Disability and mental health report

At Scope we are committed to supporting disabled colleagues and all colleagues’ mental health. We want to be a workplace where everyone can thrive and feel that they belong. As part of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy, we commit to listening, learning and always improving.

Since November 2019, as part of our status as a Level 3 Disability Confident leader, we have voluntarily reported on disability and mental health at Scope. This includes what we do to support our colleagues, and data about colleague disability and wellbeing.

Disability and mental health report 2023

1.1. How we support disabled colleagues

We support disabled colleagues in a number of different ways. We offer a comprehensive adjustments programme, led by our dedicated adjustments team. We aim to provide the highest standard of adjustments, beyond the legal and industry standard.

We offer adjustments to any paid Scope colleague who faces barriers at work due to disability, impairment, or condition, including mental health conditions (diagnosed or undiagnosed).

Our colleague engagement survey asks:

• Do you have an adjustment in place?
• How satisfied are you with the adjustment process at Scope?

In 2022, 13% colleagues shared that they had an adjustment in place.  84% of colleagues were satisfied or very satisfied with the adjustment process at Scope. A further 5% said it was too soon to say.

We offer a flexible working policy to allow colleagues a work life balance that works for them and their team.

Disabled colleagues can also join the Disabled Colleagues Network, one of our colleague networks. At Scope, colleague networks are voluntary groups of colleagues. Each network represents a marginalised group with a shared characteristic, identity or lived experience. The Disabled Colleagues Network provides a safe, social space for disabled colleagues.

We offer disability equality training, adjustments training and accessibility training to all colleagues and managers. This training is designed to create a culture where colleagues can bring their best selves to work. We have recently made disability equality and adjustments training mandatory for all colleagues.

1.2. What our data tells us

We gather data about disabled colleagues through both our colleague engagement survey and our Employee Self Service, iTrent.

What we ask in our colleague engagement survey

Are you disabled, have an impairment, condition or access need?

• Yes
• No
• Prefer not to say

Colleague engagement survey

November 2022: 28% colleagues share that they are disabled

January 2021: 21% colleagues share that they are disabled

November 2020: 19% colleagues share that they are disabled

In 2022, the completion rate for the colleague engagement survey was 86.5%. 60% completed the section which asked them to share their data. Only 5% of colleagues who answered the question about disability selected “prefer not to say”.

Employee self-service (iTrent)

September 2023: 19.73% colleagues shared that they are disabled

October 2022: 19.65% colleagues shared that they are disabled

October 2021: 15% colleagues shared that they are disabled

December 2020: 12% colleagues shared that they are disabled

We also collect data about the number of disabled applicants we receive for roles at Scope. This data tells us that on average 25.31% of applicants indicate that they are disabled. 

Pay gap data

The disability pay gap is the difference between the average earnings of non-disabled colleagues and disabled colleagues across the organisation on a given date.

We share our disability pay gap data as part of our pay gap report.

We currently have a negative pay gap, indicating a pay advantage for disabled colleagues. However, we are keen to increase the number of disabled colleagues who are part of our leadership team.

Data protection

We share the following data protection statement when we collect demographic data at Scope:

“Scope collects data to monitor diversity. This helps us make Scope an inclusive place for the people we work with and support.

We take the security of your data seriously. Your information is safe and secure with us. The information you provide here is totally anonymous. Read our privacy policy.

By agreeing to this statement, you acknowledge that Scope can process your personal data for age, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and service. Do you agree to give your personal information? Yes/No”

2.1 How we support colleagues’ mental health

We support the mental health and wellbeing of colleagues in a number of ways.

We give all colleagues access to our employee assistance programme (EAP), run by Spectrum Life. This offers a free, confidential helpline. The website is also the gateway to a wellbeing centre, a hub of resources that can support colleagues.

We have a dedicated wellbeing hub on our intranet. The hub signposts to:

• our EAP
• wellbeing events (past events and events coming up)
• ways to working wellbeing guidelines
• mental health online learning resources
• Legal and General’s financial wellbeing hub
• external sources of support (such as Mind, Samaritans and Shout)

We organise regular wellbeing sessions for colleagues, delivered by mental health experts. Recent topics have included: The Kindness Culture, Building Wellbeing, Mindfulness and Overcoming Fear.

Our safeguarding team have also organised mental health awareness sessions, delivered by Mind. The sessions focussed on how to have supportive conversations with our customers during the cost-of-living crisis and coping with tough times.

We run an annual Mental Health Awareness Week when we make opportunities for colleagues to connect, including a daily Coffee Roulette session. This is where colleagues are paired up, randomly, and given a list of conversation topics to choose from. We also run monthly coffee roulette sessions throughout the year.  

We also host mental health online learning resources on our online learning platform, Scope to Learn. Colleagues can access online learning about 16 mental health topics, including anxiety and dealing with stress.

We have trained a number of mental health first aiders albeit we don’t yet have a support system so haven’t formally launched them.

What our data tells us

We measure information about our colleagues’ mental health and wellbeing at work through our colleague engagement survey.

We do not currently record the percentage of colleagues who have mental health conditions. In line with the social model of disability, we do not generally collect data about the “type” of impairment or condition colleagues have.

What our 2022 survey told us

Despite external pressures, colleagues feel the same level of negative stress as 2021. There’s been no decline in the level of colleagues who suffer this negative stress regularly (1 in 5). Despite this worrying statistic, the majority of changes are positive.

More colleagues agree they’re getting the support they need from their managers to build their skills and knowledge. And they are getting opportunities to develop.

There was higher agreement than previous years that colleagues are treated with fairness and respect, and more of us are enjoying our work.

Questions

When thinking about my wellbeing at work I feel negative stress. Or I regularly feel stressed at work and it has a negative effect on my wellbeing.

2022: 54%

2021: 54%

I enjoy the work I do

2022: 85%

2021: 82%

I am treated with fairness and respect

2022: 77%

2021: 73%

I feel like my manager cares about me as a person

2022: 74%

2021: 74%