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Archive for July, 2009

Workplace arrangements that cause major problems for disabled people are major contributor to the fact that disabled employees are twice as likely to be put out of work as non-disabled employees. For this reason, the Disability Discrimination Act requires employer to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled persons are not put at substantial disadvantages to non-disabled persons in the workplace. Should an employer make changes to pre-existing arrangements, they are obliged to take steps to prevent these new arrangements from having a negative impact on disabled persons. This can comprise of providing training and equipment, or making adjustments to premises, working hours and supervision.

Should this not occur, an Employment Tribunal will consider various factors to decide whether the adjustments would have been reasonable. These considerations will include whether the changes would have been effective, practical and of a reasonable cost in terms of the employer’s finances. Should the Tribunal find that reasonable changes have not been made, the employer can face serious repercussions.

As ever, it is hard to know all the details regarding employment law; employment solicitors are readily available to provide help and advice for both employers and employees.

The Disability Discrimination Act makes it unlawful to treat a person less favourably on the grounds of them being disabled. Unlawful practises obviously cover recruitment and employment, but also include harassment and discrimination against the carers of disabled persons.

Harassment under the DDA involves a disabled person being subject to unwanted conduct based on their disability, which violates their dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them, for reasons relating to their disability. This conduct may even be unintentional, though in these cases all the circumstances be reasonable; innocent comments taken the wrong way by an oversensitive person will likely not be judged as harassment.

Carers for people with disability can also claim under the DDA in situations where they are harasses or discriminated against for reasons associated with their role as a carer. Refusing to give some reasonable flexibility in working hours to a mother who has to care for a disabled son, for example, could well be considered unlawful under the DDA.

Disabled persons and carers alike should seek help from employment solicitors if they feel they have been discriminated aginst in either of these manners.