Employees With A Disability: Considerations For Jersey Employers

The Jersey Employment Trust recently published "Employment and disability: a good practice guide for employers in Jersey". This guide has been produced in partnership with the States of Jersey and is worth reading and adhering to an employer is considering taking on a "disabled" employee, if an existing employee becomes "disabled", and in anticipation of a law on Disability Discrimination coming into effect in the Island.

The Guide defines "disability" or long-term health issues as someone with "a physical 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" is regarded as not minor or more than trivial and "long-term" is regarded as 12 months or more. "Mental impairment" is widely defined but includes conditions such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder.