Walkers is the first Guernsey law firm to sign up to the Guernsey Employment Trust’s Employer’s Disability Charter.
The charter is an initiative to encourage employers to make positive commitments about the recruitment, training and retention of workers with disabilities, and raising awareness about disability issues within their organisations.
Sarah Ash, senior counsel in Walkers’ specialist Guernsey employment law team, has been the lead lawyer in Walkers’ Equality Awareness Series (run in association with The States of Guernsey).
She said: “We are focusing on advising clients about incoming multi-ground discrimination law in the Island which, in our view, will be the most significant change for Guernsey’s employers in recent years.
“One of the protected grounds which has received a lot of media attention is the proposed introduction of disability discrimination legislation. We raised awareness of the charter during our Equality Awareness seminar ‘Disability: What does it mean in practice for Employers’ and explained to our clients how signing up to the charter could assist them in becoming more disability confident within their organisations. Consequently, signing up to the charter ourselves was a natural step in demonstrating best practice.
“We have one of the biggest employment law teams in the Channel Islands, with significant experience of advising on discrimination issues in Guernsey, Jersey and in Dublin. Prior to joining Walkers’ in October 2018 I spent 13 years specialising in employment law in the UK and regularly advised clients on multi-ground discrimination law and so as a team we’re well placed to support clients in terms of advising on the possible impact of the proposed discrimination legislation and how they should be preparing for it.”
Walkers’ Guernsey office has almost doubled in size since the start of 2018 as part of a strategic growth plan in the Channel Islands – the additions to the office include the lateral partner hires of Rajah Abusrewil and Kate Storey from other Guernsey law firms, as well as lawyers from London, South Africa and transfers from within Walkers’ international network of offices.
