The Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) 2024 Silver Award Expression of Interest (EoI) window opens on 1 December 2023 and closes on 18 March 2024.
EoI will be validated to determine the level of defence personnel employment within the organisation and to check that the organisation has signed the Armed Forces Covenant.
Once the EoI has been validated, the organisation will be encouraged to begin the application process. The application will then be considered by the selection boards, which will be a panel chaired by a senior military officer and they will consider each application against the award criteria. Organisations selected for Silver awards will be formally notified in writing and invited to the respective award event.
Silver award holders:
- must have signed the Armed Forces Covenant
- the employer must already be accredited as a holder of ERS Bronze Award and held it with sufficient time to develop suitable plans and policies and evidence to support the ERS Silver application the employer must proactively demonstrate that service personnel/armed forces community are not unfairly disadvantaged as part of their recruiting and selection processes
- the employer must actively ensure that their workforce is aware of their positive policies towards defence people issues. For example, an employer nominated for support to the Reserves must have an internally publicised and positive HR policy on Reserves
- within the context of Reserves the employer must have demonstrated support to mobilisations or have a framework in place. They must demonstrate support to training by providing at least 5 days’ additional unpaid/paid leave (wherever possible not to Reservist employees’ financial disadvantage)
- the employer must not have been the subject of any negative PR or media activity
- The employer should demonstrate support to the Cadet movement as a whole by providing proactive support to individual cadets and/or to local cadet units
