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At Inclusive Employers, an Inclusion Passport (developed from an original concept by the House of Lords) is a document that allows individuals to capture what helps them work best, feel included and be supported.

Described as a voluntary "talking tool", the Inclusion Passport aims to aid constructive and positive conversations between managers and employees.

Why do Inclusion Passports matter?

For me, one of the most important aspects of inclusion is creating environments where we can share our differences. Not only to improve the quality of the conversations at work through our different perspectives but to increase the understanding and awareness of others so we create safe workplaces where it is comfortable and expected that we will ask for what we need to do our best work.

The Inclusion Passport is a brilliant tool for this. It helps to initiate a conversation between managers and direct reports about anything they might need to help them succeed at work.

It does not rely on the staff member to initiate the conversation, it helps to normalise the conversation and makes it clear that the organisation recognises that we all have differences. It highlights that these differences are welcome and valued, and that what has gone before might not work perfectly for everyone and that this is not an inconvenience but is actually pretty wonderful!

Traditionally, disability or reasonable adjustment passports have focused on what disabled colleagues need in terms of adjustments. However, more recently, passports have broadened to encompass the breadth of differences we bring to the workplace and can be a great tool (if the intention is right) to instigate these conversations.

The benefits of Inclusion Passports

Here are some benefits of using Inclusion Passports in the workplace:

They begin structured and important conversations

Some of us are great at initiating these types of conversations and for some of us, it's a bit more awkward.

For some, in the busyness of the working day, it might not occur to us that the policies, processes or arrangements in place could mean some colleagues are at a disadvantage. Or, that a particular aspect of our management style or the way we run meetings might not work perfectly for all our staff.

Research suggests that the anxiety about these types of conversations; where a staff member would benefit from an adaptation or a minor change, can play on colleagues' minds and prevent them from doing their best work and perhaps asking for simple alterations altogether.

And we know there is a real cost to staff 'covering' and developing workarounds to avoid having that difficult conversation where they share the reality of who they are and their situation.

Continuous support is in place

A conversation that is structured around the Inclusion Passport during a colleague's induction period and then every six months, so that it is a live document, creates that opportunity and moment in time to reflect on the way we work, rather than specific tasks and deadlines.

It asks the right questions phrased in the right way, which makes it a reliable tool to guide the conversation so that both parties can focus on listening and connecting with each other.

Repeating this process regularly means that information gathered remains up to date, reflects changing circumstances and whether the adaptations are still working.

A record is kept

The Inclusion Passport also helps to reduce the worry associated with having to repeat the details of our personal situations to different colleagues within the business or when we change line managers. The Inclusion Passport moves with us and provides a record of what has been previously agreed.

This also helps to reassure employees that adaptations agreed on once do not need to be renegotiated again if we choose to take a new position in the business.

How to create an Inclusion Passport

So, the good news is that amongst our member resources we already have a best practice example of an Inclusion Passport available to our members.

It includes separate guidance on how to complete the Inclusion Passport, along with a form template, both of which help to guide the conversation and ensure that the relevant information is collected.

Questions cover areas such as the individual's work and communication preferences and anything outside of work that could impact their ability to perform their role within work. Alongside this, there is a section where the staff member and manager can agree on any support/adaptations and when they will be reviewed.

If you're not yet a member - don't worry, we can still help. Get in touch today if you're interested in Inclusion Passports, and we can discuss the best way forward.

How to introduce Inclusion Passports into your workplace

You could just introduce Inclusion Passports into your workplace with very little fanfare or preparation.

However, we recommend preparing the ground to ensure the introduction receives a positive reception and has the desired impact.

Preparations might include:

Consulting with colleagues, staff networks, HR, Trade Unions and your legal team so that they have had input into the guidance/form, understand its purpose and are onboard with any actions they might need to take to promote it and ensure it works smoothly.

Ensuring that there is signposting and sources of support available to managers and HR as needed, so that they can supportively respond to staff requests that emerge from Inclusion Passport conversations.

Once the form has been tailored to your environment and agreed, identifying whether there are particular learning needs for groups of staff. Do managers need additional training in their responsibilities, how and where to get support with any adaptations and how to confidently use the Passport within a supportive conversation? Are HR or Occupational Health prepared for receiving more queries from managers about adaptations and how to use the form?

Piloting the Passport in a small area of the organisation first might be something you want to consider, to work through any teething issues.

Developing an on-going communications strategy to promote the Passport, its value to colleagues across the organisation and examples of the great conversations and learning it is stimulating.

Evaluating the impact of the Inclusion Passport - invite those that have used it to let you know how its working, the impact it is having and how it could be improved.

How Inclusive Employers can help

Here at Inclusive Employers, we have various resources that can help with inclusion support and starting conversations.

If you're a member, take a look at our Inclusion Passport guidance and speak to your account manager. If you're not yet a member, get in touch today to see how we can help.

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A Quick Guide to Inclusion Passports | Inclusive Employers

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Inclusion Passports are a way to start conversations with employees & learn about reasonable adjustments they need. Take a look at our quick guide to learn more.

