Free webinar on supporting disabled staff through COVID-19

Business Disability Forum (BDF) will be hosting a free webinar on how organisations can best support employees with a disability or compromised immune system through the coronavirus crisis (Covid-19). The webinar is scheduled to take place on Thursday 26th March from 2.30 to 3.30pm.

The non-profit, which offers 300-plus businesses advice on issues affecting disabled people in the workplace, as well as consumers, is offering the webinar free of charge to both member and non-member organisations. The webinar follows BDF’s recently published guidelines on ‘Coronavirus and Disability – What you need to know’, (as reported). 

With advice changing on a daily basis, BDF’s webinar will provide HR and diversity and inclusion (D&I) professionals, with the latest information on how the situation affects their employees.

‘TRICKY’ ISSUES

“We know that everyone has a lot of questions at the moment and with advice constantly being updated, it can be difficult to know what to do for the best,” stated Diane Lightfoot, CEO, Business Disability Forum. “We hope our webinar will help HR professionals address some of the tricky issues facing their disabled colleagues at this time, by providing practical and informed solutions.”

The webinar will aim to address queries such as:

• We are closing our offices and asking all employees to work from home. Some disabled colleagues are saying that they are unable to do this because they do not have the assistive technology or other adjustments that they need at home. What should we do?

• A disabled employee, who cannot work from home, has been told she should self-isolate. She is worried that the time off she takes will trigger a sickness absence review. Can this absence be disregarded?

• What should we do to support the physical and mental health of employees who might never have worked from home before and who might be alone and unable to go out?

To sign up or for more information about the webinar, click here. Further guidance from the BDF on the Coronavirus and disability, reasonable adjustments and working from home can be accessed here.