Disability Discrimination Act

Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)

This page gives a brief overview of the requirements of the DDA, details of good practice in relation to it, and links to further information.

Quick links:

What is meant by 'disability'?
Legal duties and obligations under the Equality Act and DDA
Main changes under the Equality Act
Pre-employment health questionnaires
Good practices in employing people with disabilities
Further information on disability and employment

What is meant by 'disability'?

The DDA 1995 defines a 'disabled person' as an individual with a 'physical (including sensory) impairment or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his/her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities'.

*substantial means neither minor or trivial (e.g. time taken to carry out an activity or the way in which the activity is carried out, cumulative effects of the impairment(s)
*long-term means that the effect of the impairment has lasted or is likely to last for at least 12 months (fluctuating conditions will be covered, e.g. Rheumatoid Arthritis is a progressive condition). Some conditions are covered from the point of diagnosis e.g. HIV infection, cancer, multiple sclerosis.
*normal day-to-day activities include everyday things like eating, washing, walking, going shopping, and using public transport.

Since the 1st of October 2007, three commissions have come together to form [linkhttp://www.equalityhumanrights.com] The Equality and Human Rights Commission.(external site)

Legal duties and obligations under the Equality Act (DDA): England, Scotland and Wales

Under the Equality Act 2010 and the DDAs of 1995 and 2005, it is unlawful to treat people less favourably because of something connected with their disability.

Under disability discrimination legislation the employer has to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ if a disabled job applicant or employee is at a disadvantage in relation to others.
The duty applies to both the physical features of the employer’s premises, e.g. fittings and equipment, and to all other aspects of employment including recruitment, training and retention.

If a disabled person has grounds to believe they have been discriminated against by their employer (also covered at the recruitment stage), they can take the organisation to an Employment Tribunal.

Disability discrimination also applies to the provision of goods and services, access to facilities, education and the buying or renting of property or land, all of which must be supplied in ways that so not discriminate against people with disabilities.

Read more on disabilities and non-discriminatory recruitment practices

[Link http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/body]Equality Act

To view the full text of the above legislation online, please follow the links under Legislation.

Main Changes Under The Equality Act (2010)

On the 1st October 2010, the Equality Act brought together and replaced 9 large equality laws and around 100 smaller laws including the Disability Discrimination Act (1995). It will replace and extend the protection of people with disabilities under the DDA.

Previously, to receive protection from disability discrimination, individuals had to show that they had a physical or mental impairment that had a long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Impairment was taken as having such an effect if it only effected one of eight capacities: mobility; manual dexterity; physical coordination; continence; ability to lift, carry or otherwise move everyday objects; speech, hearing or eyesight; memory or ability to concentrate, learn or understand; and perception of the risk of physical danger.

The list of capacities is removed under the Equality Act, leaving tribunals to make a common-sense decision about whether or not a particular impairment has a substantial effect on day-to-day activities.

Additionally under the Equality Act, indirect discrimination now covers disabled people. This means that a job applicant or employee could claim that a particular rule or requirement you have in place disadvantages people with the same disability. Unless you could justify this, it would be unlawful.

Pre-employment health screening and the use of pre-employment health questionnaires:

Section 60 of the Act states “Health Questionnaires should be designed to ensure that they only elicit information that is both relevant and necessary, this implies that they should be designed by health professionals. It also implies that they should be interpreted by those who are qualified to draw meaningful conclusions from the information supplied”.

Section 60: ‘Enquiries about disability & health’
Employers are not allowed to ask about the health of the applicant before a job offer has been made, this can; however be an unconditional or conditional offer. It will allow questions (at any time)

to establish if the employer needs to make reasonable adjustments for interview or competency assessment
diversity monitoring
if the job is only open to disabled applicants
for the purpose of establishing whether the job applicant will be able to carry out a function that is intrinsic to the work concerned. This relates to functional capacity, e.g. physical fitness, eyesight, hearing, not to questions about health (e.g. the army, fire, police before the interview stage)

Questionnaires should be designed for the specific job role. So is an organisation employs multiple job roles then questionnaires should be relevant to the job function. Only jobs where there are clear, explicit health criteria should result in pre-employment screening.
Click here for examples of common questions and answers on pre-employment questionnaires

Good practices in employing people with disabilities

An employer might consider some of the following options in employing people with disabilities:

job redesign
adjustments within the workplace
more flexible working patterns
career breaks
home working.

More information on non-discriminatory recruitment practices for people with disabilities can be found in our Employability section under Discrimination - Legal Obligations on Employers.

For practical information on employment, disability and the access to work programme please contact the Disability Adviser at your local Job Centre Plus Office (external site).