Under the DDA 1995, it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person with disabilities by failing to make reasonable adjustments. This applies to all employers, except for the armed forces.
As stated before, temporary adaptations to work duties and hours can be beneficial in ensuring that employees with back pain can remain at or return to work. In some cases more long-term adaptations are necessary especially when the employee has a disability as defined in the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).
Under the DDA 1995, it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person with disabilities by failing to make reasonable adjustments. This applies to all employers, except for the armed forces.
An employer should consider whether there are changes that they could make at work to enable a person with back pain to carry out their job. These are known as 'reasonable adjustments'.
Businesses and organisations vary in structure and size, so what may be 'reasonable' for one may not be so for another.
The purpose of workplace adjustments is to:
- return an employee to their job with any modifications needed, or to an alternative job if no adjustments are possible
- retain valuable skills
- remove any obstacles to return to work.
Not all employees with back pain will need permanent adjustments to keep working. But if an individual does need help then everything that can reasonably be done to modify their job should be done. If you have any doubts about what might be reasonable, take advice from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/Pages/default.aspx).
Workplace adjustments need not be difficult.
The key steps in planning adjustments are:
- Consider the needs of the employee and what they can do
- Assess the possible obstacles to the employee’s return
- Consider the adjustments needed to overcome these obstacles
- Review health and safety risk assessments in the light of the proposed adjustments
- Review how well the adjustments work
- Seek professional advice, where necessary, to help you make informed decisions.
In many cases a phased or gradual return to normal working hours within a fixed timescale is a key element in getting employees back to work.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission, which has replaced the Disability Rights Commission, provides guidance and advice for employee and employer about the DDA 1995 and what adjustments might be reasonable. Issues for both to consider include:
- how effective will an adjustment be?
- will it mean that the employee’s disability is slightly less of a disadvantage or will it significantly reduce the disadvantage?
- is it practical?
- will it cause much disruption?
- will it help other people in the workplace?
- is the cost prohibitive?
There will be occasions when there is no workplace adjustment that will enable an employee to return to their original job, even if all reasonable adjustments were put in place, and this may include considering whether the employee could carry out another suitable job. Sometimes, for example, it may not be possible to move someone into another role in a small organisation and therefore dismissing the employee may be fair.
In some cases a reasonable adjustment will not work without the co-operation of other employees. Employees may therefore have an important role in helping to ensure that a reasonable adjustment is carried out in practice. Subject to considerations about confidentiality, employers must ensure that this happens.