Disability in employment, recent cases

1. Disability in employment, recent cases What is a ‘disability’? A disability is a long term physical or mental impairment which has a substantial impact on a person’s ability to do normal day to day things. This is (more or less) the definition contained within the Equality Act 2010, which enshrines discrimination law. Over the years case law has helped us to understand what is likely to constitute a disability, and what isn’t. ‘Long term’ we know is a year or more. ‘Normal day to day things’ varies from person to person and depends on what they were able to do (including occupationally) before acquiring the disability. Thus, a broken leg is not disability – while it certainly impacts the ability to do normal day to day things, it won’t (normally) last for a year or more. Mental health issues are trickier though – anxiety, which many people suffer and particularly at times of stress, is unlikely to be a ‘disability’ as in most cases anxiety won’t prevent the sufferer from doing normal day to day things (though in extreme cases it might.) Why does it matter? But why does it matter so much in an employment context? Quite simply because if an employee has a disability, one of the 9 protected characteristics defined in the Equality Act, then an employer must consider making reasonable adjustments in order to accommodate that person in the workplace. This right to reasonable adjustments applies not just to employees with 2 years’ service (the point at which employees become entitled to protection against unfair dismissal), but to anyone at any time. A disabled job applicant could bring a claim against an employer who failed to consider a readily available adjustment to accommodate him. A disabled employee with just a few

2. weeks’ service, could bring a claim against an employer who dismissed them for underperformance related to their disability, in circumstances where the employer failed to implement reasonable adjustments. Reasonable adjustments for disabled employees What are reasonable adjustments? would reasonably expect of Coca-Cola, we may not expect of a small independent motor garage, Again, shades of grey for employers. What we HR Support from myHRdept If you need help managing under-performance issues or with understanding how to approach ‘reasonable adjustments’, myHRdept’s HR support services are ideal. Included within all of our HR outsourced support packages is a bank of support hours to help manage staff issues, and we also retain the services of an occupational health company to help investigate health-related issues. If you’re thinking of outsourcing your HR or employment law needs, why not contact myHRdept? Call us on 01628 820515, email us at enquiries@myhrdept.co.uk to discuss your requirements, or contact us via our website and we’ll call you back.