Managing disability or ill health
To obtain further information on this subject or any other
disability related topic please go to www.drc-gb.org
Retention of disabled employees
An employer must not discriminate against an employee who
becomes disabled, or who has a disability which worsens.
Employers will often find that it is of benefit to their
organisation to retain a disabled employee as this will
prevent their knowledge and skills from being lost to the
enterprise. In addition, the cost of retaining such an
employee will frequently be less than the cost of
recruiting and training a new member of staff.
If as a result of the disability an employer’s arrangements
or a physical feature of the employer’s premises place the
employee at a substantial disadvantage in doing his
existing job, the employer must consider any reasonable
adjustment that would resolve the difficulty. The nature of
the adjustments which an employer may have to consider will
depend on the circumstances of the case, but the following
considerations will always be relevant:
· The first consideration in making reasonable adjustments
should be to enable the disabled employee to continue in
his present job if at all possible.
· The employer should consult the disabled person at
appropriate stages about what his needs are and, where the
employee has a progressive condition, what effect the
disability might have on future employment, so that
reasonable adjustments may be planned.
· In appropriate cases, the employer should also consider
seeking expert advice on the extent of a disabled person’s
capabilities and on what might be done to change premises
or working arrangements. Where an employee has been off
work, a phased return might be appropriate.
· If there are no reasonable adjustments which would enable
the disabled employee to continuein his present job, the
employer must consider whether there are suitable
alternative positions to which he could be redeployed.
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