Disability Discrimination At Work Solicitors

If you have experienced discrimination at work due to your disability, our employment team may be able to help you.

Our disability discrimination at work specialists are here to help

For anyone with a disability, the last thing you would expect is your colleagues treating you negatively because of it. It can be difficult enough navigating the workplace with a disability, let alone having to face discrimination from others.

If you have a disability, it’s illegal for you to be discriminated against in the workplace.

We encourage employees who have or who are facing disability discrimination to get in touch with our team as soon as possible.

Our discrimination at work services

Call us free today to see how you can get started

0808 164 0808

Or request a call back if you’d like one of our no-win, no-fee experts to call you

What is direct disability discrimination? toggle accordion

Direct disability discrimination is where a disabled employee may be treated less favourably because of their disability, compared to someone without a disability in the same scenario.

What is indirect disability discrimination? toggle accordion

Indirect disability discrimination is where a workplace may have a provision, criterion or practice, which is applied equally to a group of employees, but has (or will have) the effect of putting those who have a disability at a particular disadvantage, when compared to others in the group and the employer is unable to justify it.

What is discrimination arising from disability? toggle accordion

The Equality Act 2010 also protects an employee from what the law terms ‘discrimination arising from disability’. This is where someone is treated unfavourably; not because of the disability itself, but because of something linked to their disability. Examples of something connected with a disability might include:

Absence from work because of an illness
Problems with movement
Difficulties with reading, writing, talking, listening or understanding

Sometimes, there may be situations where disability discrimination can be justified. For example, a workplace may exclude a disabled employee for health and safety reasons, which would suggest they are putting that person’s safety first rather than simply discriminating against them.

What is a ‘reasonable adjustment’? toggle accordion

This is one of the most common types of disability discrimination. A ‘reasonable adjustment’ is a change or adaptation to the working environment, which has the effect of removing or minimising the impact of the individual’s disability in the workplace. Every employer is legally obliged to make reasonable adjustments in the workplace, to allow any disabled employees to carry out their roles, without being at a disadvantage. For example, you may require a standing desk to enable comfortable working with a spinal impairment. Or, you may be a wheelchair user whose employer should install ramps if your place of work doesn’t already have them.

Disability Discrimination at Work legal services

Our approach to disability discrimination at work

Understanding exactly what’s happened and how we can help
Identifying the extent of the discrimination and what this could mean
Doing everything we can to achieve the best possible outcome

Funding your employment claim

A dispute with your employer can be stressful, and the last thing you want to be worried about is how to pay for the legal help and advice you need. We will help you get the best possible outcome in the most cost-effective way. Click below to find out more about the funding options available to you.

To learn more about funding your employment claim click here >

Our no win, no fee arrangement

We have a no win, no fee arrangement available, which is known as a Damage Based Agreement (DBA). A DBA is where the payment of our fees depends upon the success of the claim. This means that if the case is won or settlement terms are agreed, we would be paid by taking a percentage of the compensation that you are awarded. We are one of the only employment law firms in the UK to offer Damaged Based Agreements (DBAs) for all types of claimant employment cases.

Are there other fees?

Do you offer a fixed fee option?

Kind words from our employment clients

If an employer fails to make reasonable adjustments for you, you could be eligible to claim disability discrimination

Below are some further examples of disability discrimination in employment:

Harassment – if an employer/other employees were to make fun of a person’s disability. This can include bullying, nicknames, threats, intrusive or inappropriate questions, excluding someone or insults. It can be verbal, written or physical. Unwanted jokes and/or gossip which the employee finds offensive can be harassment and to say they were “banter” is no defence.
By association – if an employer or employee discriminates against someone simply because they know someone disabled, or have a disabled spouse/partner or child.
Victimisation – this is when an employee may suffer what the law terms a “detriment”, because they engaged in any of the following:
Made an allegation of discrimination
Supported a complaint about discrimination
Gave evidence to support a discrimination claim
Raised a grievance concerning equality or discrimination
Did anything else for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010.

Making a disability discrimination claim

If you have experienced disability discrimination in the workplace or during the recruitment process, then we recommend you act quickly. The law states that an employee only has three months, less one day, from the date of the discriminatory act to start a complaint at an employment tribunal.

In order to bring a tribunal claim, we recommend you contact our disability discrimination solicitors in the first instance. Any employee who wishes to bring a claim for disability discrimination at work needs to submit details of their claim to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), so that they can establish whether the employer will agree to ‘early conciliation’. Depending on your circumstances, we may be able to help you with this.

Meet our discrimination at work lawyers

Neha Thethi

Head of Employment

Employment

Lucy Needham

Solicitor

Employment

Get in touch with our no win, no fee disability discrimination at work solicitors today

If you need to talk to someone straight away you can call us for free on 0808 164 0808

Complete our form for a callback as soon as possible

Other discrimination at work claims we can help with

Age discrimination → Gender reassignment discrimination → Pregnancy & maternity discrimination → Racial discrimination → Sex discrimination →

Disclaimer

In general you have three months less one day from the most recent act of discrimination or breach to take action, meaning you should act fast.

We recommend you speak to one of our lawyers in the first instance. As part of the process, you’ll need to get in touch with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), who will aim to achieve early conciliation with your employer. However, our lawyers can assist in this process where appropriate and we have formally been instructed.

Please be aware that the ACAS process can take up to around a month to complete, which will be taken from the three months you have to begin with. It’s important to act quickly in order to bring a tribunal claim. If the conciliation procedure is unsuccessful, we may be able to support you with the tribunal. If you feel you have a potential employment claim please act quickly and contact us today.