Employers for Change (EFC), an employer disability information service, was launched on 11th March 2021 by the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin TD; disability advocate and author, Sinéad Burke; and the CEO of Bank of Ireland, Francesca McDonagh. EFC is a programme of the Open Doors Initiative and funded by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. Employers for Change provides a central source of information and advice for employers, informing them on all aspects of working with people with disabilities and encouraging them to actively recruit, hire, manage, and retain staff with disabilities.

We do this in a number of ways:

• Providing consultancy and advice through one-to-one engagement with employers via phone, email and in-person or online meetings;
• Delivering disability inclusion related training to employers;
• Hosting a central web-based information resource incorporating guidance, toolkits and FAQs;
• Providing and participating in awareness raising, and outreach activities, such as attending Diversity and Inclusion forums, speaking at employer focused events or conferences;
• Maintaining links with employer stakeholders and disability stakeholders;
• Facilitating research focused on the topic of disability in the workplace;
• Promoting the positive business case for the employment of people with disabilities.

Employers for Change is a trusted partner for employers across Ireland – both from the public and private sectors. Since its 2021 launch, Employers for Change has supported over 500 employers, providing guidance on general disability-inclusion topics and on specific employee support needs. This included support for reviewing policy proposals, refining internal training materials, and embedding inclusion practices into their organisational strategies.

Employers for Change has trained over 3,000 employees on workplace disability-related topics, in the public and private sectors and across different industries. For the public sector, Employers for Change delivered sessions to different departments, county councils and other organisations.