Policy News Journal - 2014-15

In George v H and M Bottomley Ltd , the employment tribunal found that the employer failed to make the reasonable adjustment of providing a van with power-assisted steering that it had available so a sales representative with rheumatoid arthritis could continue to drive. 5. Redeploying a disabled person to a non-public facing role In Brooks v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions , the employment tribunal concluded that an employee with depression who could not cope with significant direct dealings with the public should have been offered a job in a non-public facing role that was available. 6. Allowing for regular breaks to cope with a disability In Woodhead v Halifax plc , a diabetic employee who was not provided with regular breaks as necessitated by her condition was found to have been unlawfully discriminated against because of her disability. 7. Providing a disabled employee with a mentor In Bowerman v B&Q plc and others , an employee with Asperger’s syndrome made repeated requests to be provided with a mentor under the employer’s mentoring scheme. This would have assisted the employee in understanding how his behaviour might affect others and would have provided a channel through which other employees could raise concerns they had regarding his behaviour towards them. 8. Amending the employer’s policy on companions at certain meetings For a disabled employee, the duty to make reasonable adjustments may extend to permitting additional or alternative representation at performance review meetings or disciplinary hearings by someone outside the prescribed categories, for example a support worker or family member experienced in managing the worker’s disability. The Court of Appeal considered this issue in Cave v Goodwin . 9. Swapping roles with another employee In Jelic v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police , the EAT upheld an employment tribunal decision that swapping a disabled police officer’s role with that of another officer would have constituted a reasonable adjustment in the circumstances. 10. Retaining an employee temporarily in an alternative post In Horler v Chief Constable of South Wales Police , the employment tribunal concluded that the most obvious reasonable adjustment would have been retaining an injured police officer in a camera room operator role to which he had been moved, at least until that post was no longer in existence. At that point, the police force would have been in a position to review the officer’s job. As the police force had not considered taking these steps, it had failed to make reasonable adjustments.

Military Reservists

16 September 2014

New Regulations regarding payments to employers for replacing a reservist come into force on 1 October 2014.

Many thanks to Daniel Barnett for this report about the new Regulations

At present, when called up, military reservists are paid directly by the Ministry of Defence - and employers can claim expenses in respect of additional costs incurred whilst replacing the reservist (to a maximum of £110 per day). From 1 October 2014, small and medium employers will also be able to receive up to £500 per month for each full month a reservist is absent from work (reduced pro rata for parts of a month, or part-time workers).

CIPP Policy News Journal

08/04/2015, Page 69 of 521

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