Don't get Caught Out

Chris Wilkinson from Expert HR Solutions says he was slightly startled to find out that nearly 1 Million disabled employees fall out of work or change jobs because of a lack of support. He goes on to remind you that disability is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 and affected individuals mustn’t experience detrimental treatment as a result.

Expert HR Solutions aims to provide both legally compliant and pragmatic advice to our clients and we have a wealth of material that does just that ranging from an easy to follow flowchart that provides step-by-step instructions on managing an employee with a disability to checklists for considering reasonable adjustments. Chris says this is not an area for employees to ignore since the award a Tribunal can give if they find you have discriminated on grounds of a disability is uncapped financially. It is also an area of law where you have the potential to discriminate before you have even employed them during your recruitment and selection process.

The Equality Act also requires you to provide suitable training to all employees to ensure they do not directly or indirectly discriminate against disabled staff. It is also important to remember that not all disabilities are obvious since the legal definition is:

“you're disabled if you have a physical or mental impairment that impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.” There is also plenty of case precedent to indicate that the employee does not have to inform you they are disabled rather that the Court may rule that a ‘reasonable’ employer would have recognised that they are and acted accordingly.

If you think you could do with some help in this area why not give us a call on 01202 611033 your initial consultation is FREE.