's really clear in its structure, it sets out exactly what organisations can do in terms of workforce reporting. It sets out how organisations should approach it in terms of identifying their aims, their objectives, how they go about collecting the data, how they report on the data and I think it's useful for all organisations. Organisations are at different stages in their journey in terms of reporting on disability, data and workforce matters and this guidance recognises that and it enables organisations to adapt what they do in terms of how far they've got on their journey.”

Joe Glavina: “The CIPD has published a separate paper setting out the business case for managing disability. It isn’t talked about as much as sex and race for example, but that picture is changing, isn’t it?” 

Helen Corden: “It is, and I think it's probably fair to say that many organisations are now turning their attention to it. They recognise the importance of making sure that their workplace is inclusive for people with disabilities, they want to get people back into work and once they're in work they want to retain them and there are many more people now who are declaring that they do have a disability. So, in terms of what we see from our clients, some of our clients are doing lots of great stuff around for example, mental health and wellbeing. There's a particular focus at the moment around neurodiversity but what they need to ensure is they're capturing all disabilities and this is what this guidance will help them to do in terms of approaching their workforce, asking the right questions in order to determine, for example, how many people within their workforce have a disability, what the potential blockers are, for example to promotions, and what reasonable adjustments they can put in place for people with disabilities and how they can make their workforce more generally more inclusive. I think it's important to point out that this guidance isn't just in relation to, for example, disability pay gap reporting. All organisations are familiar with the mandatory guidance on gender pay gap reporting. They are looking at, for example, voluntary reporting in relation to their ethnicity pay gap reporting, and we have seen some organisations report on their disability pay gap as well, but there aren't that many that are doing this on a voluntary basis. That may be because, for example, they don't have the same reliable data from their staff in terms of the numbers who are actually filling in the data requests in the first place to declare that they potentially have a disability or, indeed, looking at the data that they get back, whether that's sufficient to then report on their disability pay gap.”

Joe Glavina: “This data gathering exercise and reporting on it is a big piece of work for HR isn’t it, Helen? It’s a big planning exercise.”

Helen Corden: “It is a big planning exercise and it's absolutely crucial to get it right to ensure that you get the engagement from staff in terms of responding to any requests for data. HR need to really plan this out, determine the timing of when they're going to reach out to the workforce to collect the data, consider what questions that they're going to be asked. Some questions might be a yes/no question, some questions might be open-ended questions so that they can obtain more information to help them look at the culture of the organisation, for example, and this is where we can really help. We can help organisations frame the questions that they should be asking of their workforce and then once the response to those questions comes in, we can help via Brook Graham, our consultancy business to really analyse the response to those questions, and then look at how the responses to those questions can help drive inclusivity and help with the culture of the organisation so that all people feel included.”

Joe Glavina: “Is there a key tip to pass on to HR?”

Helen Corden: “I think the key tip is right from the outset, get senior management buy in. It’s really important to ensure that senior managers are engaged in this, that they're leading on it, that they can demonstrate the importance of this to the whole of the workforce. So therefore, if possible, I would really recommend that HR tries to get a board sponsor, for example, who sponsors this workforce reporting and really talks openly about why it's necessary, why it's needed, and the benefits that can be derived from it.”
 
Joe Glavina: “The CIPD says its data shows that just 40% of employers collect disability data and of those very few actually go on to publish it externally. Do you think boards are reluctant to embrace it?”

Helen Corden: “I don't think boards are reluctant to embrace it. I think it just needs to move up their agenda. I mean, obviously there's a lot of change going on at the moment and I think once boards are approached around this, they're really keen to embrace it, like they have been, for example, in relation to gender and ethnicity diversity. So, I think HR teams will probably find that they are knocking on an open door when they approach board members in terms of looking for sponsors for this particular workforce reporting.” 

That guidance from the CIPD was published on 17 October and is called ‘Disability workforce reporting – a practical guide for people professionals’. Alongside that guidance the CIPD has also published a paper which sets out in detail the business case for workforce reporting – so if you need help putting the case to the board you have everything you need in that paper. We’ve put a link to both of those in the transcript of this programme for you.

LINKS
- Link to CIPD’s paper: ‘The case for disability workforce reporting’
- Link to CIPD’s guidance on disability workforce reporting