Disability and discipline give pause for thought

Employers are not liable to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees unless they know, or ought to know, that the employee is both disabled and likely to be at a substantial disadvantage. This is a complex test and creates practical difficulties for employers. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has now looked at it again in DWP v Alam.

Mr Alam suffered from symptoms of depression and, as a result, sometimes had severe headaches and was apt to lose concentration and his temper. He arrived late for work one day, having warned his line manager that he would be late. On his arrival at 12:30pm, he asked his line manager if he could leave early, at 4pm, to attend an interview for a supplementary job (his normal working day finished at 6pm). Mr Alam's line manager refused him permission to do so. At about 1pm, Mr Alam made the same request of a more senior manager, who also refused him permission to leave early. Mr Alam became increasingly stressed throughout the