Saturday, 6 September 2008
An employee is not legally obliged to declare a disability to an employer or prospective employer. Naturally people will be reluctant to disclose their disability to a prospective employer fearing this will result in the failure of their job application. However, disclosure can help to alert employers to a person's particular needs and thereby facilitate the provision of reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, which otherwise may not be provided due to the prospective employer's lack of knowledge of disability. If a prospective employer is not aware of a job applicant's disability they may have a defence to a claim of failure to make reasonable adjustments.
Disabled people no longer have to register disabled and do not need a green card to prove they are disabled. To have rights under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, a disabled person only has to show they meet the definition of disability.
A physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect upon their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
The employer has a duty under the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) to make reasonable adjustments. You should ask the employer if they can arrange a meeting to discuss your needs and adjustments that could be made to your job. Minutes of this meeting should be taken for used if necessary in the future.
All employers have a legal duty not to treat disabled employees less favourably, without justification, for reasons relating to their disability. This means that you will have to ensure disabled employees are not treated less favourably in their terms of employment; opportunities for promotion, transfer, training or receiving any other benefits; dismissal or any other detriment during employment.
In addition, you may need to consider what reasonable adjustments you may need to make so that your disabled employee can do their job. Examples of adjustments are making changes to the workplace; flexible working hours; providing training; or giving the employee equipment or an assistant to help them do their job.
As soon as your employee tells you they are disabled, talk to them to find out what their needs are. You can also contact the Disability Employment Adviser at the local Jobcentre Plus - they will tell you about the Access to Work Scheme, to which you can apply for funding for any equipment your disabled employee needs.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 applies to disabled job applicants as well as to disabled employees. If a job applicant says they are disabled, you should ask them what adjustments they need to the recruitment process. For example, you may have to adjust a test, provide a Sign Language Interpreter for the interview, or make sure the interview takes place in a room on the ground floor
If the job applied for is not an exempt profession (please see below), the employer may be under a duty to take effective measures to prevent the problems being experienced.
An employer has a duty to make changes (commonly referred to as reasonable adjustments) to their workplace arrangements if the way these arrangements put you at a substantial disadvantage compared to other employees.
Speak to your employer about the difficulties you have doing your job and ask if you can do it in a different way. The employer should make suggestions about how the job can be changed to suit your needs, but if you have any suggestions about how the job can be changed you should tell your employer to help them make a decision that would be suitable. It may also be useful to try to involve a Disability Employment Adviser from the Employment Service to provide guidance on practical measures and financial assistance.
Yes. If the employer has chosen you for redundancy using a fair criteria not related to your disability, then they can make you redundant along with other employees. However, if the selection criteria penalises a disabled employee for reasons relating to their disability this could, in the absence of material and substantial justifiable reason, constitute unlawful disability discrimination.
No. The 'quota system' was replaced by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. You have a duty to all disabled employees or job applicants not to treat them less favourably because of their disability.
Yes. You may be able to get help from the Access to Work Scheme, run by the Employment Service. Contact your local Jobcentre Plus and ask to speak to the Disability Employment Adviser .
No. A licensed taxi driver must carry, free of charge, assistance dogs travelling with a disabled person. (This requirement will soon apply to Private Hire Vehicles (minicabs) as well - the legislation is in place but is not yet in force).
If a taxi driver refuses to take your assistance dog, you should report this to your local taxi licensing authority; details of the vehicle registration number, taxi licence number and / or the taxi driver's badge number should be taken if possible.
Any necessary changes to the physical environment are legally required after 1st October 2004.
The owners of the corner shop may be legally entitled to refuse to take the steps away because they are a small business and may not be able to afford to do this, or because it is not practical given the narrowness of the pavement outside their shop. Even if installing a permanent ramp was not reasonable, a number of other adjustments might still be required for people with mobility impairments including the provision of a safe portable ramp or even arranging for the delivery of goods to a customer's home if this is practical.
