In the Autumn of 2009, the Rowan Organisation was awarded the ‘Disability Symbol' (Positive about Disabled People) by Jobcentre Plus. The symbol is awarded to employers in England, Scotland and Wales who have made commitments to employ, keep and develop the abilities of disabled staff.

Employers who use the disability symbol make five commitments regarding recruitment, training, retention, consultation and disability awareness.

These commitments are:

• to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy and to consider them on their abilities
• to discuss with disabled employees, at any time but at least once a year, what both parties can do to make sure disabled employees can develop and use their abilities
• to make every effort when employees become disabled to make sure they stay in employment
• to take action to ensure that all employees develop the appropriate level of disability awareness needed to make these commitments work
• to review these commitments each year and assess what has been achieved, plan ways to improve on them and let employees and Jobcentre Plus know about progress and future plans