Free DDA employment advice for businesses

Businesses worried about their employment obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) have only until 10 September to access free confidential advice on recruiting, employing and managing deaf and hard of hearing staff.

RNID, the largest charity representing the nine million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK, is offering free employment consultancy to organisations through Activeguidance, an e-mail service.

The DDA, which comes into full force in October 2004, stipulates ëreasonable adjustmentsí to ensure that disabled people have equal employment opportunities. Many mangers may worry about the costs these adjustments could involve and RNID can advise organisations on their DDA obligations as well as the most efficient means of achieving them.

Alan McClure, Employment Manager at RNID says: ìAs well as helping employers understand ëreasonable adjustmentsí under the DDA, we think our advice will give companies an advantage over their competitors. One in seven people are deaf or hard of hearing and they will take their custom to organisations that employ people who understand their needs. A deaf or hard of hearing member of staff could raise deaf awareness within organisations as well as giving a broader range of customers the confidence to do business with them.î

Businesses that would like to know more about Activeguidance can download information from the employment section of www.rnid.org.uk or by calling 020 7296 8060.