DDA

[stevenjust]

Hello,

Does anyone know if ET is covered by the disability discrimination act. I was recently turned down for an internal job because my sickness record was too high. Not allowed more than 18 days in 3 years and I had 19. I have read that the DDA covers any illness that affects your daily life or any long term chronic illness but can't find ET as being covered. I am on hydroxy 1500mg daily plus aspirin.

Thanks.

[ETphonehome]

Looked into this a while back steven and apparently it isn't. Unfortunately I can't remember the reason why.

It was while ago though and it may have changed now so I wouldn't take my experience as definitive.

[Caf01]

I am covered in work by the DDA act. Work make allowances for any extra sick leave I take due to me having ET. Work also have to give me all time off for medical appointments. As i work part time any doctors appointments I have i take on my days off and hospital appointments always fall on my day to work so I just work a different day instead. I do this because my boss treats me so fairly.

[Mazcd Partner MPNVoice]

Hi Steven, I don't know the answer to this, however having just had a look at the DDA guide odi.dwp.gov.uk/docs/wor/new... it does say under Paras B16-B20 Progressive Conditions that the list of conditions is not exhaustive and they only give examples, I think you should ask your HR Department or Occupational Health to look into it for you, they should be able to find out more for you. Maz

[Katsy]

Hi Steven

I was referred to our occupational therapy unit via work. The consultant wrote back to my employer and confirmed ET is covered by the DDA and all hospital apointments should be dealt with accordingly, they were also advised that sickess in realtion to ET and its treatments should also be noted accordingly.

hope this helps

K

[Aime]

Hi Steven, I was referred to OHU through work like Katsy. I was told my PV is covered by DDA and I have been advised by my union to make sure it, along with my arthritic conditions, are declared in my personal record at work. Hope this helps. Kind regards Aime

[Michael56]

Hi Steven, Having gone through a claim for DD in tribunal over the last 2 years, during one of the pre trial meetings my employer had to concede my disability as PV is recognised as a pre-cancer condition of long term "chronic" status and has an impairment on your day to day living, once established they settled out of court, hope this helps!.

[ilc72]

Many conditions lasting, or expected to last, more than twelve months are covered by the DDA. This includes mental (eg Depression) as well as physical illnesses.

Note however the DDA has effectively been incorporated into the Equality Act 2010 from a legal perspective.

An employer is required to make "reasonable" adjustments to your workplace. However what is reasonable in one job/company is not universal. Large employers are expected to make more adjustments than an SME. A company cannot be expected to make a role for you if your unable to do your own job for example, however it would be expected to offer extra time and training to allow you to perform a new role you may not be qualified for.

In your circumstances, you need to consider carefully your options and be objective? Raising a discrimination claim can destroy your relationship with your employer, however so can being overlooked in the way you have.

An employer is expected to have made objective candidate selection in line with the Equality Act that takes into account relevant legislation.

Final point, have you asked for written feedback as to why you weren't offered the role yet? If not, you probably should! Better to have it in writing. Also if appropriate make sure you keep a diary and log of all conversations and emails as this will be invaluable if you decide to take action.

Another important option to consider is to put in a Data Subject Access Request ("DSAR") to get a copy of all data held by the company on yourself and related to yourself. They can charge up to £10 for it, but if you've got copies of emails etc. that they then don't disclose then it can be a massive help.

I'm not an employment lawyer but have successfully battled a large multi-national through 18 months of litigation on discrimination issues amongst others. If you'd like further advice send me an email to [e-mail] and I'll try and help but I'm away on holiday until 2nd November.

[Hidden]

As I understand it since the reclassification of MPDs to MPNs by the World Health Organisation (WHO), these conditions are now classed as a cancer. The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) (now the Equality Act) covers cancer - the following link explains:

cancerresearchuk.org/cancer...

However, there is still a very grey area around this diagnosis, cancer v precancerous and different schools of thought among the professionals. I get very frustrated when I see it described as a blood cancer on some sites and a precancerous condition on other respected sites. This sends out different messages to health professionals, employers and insurers. Although I wouldn't wish cancer on anyone it seems to me you get more support when the word cancer is used rather than precancerous. I'd love to read others thoughts on this.

By the way Steven, I too had time off with my ET and was sent to Occupational Health who informed my employer I was protected by the DDA.

[Geoff_mpnfamily]

Thats very very helpful information.

[NewBloom]

Yes we are covered under the Equality Act 2010. I to have experience issues with my employer. Its very stressful at an already stressful time. Stevenjust, I wish you all the best of luck, don't let them beat you down we are worth more than that. xx