The Court of Appeal has held (subject to any appeal to the Supreme Court) that it is not sex discrimination to offer enhanced maternity pay without offering enhanced pay for shared parental leave. The employment tribunal had held that the father taking Shared Parental Leave wished to perform the same role as the equivalent female... Read more »
The EAT held that as before the Equality Act, conduct does not have the effect of creating a hostile etc environment unless it is reasonable to regard it as doing so. In Ahmed v Cardinal Hume Academies (bailii.org) the claimant had dyspraxia. Due to pain in his hands, he could only write for a few... Read more »
The EAT considered, under s.15 EqA (discrimination arising from disability), a case where there were also non-disability-related reasons for dismissal, and where there was no notice of the disability until the internal appeal hearing. The claimant was dismissed at the end of her six-month probationary period, over five concerns about her performance and behaviour. She... Read more »
The EAT said that if an employer had a policy to make a particular adjustment, considerable weight would be attached to this in deciding whether it was reasonable. The employer in this case had a policy of giving someone a parking space if recommended by OH. The claimant had ulcerative colitis, which could lead to... Read more »
The EAT held that a mistaken belief by an employee that her disability would be adversely affected by a change in working arrangements was not sufficient causal link with the disability. Therefore, said the EAT, s.15 of the Equality Act (discrimination arising from disability) did not apply in this case, and it did not matter... Read more »
The EAT held the tribunal wrongly focused on whether an exception for the individual was justified, in an indirect discrimination claim. The employer’s bus drivers were required to work five out of seven days each week, which could include Fridays and Saturdays. The employer said it designed rotas to share duties fairly and to give... Read more »
Diana Kloss’s latest blog looks at new FOM ethics guidance on how far OH requires consent to report following statutory health surveillance. COSHH and other regulations on noise, vibration, lead, asbestos and ionising radiation place a legal obligation on the employer to provide suitable health surveillance, and on the employee to present himself during working... Read more »
An appeal tribunal in an education case has held it contravened human rights law to exclude from the Equality Act an autistic child with aggressive tendencies. An 11 year-old child with autism and other conditions was excluded from school for 1 1/2 days because of aggressive behaviour arising from his disabilities. His claim under the... Read more »
It can be a mistake to focus too much on when a condition was diagnosed. The claimant, a teacher, had an impairment since December 2015. However it was only diagnosed as fibromyalgia in August 2016. The EAT held that the employment tribunal had wrongly focused on the late diagnosis of the condition rather than on... Read more »
This new ‘Ethics Guidance for Occupational Health Practice’ from the Faculty of Occupational Medicine was published in December. Changes from the previous guidance include: on statutory health surveillance, simple statements of outcome being ethical without consent; and new guidance on continuing to work despite risk to oneself, including how far it is ethical to disclose... Read more »