Workplace Law Magazine is available only to Premium Members of the Workplace Law Network. Produced 10 times each year, it is distributed in hard copy format in the first week of the month, and is also available online.
What is reasonable adjustment?
Two years down the line from the implementation of Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), it would be “reasonable” to expect that attitudes towards and understanding of service providers’ duties under the Act might have improved. But service providers — or at least a significant proportion of them — remain reluctant to take action. Admittedly it’s not all doom and gloom — there has been an improvement in attitudes — but it seems that the current lack of case law demonstrating how service providers will be prosecuted for failing to make their ser vices accessible to disabled people, means the legislation does not yet have any weight behind it. Businesses are therefore deciding to take the chance of getting sued over and above investing in making adjustments. This issue we take an in-depth look at how accessible services really are, two years after we addressed the issue in the very first issue of Workplace Law Magazine. We ask: are service providers complying with their duties? How does the position in the UK differ to that in the US? What cases have there been illustrating the concept of ‘reasonable adjustment’? What are employers’ duties with regard to mental health under the DDA? And what are the implications of the upcoming Disability Equality Duty?
In this issue…
Legal calendar
Check that you are ready for all the events and legal developments taking place in December ’06 and January ’07.
Forum
Thoughts and opinions from Workplace Law Network members on a hot topic.
Reasonable?
In October 2004 Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act placed new responsibilities on service providers to ensure disabled people have equal access to services, but two years on it seems businesses don’t really give a damn about whether their service is accessible or not.
Enabling acts — or disabling laws?
Where the US leads, Britain often follows — yet when it comes to disability legislation, the two countries have significant differences in approach. Bernie Sheehan weighs up the pros and cons of both systems.
Are you well adjusted?
It’s a striking fact that most cases brought under the Disability Discrimination Act are concerned with employers having failed to make ‘reasonable adjustments’. Caroline Merz identifies key recent cases that illustrate what, when it comes to adjustments, is considered reasonable.
Mental health: the last workplace taboo?
Employers have largely managed to get to grips with the duty not to discriminate on the grounds of race, sex, religion and now age, but the requirement not to discriminate against those with mental health conditions under the Disability Discrimination Act is proving to be something of stumbling block.
Are you ready for DED day?Monday 4 December is when the Disability Equality Duty becomes law — Bernie Sheehan looks at what public authorities are doing to take it forward and make real changes for disabled people.
Case law
Legal experts offer their advice to employers on the implications of recent case law.
Technical guidance
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 — implementation of stage two; Managing health and safety risks at corporate events; and Religious discrimination:
implications of Amzi.
Clinic
Working past 65 request: Can we specify how long the employee’s contract extension should be?
Analysis
Attitudes to energy efficiency
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