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three women speaking through sign language

Disability

Our goal is to create an accessible and inclusive business where people of all abilities will want to bank and work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

We are committed to fostering a safe, inclusive environment where we make the most of the exceptional talents that people with a disability, mental health or neourodiverse condition can bring to our organisation.

We support those with a disability or health condition by providing the equipment and adjustments that enable them to excel. We also aim to provide accessible products and services for all our customers whatever their requirements may be.

We have been awarded gold status by the Business Disability Forum for our work towards creating a truly inclusive and accessible environment for all of our customers, clients and colleagues. 

Read our white paper to find out more about our journey to becoming a disability, neurodiverse and mental health confident business.

 

We aim to create better ways of ensuring that people of all abilities are able to access career opportunities with Barclays and achieve their full potential. To do this, we have adapted our approach to recruitment. We also provide the adjustments, specialist equipment and support that can help individuals succeed and excel in their career with us.

Matt Hammerstein

CEO of Barclays UK

Diverse colleagues at work

Working at Barclays

Barclays can provide support for those with a disability, impairment, health concern or mental health condition in the workplace. These adjustments can be short-term arrangements or more long-term, and can include:

  • specialist equipment (like assistive technology and ergonomic furniture)
  • adjustments to your workstation
  • adjustments to your role/performance targets
  • altering working practices using flexible working or regular breaks.

We encourage everyone working at Barclays, or thinking about joining us, to tell us what support and adjustments they need to be their best at work. We have developed a Workplace Adjustments Passport that enables colleagues to keep a record of their agreed workplace adjustments, making for easier conversations as they progress through their career in Barclays. We also believe in equipping line managers with disability confident training and support, encouraging people to feel able to disclose non-visible conditions, and promoting awareness of different disabilities, as some of the steps to creating an inclusive working environment for people of all abilities. We see this as an important step for both colleagues and their line managers in creating an inclusive working environment for people of all abilities.

Mental Health

Our Mental Health Awareness e-learning is mandatory for our entire workforce. We also believe in equipping line managers with disability and mental health confident training and support. We regularly check in with all line managers to ensure they are supporting colleagues’ wellbeing.

Flexible Working

We equip all colleagues with the ability to work flexibly. Flexible working is a powerful enabler in terms of levelling the playing field for disabled colleagues and those with mental health conditions. It empowers every individual to adapt their work life, and work more flexibly in ways that best suit their individual needs. 

Making business accessible

At Barclays, listening to and learning from our customers, clients and colleagues is fundamental to our business approach to accessibility. By working to develop new products and services that meet the needs of people with a range of abilities, we can improve life for everybody. Our focus on disability is core to our business and the business decisions we take.

Leading technology through products and services

Barclays is committed to inclusive design, creating new products and services that address the needs of the widest possible audiences, irrespective of age or ability. We were the first major high street bank to deliver audio functionality to over 80% of our ATM’s. We introduced a range of high-contrast colour schemes for our debit cards to help customers read the information more easily, have developed sign video for our deaf customers and bPay by Barclaycard to help people with sight loss and dexterity issues.

Smiling female amputee working on iPad

Digital accessibility

Our main digital channels, including mobile banking apps and websites, have been or are being accredited for accessibility by AbilityNet, a leading UK accessibility charity.

Due to Covid-19 millions more customers are taking advantage of accessible features like paying in cheques through our mobile banking app or the live chat or video banking features

We’ve also created simpler guides for those new to digital banking. To help encourage and educate our suppliers, partners and corporate clients we’ve published a supplier guide to accessibility.

Internships and Apprenticeships

Barclays is committed to scaling up internships for people with disabilities and mental health conditions and has initiated its own programme to drive this forward: Able to Enable, open to people of all ages. We work with external partners to identify eligible candidates to increase diversity through Barclays Apprenticeships. Building on our Able to Enable channel, we have created a high-touch support system for people on the autism spectrum who want to join Barclays as an apprentice. We developed the process in our main technology hubs in Radbroke and Glasgow, including developing training for assessors, pre-briefing material for candidates and autism-friendly guides to ensure visits to our sites were as anxiety-free as possible.

Learn more and apply 

Reach – the disability, mental health and neurodiversity resource group

Our employee resource group, Reach, is open to all colleagues who either have a disability, mental health or neurodiverse condition, or support those who do, as well as those who have an interest in this agenda. Members of the ERG provide career development support and opportunities for education and networking, as well as sharing insights from our colleagues with disabilities to help us to identify new ways of making our products, services and facilities accessible to everyone. They also mentor new colleagues when they join the organisation.

The Mindful Business Charter

Developed by the Barclays Legal Function in partnership with the law firms Pinsent Masons and Addleshaw Goddard, the Mindful Business Charter is the first time that an in-house legal team and their legal service providers have come together to reach a shared agenda for supporting colleague mental health and wellbeing.

Read the charter in full (PDF 772KB)

Recognition

We want people of all abilities to thrive at Barclays and remain committed to making the most of the talents disabled people bring to our organisation. We are proud to be a ‘Leader’ in the UK Government’s Department of Work and Pensions Disability Confident scheme and to have also earned a 100% score and be named a Disability Equality Index Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion.

In 2020 we were awarded Gold status once again by the UK Business Disability Forum, scoring 98%. We were commended for deepening our commitment to accessibility and inclusivity, and our systemic approach to driving improved performance across all areas of the business, specifically our customer products and services, as well as our accessible technology.

This is Me

Initiated by Barclays in 2014, This is Me is a driving force for challenging the stigma around disability and mental health by encouraging colleagues to share stories that improve understanding. Over 200 of our colleagues have shared stories so far, and Barclays continues to co-chair the This is Me steering committee under the auspices of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal charity. We have also been instrumental in scaling up the initiative outside of London. There is now This is Me North West, West Midlands, Scotland, Yorkshire and India, with over 300 organisations taking part with the potential to reach over 3m employees.

Our stories