What even is the Neurodiversity Index Report (the Report) I hear you ask? It is a report published by The City & Guilds Foundation, who specialise in skills development. The Report is now in its second year and was implemented to show how organisations manage and work with neurodiverse employees. The Report found that more organisations are now focusing on ‘neuroinclusion’ with more employers having strategies in place to support neurodiverse employees. There has also been an increase in companies adapting their recruitment practices to accommodate neurodivergent applicants.
Conversely to the positives, the Report also determined that 50% of the individual respondents had been off work during 2023 due to challenges posed by their neurodiversity. More than a third of neurodivergent workers had not received any guidance from their employer and a fifth were still waiting for reasonable adjustments to be made. This is something as a firm we see all too often. Sickness absence that is avoidable if adjustments are made and support is provided.
The Report makes a number of recommendations which are aimed at making workplaces more inclusive for neurodivergent employees. These include:
- Drafting clear and comprehensible job descriptions that reflect the actual skills needed to do the role so as to improve inclusivity in the recruitment process.
- Providing applications with interview questions in advance. Explaining the workplace rules during the ‘onboarding’ process.
- Reviewing internal policies and procedures to ensure they are inclusive and barriers in the workplace are removed.
- Ensuring appropriate accommodations are in place to support all employees.
The Neurodiversity Index Report reflects what practitioners in this field will regularly experience when acting for neurodiverse clients. The support required is not rocket science and invariably adjustments can be made easily with little cost to the employer. We will keep our eyes peeled for the 2025 Report and see what improvements have been made given the extensive focus and attention that is placed, by employers on being seen to be supportive of neurodiverse employees.
This blog was written by Elizabeth McGlone, Partner at didlaw.
