Blog written by Stacy Hopkins of the HR Dept, North Birmingham
This is often a topic we come across frequently and looking at statistics we can see why.
According to charity, Scope, who offer support for disabled people, there are 13.9 million disabled people in the UK – 19% of which are of working age adults. According to their statistics this equates to more than 3.7 million disabled people in the workplace.
First things first, what is a disability?
The Equality Act replaced the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) in 2010 (along with other anti-discrimination legislation) and this act sets out when someone is considered to be disabled.
You are disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities – ‘substantial’ being defined as more than minor or trivial, and ‘long-term’ being defined as 12 months or more.
People with progressive conditions (i.e. that get worse over time) can also be classed as disabled.
There are certain impairments that automatically meet the disability definition under the Equality Act 2010 from the day you’re diagnosed, such as HIV, cancer or multiple sclerosis. Visual impairment and severe, long term disfigurements (such as severe facial scarring or a skin disease) are also automatically covered.
There are also conditions that are not considered disabilities under the Equality Act 2010, including having a tendency to set fire to things, steal, or abuse others – or having an addiction, such as alcohol, nicotine or other substances. Although a person might be disabled if they have an impairment caused by one of these, for example if they have liver disease or depression caused by alcohol dependency.
What does this mean for you as an employer?
There can be many benefits of encouraging applications from disabled people, including creating a diverse workforce that serves the diverse communities we live in and bringing in additional skills to the workplace – such as the ability to use British Sigh Language, for example.
As the definition of a disability is quite wide, it may not be obvious that your employee has a disability.
However, if a disability is disclosed, you have a duty as their employer to see what support and adjustments (if any) can be put in place in order to support your employee to operate at an equal level to a colleague who does not have a disability. This ensures that they do not have any substantial disadvantages in carrying out their job roles and have no substantial disadvantages preventing them from progressing at work.
Many adjustments involve no or little cost to you. Some adjustments include offering training or mentoring, providing information in accessible formats or making changes to a disabled employee’s working pattern.
If there are costs, Access to Work can help towards the costs of making reasonable adjustments such as providing special aids and travel to and from work.
When it comes to absence monitoring, it is sensible to discount any disability related absences if you are looking at your absence triggers, however with a sound support plan in place, this could infact reduce any disability related absences in the first place.
What about mental health?
Disabilities are not always visible and it’s worth remembering that depression and anxiety disorders can also be classed as a disability and are protected under the Equality Act if they meet the definition above, i.e. the condition has a substantial and long-term negative effect on the ability to do normal daily activities.
According to statistics provided on the direct.gov.uk website, 1 in 6.8 people or 14.7% of workers experience mental health problems in the workplace. Therefore, promoting good mental health at work is a good idea.
Offering an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) can be a good way to offer some extra support to your workforce, with most EAPs offering a 24/7 service which is accessible by phone, email and online and even offer short-term face to face or telephonic counselling.
What’s even better, the cost of implementing an Employee Assistance Programme to your team is often much lower than expected and is often a much appreciated benefit.
What do I do if a disability is disclosed to me?
Do not be worried about talking to your employee but do ensure that you ask the right questions at the right time.
Also ensure you are asking questions which are relevant, ensuring confidentiality is maintained. Questions you could ask include “What is your medical condition and how long have you had this condition?”, “Are you taking medication and do you have any side effects that we need to be aware of?”, “How does your medical condition affect you day to day?” and of course “What support or adjustments, if any, do you need in order to carry out your job?”.
Remember medical conditions do change so it’s a good idea to keep checking in with your employee to ensure that nothing has changed.
If in doubt you could request medical information from their GP or Occupational Health, with their consent of course – although this is not always needed, if you can agree a support plan together which works.
However, questions surrounding disabilities and medical conditions should be avoided during the interview process as this could invite a disciplinary discrimination claim if they are subsequently not offered the role.
Once the role is offered, New Employee Medicals are a good way of capturing any medical conditions which ensures that support is being received right from the start of employment which is especially helpful when any new starter is learning the ropes.
What could happen if I do discriminate?
It is unlawful to discriminate or treat an employee less favourably because they are disabled. Discrimination can include things such as not recruiting an applicant because of their disability or selecting someone for redundancy because they are disabled. An employee can also take you to an employment tribunal if they think you have not made reasonable adjustments.
If you need more advice on what is considered a disability or for further information regarding Employee Assistance Programmes, Occupational Health or New Employee Medicals, please do not hesitate to contact the team.
