This session guides employers on how offering flexible working at the point of hire can open up employment opportunities to a hidden talent pool of disabled jobseekers who are otherwise excluded from the world of work.

It promotes the Flex Plus model of flexible working – a model built on lived experiences of health and work and backed by research data.

With almost a quarter of the UK working age population reporting a long term health condition or disability, designing inclusive employment is key to the future of work.

Learning outcomes:

• Knowledge of how flexible working – especially Flex Plus working – empowers disabled workers to perform at their best while protecting their health.
• Strategies for embedding flexible, and Flex Plus, working into job design, advertising and recruitment processes.
• The business case for offering flexibility at the point of hire.

Who would benefit from this event?

Supported employment practitioners, senior leaders, HR professionals, DEI leaders, line managers and hiring managers.

Presenter Bio:

Catherine specialises in turning lived experience into actionable insight on disability, health and work. With over a decade of policy research work at the intersection of disability, health and employment, Catherine has led thinking on energy-limiting conditions (ELC) and Flex Plus working - a disability-centred model of flexible working. She is the Founder of Chronic Illness Inclusion and was Head of Consulting at Astriid, developing the charity’s training on long term conditions at work. Catherine is currently working on WISHES, a trial of job crafting for health and disability led by University of Strathclyde.