Workplace rights

Your rights at work

We all have rights within work. Employers have a 'duty of care'. This means they must do all they reasonably can to support their employees' health, safety, and wellbeing.  

This includes: 

  • making sure the working environment is safe. 
  • protecting staff from discrimination 
  • carrying out risk assessments 

Employers must treat mental and physical health as equally important. 

For some people who are living with a long-term health condition, the effect of it may mean they meet the definition of disability as defined under the Equality Act 2010.  

‘You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.’ 

You may be unsure if you meet the definition of disability or may not wish to consider yourself as disabled or having a disability. Whether you do or not, your employer has a duty to ensure staff who are living with a health condition have the support they need to remain in or return to work. 

Your employer may not fully realise the effect your condition has on you and on your ability to work. Discussing this with them will help your employer better understand how they can help you to remain at work.  

The Equality Act also prevents employers asking pre-employment health questions that are designed to screen out disabled job applicants. It says that employers cannot ask job applicants about their health or disability until they have been offered a job, except in specific circumstances where the information is necessary for the application process or a requirement of the job. 

Employers must do all they reasonably can to support disabled employees, including job applicants, to remove barriers to the workplace.  

“After my diagnosis when I was off work, my employer sent me to be reviewed by an independent doctor who informed me that my condition ensured that I was protected by the Disability Act. This was reassuring to know as I’ve always worked since leaving Uni and I wanted to work, I’ve always been driven and wanted a successful career.” Delyth 

The key aim of duties under Equality Act and Disability Discrimination act (Northern Ireland), is to ensure disabled workers have the same access to work as non-disabled workers. 

In order to meet this duty, it may mean removing any physical barriers to working or providing extra support for people living with a long-term condition or disability. Often these adjustments will be simple, straightforward, and low-cost.  

There is no definitive list of what a reasonable adjustment is. The type of adjustments offered can vary depending on the role or size of organisation.  

Examples of reasonable adjustments. 

  • Flexibility of work hours or start and finish time. From 6 April 2024, employees will be able to request flexible working from the first day of a job. Applying for flexible working. 
  • Reduced hours or change to days you work. 
  • Car parking space 
  • Work from another location or working from home. 
  • Time off for appointments or treatment. 
  • Review some tasks on temporary or permanent basis. 
  • Change of role. 
  • Extra training or support. 

Access to Work will not pay for anything that they think could be considered under reasonable adjustments. These are the changes your employer must legally make to support you to do your job. AtW will consider your request for additional equipment or support beyond this. 

You might assume that there are no adjustments or equipment that would make a difference to your work capacity. However, an assessment of your workplace needs can often identify some useful suggestions that you were unaware of.  This can be done by an Occupational Health adviser or an independent Access to Work assessment. 

Your employer is required to consider any recommendations made as a result of a workplace assessment. 

If, despite having a report that details what you need, you continue to have difficulty securing them, then raise this with Access to Work, your line manager, HR, Health & Safety, or union rep.   

You can also contact ACAS helpline for advice. The ACAS helpline is for anyone who needs employment law or workplace advice, including employers, employees, and workers.  

ACAS Helpline, confidential, free advice - 0300 123 1100 

Information on rights 

Equality Act 2010 and Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (NI)

The Equality Act also protects people from discrimination arising from disability. This protects you from being treated badly because of something connected to your disability, such as having an assistance dog or needing time off for medical appointments.

This does not apply unless the person who discriminated against you knew you had a disability or ought to have known.

The definition of disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 is a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-today activities:

  • ‘substantial’ is more than minor or trivial, eg it takes much longer than it usually would to complete a daily task like getting dressed.
  • ‘long-term’ means 12 months or more, eg a breathing condition that develops as a result of a lung infection

There are special rules about recurring or fluctuating conditions such as arthritis. 

To understand if you are protected by the Equality Act or DDA NI, reflect on how the symptoms impact on your capacity to do everyday tasks, before treatment or specialist equipment, is taken into account. These can include things such as:

  • getting dressed,
  • bathing
  • making food.

It may be that your condition fluctuates; you have times when you can manage most things, but then experience periods when you struggle to carry out tasks. If this is the case, you are still covered, if the impact of these periods is substantial and long term, as detailed above.

Your condition or disability does not have to be visible to meet the definition. You do not need to be in receipt of disability benefits to prove that you have a disability.

Information on these rights are available from government website. 

Northern Ireland

The Equality Act 2010 doesn’t apply to Northern Ireland. There are two laws in Northern Ireland, which promote equality of opportunity for people with disabilities by banning disability discrimination. They also give enforceable legal rights to people with disabilities. They are:

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) introduced, new laws and measures aimed at ending the discrimination faced by many disabled people. It gives disabled people rights in:

  • employment
  • access to goods, facilities, and services, including transport
  • the management, buying or renting of property
  • education.

The DDA (NI) only protects people who meet its definition of disability.

Employee Rights

Working with arthritis can bring some challenges. Being aware of your rights will help you to make informed decisions about work. There are guidelines for employers when recruiting staff. Employers cannot discriminate against applicants who have a disability or long-term condition, they should not ask about your condition unless it is to ensure you have any adjustments you need to attend an interview or pre-employment test. They can ask for the purpose of equality monitoring. There may be certain types of roles that require a physical health check though.

You have a right to ask for ‘reasonable adjustments’ to the workplace to reduce or remove barriers you face due to your condition. There is no specific list of reasonable adjustments, this can depend on the size of employer and type of work you do. It may be that your employer can provide, flexible start and finish time. However, they cannot provide specialist equipment, this may be something that Access to work could fund.

Work with your employer to understand what they can provide and what you may be able to claim through AtW.

Links to guidance and support

  • ACAS also provides guidance to employers and employees on disability and the Equality Act 2010, including some examples.
  • The World Health Organisation information on disability.
  • Citizens Advice Service has some simple information on disability.
  • Disability Rights UK has a range of information on rights and services.
  • Video from EHRC on disability rights.
  • TUC, Trade Union Congress, offers information on disability rights and support for union reps and members.
  • Equality and Human Rights Commission EHRC Helpline
  • Business Disability Forum BDF. Asking for information about disability during recruitment.

Related information