Employment and Trade Union Law
In recent months I have assisted in a case in which a worker was on the brink of dismissal for absences that were entirely attributable to her experience of menopause (thankfully averted, the dismissal that is). In another a worker was subject to a misconduct allegation for an emotional and out of character outburst that … Continue reading Menopause, Disability and the Equality Act 2010.
It has been covered a few times and will hopefully be clear to readers that if a worker is absent from work and the reason for the absence is because of a disability related reason then the employer may is likely to be under a duty to make disability related adjustments if, because of those … Continue reading Short term sickness absences and disability
It is well known that the Equality Act 2010 has four type of discrimination that applies to all of the nine protected characteristics set out in the Act: direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimisation. However, in cases where the characteristic of disability is relied upon the Act recognises two other forms of discrimination that … Continue reading Indirect discrimination in disability claims
A relatively recent Employment Appeal Tribunal decision (Asda v Raymond) considers whether in order to conduct a reasonable investigation an employer should not only investigate what happened but also whether there are underlying causes for the conduct (why they happened). The claimant in the case was a lorry driver and parked his lorry in a … Continue reading Pissing in the wind
I have discussed the prohibition on pre-employment health enquiries imposed by the Equality Act before on this blog. Section 60 of the Equality Act 2010 imposes a prohibition on an employer making health related enquiries of a prospective employee. Section 60(1) states (1)A person (A) to whom an application for work is made must not … Continue reading Covid-19: License to discriminate?
For disabled employees the Equality Act 2010 sets out seven different types of discrimination. Of all the these it is the concept of discrimination arising from disability that I have found to be most useful when assisting employee in workplace disputes. I have discussed this before on the blog (see here and here) but, by … Continue reading Arising in consequence
The question of whether an employee can successfully challenge an employer for disability discrimination will depend on the employee being determined to be disabled at relevant time. Therefore, if an employee is dismissed of 1 April but an Employment Tribunal determines that the employee only became disabled on 14 April there will be no disability … Continue reading Disability needs to be ‘long term’ at the time of mistreatment
In responses to employment tribunal claims it is sometimes argued that a tribunal does not have jurisdiction to hear the complaint because the tribunal is 'estopped' (prohibited) from deciding an issue because it has already been decided by the Tribunal. This can occur when a claimant has previously made an employment tribunal claim. The basic … Continue reading Disability and Issue Estoppel
In order to succeed in a disability discrimination one of the core requirements is that the impairment has, or is likely to, be long term. As enacted the Equality Act defines long term as being an impairment that has or is likely to last twelve months or more. As I have highlighted previously, the 12 … Continue reading Likely to be long term?
When does an employer have constructive knowledge of disability?
Can wearing a contact lens correct a disability?
Just over a year ago the Employment Appeal Tribunal issued its decision in Lofty v Hamis t/a First Café and in its wake there was a lot of online discussions about whether precancerous conditions come within the deemed disability provisions of the Equality Act 2010. Normally, in order to be a disability for the purposes … Continue reading Pre-Cancer
The Supreme Court has recently issued its judgement in Williams v The Trustees of Swansea University Pension and Assurance Scheme, a case that brings to a close a long running employment dispute on the scope of the protection against discrimination arising from disability in section 15 of the Equality Act 2010. Specifically, the case centred on … Continue reading Discrimination Arising from Disability and Unfavourable Treatment
Last week I posted a short piece on the duty to make reasonable adjustments and thought a follow up piece on other the other main reasonable adjustment related claim in the Equality Act. In the aftermath of the House of Lords decision in Malcolm Parliament introduced a new type of discrimination in section 15 of … Continue reading Discrimination arising from disability and reasonable adjustments
The BBC have been reporting that a Belfast women has won a £2,000 disability discrimination after event organisers, Eventsec Ltd, failed to make reasonable adjustments. The case itself, as reported by the BBC (I have not seen the judgement, strikes me as a helpful case with which to explain the duty). The duty to make … Continue reading The duty to make reasonable adjustments
Mary is a typist, a role she has done for many years. After over ten years with a company she took the plunge and joined a new employer four months ago because they offered a higher salary. However, a few weeks after starting her role she had an unfortunate accident at home and she broke … Continue reading Can a temporary ailment be a Disability?
This is a question that is only ever likely to be asked of employees of central government departments. In most circumstances a disabled employee who is unable to travel to work by their own means (for example, by driving or using public transport) may obtain assistance through the Access to Work scheme which provides fares … Continue reading Can a Taxi to work be a Reasonable Adjustment?
A mere six month's ago a group of MPs reported that the Department of Work and Pension's Access to Work scheme was failing to reach the people it needed and that further work was needed to increase its coverage. The then Minister for Disabled People Mark Harper MP (Con) encouraged all business to utilise the … Continue reading Access to Work Funding to be Cut
In recent weeks the Employment Appeal Tribunals judgement in Thomson v Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has been published. The key issue which has been attracting comment is the endorsement of the first tier tribunal's decision that a dismissal may be unfair because of the choice of the decision maker, even when there is no … Continue reading Disability and Disciplinary Dismissals
If a person has type 2 Diabetes are they necessarily disabled under the Equality Act 2010? This was the question considered by the Employment Appeals Tribunal in Metroline Travel Ltd v Stoute [2015] UKEAT 0302_14_2601. The claimant had type 2 diabetes but was not on medication for this but did control his condition by controlling … Continue reading Is Diabetes Necessarily a Disability?
The central case dealing with the fairness of conduct dismissals is undoubtedly British Home Stores Ltd v Burchell [1978] UKEAT 108_78_2007. It was this case that is the source of the "Burchell Test", here it is in the judgement itself: What the tribunal has to decide every time is, broadly expressed, whether the employer who … Continue reading Dismissal and Culpability
Employment Writes 