| DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYEMENT | | | | the employer at the earliest practicable time; but the |
| AND DISABLED WORKERS' RIGHTS IN THE | | | | employer of a disabled person must neither fail upon |
| WORKPLACE | | | | such knowledge to make reasonable adjustments |
| (Based on author's site | | | | needed for the applicant or the employee, nor |
| The Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944 | | | | disregard in relation to the disabled employee any |
| requires the employers with twenty or more | | | | medical advice or suggestion. |
| employees to employ a quota, approximately 30%, | | | | In Fozard -v- Greater Manchester Police Authority |
| of disabled persons, and the Disability Discrimination | | | | 1997 the applicant had ticked the relevant box |
| Act 1995 section 4 makes it unlawful for an employer | | | | stating that she had a special need of assistance due |
| with more fifteen or more employees to discriminate | | | | to disability which was not given her -it was held that |
| against a disabled person on ground of his disability | | | | the onus was on her to give details of it; the |
| by treating him less favourably in the arrangements | | | | employers, the police authority, had not failed in their |
| made for determining who to employ or in the terms | | | | obligations to make adjustments under the Act... |
| on which to offer him employment or by refusing to | | | | In O'Neill -v- Symm & Co. 1998, the disabled |
| offer him employment or by deliberately not offering | | | | employee dismissed for taking time off for |
| him employment -except where justifiable on grounds | | | | treatment which she was entitled to do ought to |
| of health and safety, and the Act requires the | | | | informed the employer of her condition… |
| employers to make reasonable adjustments to and | | | | In Tarling -v- Wisdom Toothbrushes 1997 the |
| at the place of work as and when needed by the | | | | disabled employee had been unfairly dismissed, for, a |
| disabled employees. | | | | needed special chair for back-pain although looked |
| Disability is defined as being such physical or mental | | | | into was not bought… |
| impairment which has a substantial and long term | | | | In Samuels -v- Wesleyan Society 1977 employer's |
| (twelve months or longer) adverse effect on a | | | | thinking the disabled employee was unlikely to |
| person's ability to carry out the normal day-to-day | | | | recover was in disregard of medical advice to try him |
| activities -such as walking, lifting objects, speaking, | | | | and see if could work. |
| hearing, seeing, concentrating, learning, understanding. | | | | Adjustments by the Act considered reasonable and |
| The Act does not provide for indirect discrimination, | | | | expected to be made by the employer include ramps |
| and case-law since have been on the lines that there | | | | for wheel-chair users, allocating some of the disabled |
| is no duty on the employer of a disabled person to | | | | employee's work to another, as needed transferring, |
| inquire into details of the disability, nor is he at fault in | | | | assigning to a different place of work, altering |
| law for failure to take into account knowledge of the | | | | working hours, allowing absences for treatment, |
| disability or of the details of it which he neither has | | | | giving extra training, modifying equipment or |
| nor ought reasonably to have, and it is for the | | | | instructions or procedures, providing a reader or |
| disabled applicant or the employee to inform of them | | | | interpreter, and providing supervision. |