Disability organisation backs smarter working campaign

Scope, the national disability organisation, is the latest backer of Work Wise UK, the major three-year initiative which will encourage the widespread adoption of smarter working practices, such as flexible working, mobile working, remote working and working from home.

Scope is supporting the campaign because it knows that smarter working practices will not only make lives easier for the general working population, they will also assist people who have traditionally found getting and keeping jobs difficult.

Bob Benson, Scopeís executive director of community development, said: ìThere are around one million disabled people in the UK who want to work but are prevented from doing so. In addition, disabled people are twice as likely to be unemployed than their non-disabled peers. A major obstacle is employers not being adaptive or responsible when it comes to staff who have impairments. But firms that adopt flexible working practices, based on reasonable adjustments, will be helping people to work more productively, whilst fulfilling their legal responsibilities as an employer.

ìFor example, working from home, even for a proportion of the working week, will be a major benefit to some whose journey to and from the place of employment can be the greatest hindrance.ì

Work Wise UK aims to revolutionise the way people work, increasing the number currently benefiting from smarter working from 3.1 million to 14 million - half the working population - within three years. This will lead to significant benefits such as increased business productivity and competitiveness, reduced transport congestion and pollution, improved health, assisting disadvantaged groups, and will harmonise work and family commitments.

Work Wise UK will start with Work Wise Week, Wednesday 3 May to Tuesday 9 May, intentionally not the traditional working week. It will begin with a major summit at the QEII Conference Centre in London where 500 influential delegates from government, the unions and business will debate how to deliver a smarter working Britain.

Phil Flaxton, chief executive of the IT Forum Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation which is behind the campaign, said: ìAlthough Work Wise UK will make life easier for many in the working population, it will have a far more significant impact on other groups, such as disabled people.

ìScope is one of the leading organisations in this sector, working with disabled people. Scopeís support will help ensure that everyone is aware of and will benefit from this campaign.î