It was fabulous to hear the support in the meeting for the Disability Employment Charter particularly from Lord Shinkwin and Lord Holmes. It was also extremely heartening to hear Deirdre Costigan MP, who, in her former role as a Charter founder member at UNISON, was pivotal in getting many of the Disability Employment Charter's proposals into Labour's general election manifesto, confirm that the government will be moving forward with this agenda.
Professor Kim Hoque
17 December 2024
Professor Kim Hoque calls on the government to implement the Disability Employment Charter and secures ESRC funding for further work
Speaking at a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Modernising Employment, Kim Hoque, Professor of Human Resource Management, called on the government to implement the Disability Employment Charter. He has also secured ESRC ‘new government’ funding to progress his work on disability employment.
Speaking at the meeting on disability employment, chaired by Lee Barron MP earlier this month, Professor Hoque argued that the independent review of the role of employers in fostering healthy and inclusive workplaces announced in the Get Britain Working white paper, should recommend the government adopts the Disability Employment Charter, which he co-founded in collaboration with organisations including Disability Rights UK, Leonard Cheshire, Scope, and UNISON.
Highlighting an opportunity for the government to implement one of the charter’s key proposals, he also called on the Government to include mandatory disability employment as well as pay gap reporting in the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. He pointed out that this measure has the support of the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the Centre for Social Justice, as well as The Disability Employment Charter's 230 signatories.
Professor Hoque has been awarded ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) New Government Funding. This will support work with the Institute of Directors developing proposals for mandatory employment and pay gap reporting for the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.
Find out more
Visit the Disability Employment Charter website to sign up as an employer, or find out more.
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Professor of Human Resource Management