Disability is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, which means that disabled people are legally protected from discrimination at work.
What is the definition of disabled?
Section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 defines a disability as a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to perform normal day-to-day activities.
Impact of medication
When assessing disability, you must ignore the effects of medication, including things like counselling and special diets.
The only exception is sight correction. Separate rules say anyone certified as blind, severely sight impaired, or partially sighted by an eye specialist are automatically considered disabled.
Conditions that are considered disabilities under the Act
Automatically covered
Cancer, HIV, and multiple sclerosis and similar conditions are considered disabilities from the moment they’re diagnosed.
Previous disabilities
If someone is no longer disabled but met the criteria in the past, they can still claim disability discrimination if they’re treated unfairly because of their past condition. This also applies if they’re still experiencing effects from past treatments.
Progressive Conditions
For progressive conditions (like dementia or motor neurone disease), the person is considered disabled as soon as the condition starts to affect their daily activities, even if the effect isn’t continuous or substantial yet. It’s enough if it’s likely to become substantial in the future.
What’s not included
Some conditions and illnesses don’t count as disabilities. These include addictions to alcohol, nicotine, or other substances (unless medically prescribed), seasonal allergies like hay fever (unless they worsen another condition), and tendencies to set fires, steal, abuse others, exhibit, or spy on people.
It’s important for employers to understand the definition to ensure they are meeting their legal obligations.
Useful links
https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010
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