Mental Health Part 2: What Constitutes A Disability?

Written by Jennifer Ormond
5 October, 2018

General Guidance | Discrimination • October 5, 2018

Mental Health Part 2: What Constitutes A Disability?

Written by Jennifer Ormond

Most employers are aware that disabilities are serious and if not dealt with properly can costs businesses both time and money.  Problems often arise around mental health as they are not always understood to be a disability.  In employment law we use a different definition to the health care profession, with a much lower threshold; so what is a disability?

A disability is defined in section 6(1) Equality Act 2010 as a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse affect on a person’s ability to carry out day-to-day activities.

There are three aspects to the definition

 

Substantial adverse effect?

When considering what amounts to a substantial adverse effect, employers should not compare the differences between two people, instead, employers should look at what the employee cannot do.  For example, an employee with anxiety may not be suitable to hold presentations or group meetings but they can still perform many other tasks. The law requires us to take into account a variety of factors including the environment, the effect on the employee and the cumulative effects of the impairment.

 

Long term?

The law requires that an impairment must last at least 12 months, or, be likely to last 12 months if not the rest of the employee’s life (if this is likely to be less than 12 months) or, that it could return if it is in remission. During the term of the impairment there can be fluctuations in its effect different symptoms present at different times.

 

Day – to – day activities?

There is no exhaustive list that the law requires employers to consider and an element of discretion is granted but common sense should be applied. Employers should ask the employee is they can carry out normal activities which used to form part of their day-to-day lives.

 

How can you know the impact of an illness?

With the consent of the employee, employers can approach their GP and ask for a medical report which can assist in understanding the impact of the illness. Employers should be sure to follow capability procedures and treat the employee fairly and with a degree of compassion throughout the process, especially if they have been absent from work.

When an employee has a disability they are entitled to “special treatment” from their employer, check our next blog for details on how to accommodate mental health conditions in the work place.

You might also like…

paternity leave and family right protections
Blog, General Guidance, Law Changes, Parental Issues

An update to family friendly rights

Flexible working became a priority during the pandemic, the necessity to work from home to help prevent the spread of coronavirus was a preventative measure but it demonstrated the fact that we do have the ability to work remotely and flexibly.

Although we are seeing employers trying to persuade staff back to the office because of the social, knowledge sharing and team building benefits the government have implemented some significant changes to the flexible working practices.

Newsletter sign up

Hidden

Next Steps: Sync an Email Add-On

To get the most out of your form, we suggest that you sync this form with an email add-on. To learn more about your email add-on options, visit the following page (https://www.gravityforms.com/the-8-best-email-plugins-for-wordpress-in-2020/). Important: Delete this tip before you publish the form.
Name(Required)
Privacy(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Follow Us

Stay up to date with our latest news and advice from the team on social media

Download our HR How to Guides

Annual leave, Sunday working, group redundancy, stand-alone redundancy and disciplinary – we have some great tips in our resource pack.

Related Articles

An update to family friendly rights

An update to family friendly rights

Flexible working became a priority during the pandemic, the necessity to work from home to help prevent the spread of coronavirus was a preventative measure but it demonstrated the fact that we do have the ability to work remotely and flexibly.

Although we are seeing employers trying to persuade staff back to the office because of the social, knowledge sharing and team building benefits the government have implemented some significant changes to the flexible working practices.

A change to flexible working requests and a right to ask for predicability over hours

A change to flexible working requests and a right to ask for predicability over hours

Flexible working became a priority during the pandemic, the necessity to work from home to help prevent the spread of coronavirus was a preventative measure but it demonstrated the fact that we do have the ability to work remotely and flexibly.

Although we are seeing employers trying to persuade staff back to the office because of the social, knowledge sharing and team building benefits the government have implemented some significant changes to the flexible working practices.