CharityComms

Changing Faces has launched a Face Equality at Work campaign to address the 'facial discrimination' that people with facial disfigurements experience as employees and customers.

Barclays yesterday become the first company to sign up to the campaign, which was launched at the bank's headquarters in London.

The charity wants companies to sign a Commitment to Face Equality and embed policies on treating people with facial disfigurements in their recruitment and retention procedures and their customer service strategies.

A spokeswoman for Changing Faces said: "There are legal requirements not to discriminate against people with facial disfigurements, but there is also a business case because of their enhanced social skills."

Barclays pledged to work with Changing Faces to ensure its HR policies were completely fair and unbiased towards people with facial disfigurement.

The bank will also alter existing programmes for recruiting disabled people to ensure they actively target people with facial disfigurements.

John Varley, chief executive of the Barclays Group, said he wanted to "create an inclusive work environment where all candidates, including those with facial disfigurements, view Barclays as a good employer".

According to Changing Faces, more than 540,000 people in the UK have facial disfigurements.