How recognition works

How assessment decisions are made

• A trained assessor scores the organisation’s evidence against the Standard’s questions for its size.
• The Standard’s gates must be met: real opportunity, no evidence of discriminatory practice, and every pillar at the level’s minimum. For Certified and above, the organisation must also show that listening to disabled people led to change.
• A Coordinator checks that the case is complete.
• An Approver who took no part in the assessment decides.
• Certified and above add an interview with the organisation and a second reviewer who checks the assessment.
• Accredited, Leader and Global Champion also need approval by a Difability panel.

Every decision is one of five outcomes:

• Pass
• Pass with recommendations
• Pass with conditions
• Improvement required
• Not approved

A pass gives the highest level the scores support, up to the level applied for. The organisation is told the reasons for the decision. A decision is due within 15 working days of submission, not counting the time spent waiting for the organisation’s replies.

Assessor independence and conflicts of interest

• The assessor, the second reviewer, the person who checks the case is complete and the Approver are always different people.
• Staff declare any connection they have with an organisation, and then take no part in its cases.
• Staff who belong to an organisation’s account never work on its case.
• A new assessor’s first three cases are scored together with an experienced assessor.
• Each month, a sample of cases is scored a second time by another assessor, to keep scoring consistent.

No pay to pass

• Membership is free.
• Where an assessment fee applies, it is invoiced when the application is submitted, and it is the same whatever the outcome.
• Paying never changes a decision.
• Appeals are free.

Improvement plans

An organisation that does not reach a level receives an Improvement Plan. It sets out:

• where the organisation is now
• what is missing
• three actions to take
• the evidence that will show each action is done
• a check-in date between 3 and 9 months ahead, which the organisation can confirm or move

The organisation can apply again when it is ready. The Improvement Plan in the Standard

Complaints

To complain about how Difability handled something, use Raise a concern and choose “How Difability handled something (a complaint)”. Every concern gets a reference. Staff look into it and write back to you.

Appeals

• The organisation appeals from its account, within 20 working days of the decision.
• Appeals are free.
• An Approver or an independent appeal reviewer who took no part in the case decides the appeal.
• The appeal can uphold the decision, change the level or order a reassessment.
• A withdrawal can be appealed in the same way.

Conditional decisions

• An Approver can pass an organisation with conditions, due between 14 days and 12 months after the decision.
• While the conditions are open, the public record shows Conditional, the conditions and the date they are due.
• The organisation responds from its account. When an Approver confirms the conditions are met, the record shows Active.
• If the conditions are not met by the due date, the record is suspended.
• Printed awards are made only once the award has no open conditions.

Suspension and withdrawal

• A record is suspended when an annual confirmation is more than 30 days late, or when its conditions are not met by the due date. It is active again once the confirmation is accepted or the conditions are met.
• An Approver can propose to withdraw a level, and tells the organisation which of these reasons applies:
  • Level or membership described inaccurately
  • Evidence of discriminatory practice
  • Member code not kept
  • Evidence found to be inaccurate
  • Payment not made
• The organisation has 10 working days to respond. The public record does not change until an Approver decides.
• A withdrawn record shows “Withdrawn”, with the reason and the date.
• A new application can start 12 months after a withdrawal.

Annual confirmation

• An assessed record lasts 3 years, with an annual confirmation due at 12 and 24 months.
• Each confirmation opens 30 days before it is due.
• The organisation confirms that it keeps the Difability Commitment, whether anything material has changed, the progress it has made, and that its contacts are current.
• A Coordinator accepts the confirmation or refers it to an Approver.

Renewal

• Renewal opens 90 days before the record expires.
• It is a new assessment against the current Standard.
• Where nothing material has changed, answers that are unchanged keep their scores.
• A record stays active for up to 60 days after its expiry date while a renewal submitted in time is decided.

Challenging an inaccurate or misleading claim

• Check the record by its number. It shows the exact words the organisation may use and what its award covers.
• An organisation may use a level’s name only while it holds that level, and only for what its record covers. This is part of the member code every member agrees to.
• If a claim does not match the record, raise a concern about the record, or about a claim you have seen somewhere else.
• Staff can correct the record’s wording or propose to withdraw the level.

The live record is authoritative

The record on the Difability register is always the authority. A certificate, badge, ribbon or trophy never outlasts the record: when a record is no longer current, neither is the award, whatever is printed on it. Check a record before relying on a Difability claim.