Inclusive Employment
Leeds Inclusive Employer Network is designed to help all its members understand how they can shape, improve and work towards being a diverse and inclusive employer. Through networking events and a range of online training webinars LIEN introduces members to topics and actions they may not have yet considered for their business.
Through bringing a variety of guest speakers to our network, we help members keep up to date with latest developments, best practice and legal requirements. We guide you through access to funding, provide Q&A opportunities, and are a sounding board for advice.
Examples of inclusive employment

Reasonable Adjustments
A reasonable adjustment is exactly as it sounds and could be something as simple as someone needing a screen filter for their dyslexia or a wheelchair user needing a desk that accommodates them correctly. It is usually something that’s easy to provide or arrange, and to use. And once it’s in place, the individual can usually do their job exactly as you imagined the perfect candidate would!
Consider the following examples to see if they would help anyone you know:
- A checklist of daily tasks that need doing and by when
- A designated ‘quiet’ kitchen or area in the staff canteen
- Adjustable desks that not only accomodate a wheelchair but that help taller people and those that need to/prefer to stand to work
- Daily five-minute check-ins at the beginning and/or end of the working day
- A bank of ‘How to’ guides that anyone can access

Supported Internships
An opportunity different to an apprenticeship or regular internship, supported internships provide a route into paid employment for those who have additional needs and may require reasonable adjustments.
A supported intern works alongside a work buddy in your organisation and progresses with learning a role in a slightly slower manner than another employee might, building up the tasks that they take on. The importance of taking a supported intern on is that you’re bringing a range of different people into your organisation providing you with a breadth of variety of thought, opinions, skills and knowledge.
Visit Lighthouse Futures Trust to find out more about their approach to supported internships.

EDI Committees
Providing a range of staff-led committees within your organisation can give employees the opportunity to suggest improvements, work on projects together, and raise issues that are being felt by individuals within your business. Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Committees are a good place to start, and you can broaden out from this to bring in other groups such as LGBTQIA+, Menopause, and Neurodiversity.

Community Outreach
Working in the community will help teams to understand the challenges faced by people based around their offices. As well as having a better understanding of their customers, it gives employees a new way of working together as they learn to recognise similar challenges within your workforce and experienced by colleagues. Often working in the community means spending time with specialist organisations who can train your people and help them grow in their understanding of others.
Community outreach can also involved working with the next generation, for example inviting young people in to visit your workplace, presenting at careers events, becoming a mentor, or helping with mock interviews.