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The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Group (EDIG) has published guidance on supporting colleagues with a disability.

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Programme and speaker bios for CILIP Disability Network event

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Locked out... BDA Advisory report for Government on  D/deaf exclusion in health care

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Locked out... BDA Advisory report for Government on  D/deaf exclusion in health care

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Locked out: Exclusion of deaf and deafblind BSL users from health and social care in the UK (full report – BSL and English versions)

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Library and information workers.. Register here

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Library and information workers.. Register here

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This 2025 report published by SignHealth and RNID reveals serious and widespread healthcare failings

Research report introduction

More than 15 million adults in England are deaf or have hearing loss. Around 6 million adults in England have hearing loss severe enough that they would have difficulty in noisy environments, whilst an estimated 1 million would not be able to hear most conversational speech.

In addition, there are an estimated 73,000 deaf BSL users. Deaf BSL users often experience language deprivation at an early age, leading to difficulty understanding and using written English. As a result, many deaf BSL users face significant additional communication barriers.

Under the Equality Act 2010, health services like the NHS as well as social care services across the UK are required, by law, to make "reasonable adjustments" to remove barriers facing deaf people or people with hearing loss when accessing services, including providing information in an accessible format. For deaf people, a reasonable adjustment could include providing communication support, such as a qualified British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Failure to make reasonable adjustments is classed as discrimination and is against the law. Health and social care services are also responsible for meeting the costs of any reasonable adjustments required.

The Equality Act

The Equality Act also makes it clear that under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), NHS bodies must consider what's likely to be needed in advance and not simply respond to individual requests as they emerge. There is therefore a clear and legally enforceable requirement for people who are deaf or have hearing loss to have their communication needs met when accessing NHS care. A failure to meet patients' communication needs is a breach of the equality act.

The 2012 Health and Social Care Act empowered the government to publish information standards - setting out how the NHS processes information.

The Accessible Information Standard (AIS) took effect in 2016. The AIS 'directs and defines a specific, consistent approach to identifying, recording, flagging, sharing and meeting the information and communication support needs of patients, service users, carers and parents, where those needs relate to a disability, impairment or sensory loss.'

In England, all providers of NHS or publicly-funded adult social care services should meet the legal requirements of the AIS. In this report, we have chosen to focus on access to NHS care.

In publishing the AIS, NHS England acknowledged that despite the Equality Act 'many service users continue to receive information from health and social care organisations in formats which they are unable to understand and do not receive the support they need to communicate'.

Barriers to healthcare remain

In late 2021, a coalition of charities including RNID and SignHealth surveyed NHS and social care professionals in England, as well as disabled people who have accessible information and communication needs, about the AIS.

The findings indicated a lack of training, and a poor understanding of communication access as a patient right and of providers' responsibility to follow the AIS. Poor implementation of the AIS was found to have serious practical, health and emotional consequences.

Building on this research, RNID have collaborated with SignHealth to improve and update our current evidence base on the barriers to accessing NHS healthcare for deaf people.

This report sets out the findings of this new research. It sheds light on the experiences of deaf patients, and the perspective of professionals who are working in the NHS and demonstrates that the NHS does not have the systems and processes in place to fulfil the right to accessible healthcare for deaf people.

The consequences can be devastating. People who are deaf avoid seeking NHS treatment, don't understand the information they are given and, ultimately, feel unable to manage their own physical and mental health because of failures of the NHS to provide accessible healthcare.

Awareness of the key regulation amongst NHS staff is low, patient information isn't being recorded and shared accurately, staff do not know how to access the information they need, or what action to take to ensure the needs of patients are met. The result is a system with too many barriers, undermining the ability of deaf people to access safe and effective treatment.

Together, RNID and SignHealth set out recommendations from this research in our policy report, Still Ignored: the fight for accessible healthcare which urges government to take note, grasp the opportunity and end the discrimination that deaf people face when accessing NHS services.

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Still Ignored: the fight for accessible healthcare - SignHealth

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RNID and SignHealth set out recommendations from our research in Still Ignored: the fight for accessible healthcare report

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NLISN Neurodivergent Library and Information Network

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NLISN Neurodivergent Library and Information Network

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Neurodivergent Library and Information Staff Network

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Neurodivergent Library and Information Staff Network

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Supporting Neurodivergent Library Staff in the UK

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What could CILIP HQ and the CILIP Disability Network do together over the next year that would have the most positive impact? 

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Can you share any examples of good practice, within your organisation or elsewhere - that supports accessibility and inclusion within the sector? 

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MANAGERS: How do you ensure that team members with disabilities have equitable access to management and leadership development opportunities? 

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MANAGERS: What considerations or approaches do you take when recruiting, onboarding, managing and supporting the development of staff with disabilities? 

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MANAGERS: how confident are you to make recruitment decisions that are not discriminatory against disability?

From 1 - 'not very confident at all to make the right decision'   --  to --  5  'I'm very confident to get it right'. 

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Do you think your disability will have a negative or positive impact on your success in securing a new role?  

1 ‘my disability will have no impact at all’ – to – 5 'my disability will have a very high impact’