Disability Discrimination: Adjustments

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld an employment tribunal’s finding that the dismissal of a disabled employee on long-term sick leave was fair and that it would not have been a reasonable adjustment for the employer to exempt the employee from its absence management policy.

The case confirms that an employer is under no duty to make adjustments unless it knows (actually or constructively) both that the employee in question is disabled and that the employee is likely to be placed at a substantial disadvantage because of that disability.

This checklist explains what reasonable adjustments are in the context of disability discrimination and identifies when a business may need to make them.