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TDC-PID#13269
Q) The duty to make reasonable adjustments has ensured that disabled people no longer face barriers to equal participation in society.
Critically discuss the above statement in relation to the reasonable adjustment duty with respect to disabled individuals.
Introduction
Disability Law Under the Equality Act 2010, an employer is under a duty to make reasonable adjustments where a disabled employee is placed at a substantial disadvantage compared with a non-disabled person. This Act was authorized in October 2010 to shield individuals from segregation, providing a reformed plan of action to tackle the disadvantaged. To be critical towards someone’s disability, in the workplace or in educational institutes, qualifies as unlawful discrimination where the employer or the people providing education are aware or expected to be informed, of the other’s disability[1]. Equality law perceives that achieving uniformity for disable individuals may mean changing the manner by which administrations are conveyed, giving additional equipment as well as the removal of physical barriers.
The duty to make reasonable adjustments requires taking positive steps to ensure that disabled students and employees can participate in the all benefits, facilities and services provided for non- disabled students and employees. An employer and education providers are required to take reasonable steps to avoid substantial disadvantages where a provision, criterion or practice puts disabled students and employees at a substantial disadvantage, where a physical feature puts disabled persons at a risk; this includes removing the physical feature in question, altering it or providing a reasonable means of avoiding it. An employer and educational providers cannot justify a failure to make a reasonable adjustment; where this duty arises, the issue is whether or not the adjustment is ‘reasonable’ and this is an objective question for the courts to ultimately determine.
Disability Law According to section 6 of the Equality Act 2010, “A person (P) has a disability if— (a) P has a physical or mental impairment, and (b) the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on P’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities[2].”
If they have a physical or mental disability that has a ‘considerable’ and ‘long haul’ negative impact on their capacity to do ordinary every day exercises. A person may find himself covered, if his physical and mental abilities have deteriorated, compared to most people. This could be due to a medical condition. Pleasantly surprising is the fact that a person suffering from stress also falls under the same umbrella as the one with a diagnosed medical condition. Stress can cause mental impairments like lack of concentration and physical ones which include lethargy and insomnia. These are covered in Schedule 1, Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010 and in Regulation 7 of the Equality Act 2010 (Disability) Regulations 2010.
Many individuals in UK have an ‘unseen disability’: a specific learning difficulty, autistic spectrum condition, or mental ill health. These individuals have a variety of potential sources of legal redress, if they consider a university or company has failed to properly accommodate their disability. The most obvious claim is under the Equality Act 2010. Although, there is a lack of clarity in understanding the nature and extent of those Equality Act entitlements, and the corresponding obligations that fall upon universities, companies, and their staff. These confusions occur in many contexts, but the most important one for disabled students is their entitlements where assessments are concerned[3].
In the case of Archibald v Fife Council[4], it was held that the duty to make reasonable adjustments arose since the claimant had the skills and was capable of working with adjustments (further discussed below). So the duty to make reasonable adjustments will not be triggered until the information is given to the employer that an employee is fit to return to work with adjustments. In some cases, the employer and education providers can lawfully decide not to make the requested adjustments, if; the adjustments needed, are not, in fact, reasonable (with reference to relevant circumstances), or the person with the disability could not perform reasonably, even if the adjustments were made (this is for employers only). In addition, an employer will not need to make an adjustment where they can prove that they comply with a Disability Standard made under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, or where they have been granted an exemption. However, at present, there are no final Disability Employment Standards in force. Similarly, an employer will not have to make an adjustment where the adjustment relates to a physical adjustment to a building…………
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