11 million people in the UK have a disability for employment law purposes, around 1 in 5 people. They are protected from disability discrimination at work and in their daily lives by being given the right to bring employment tribunal claims.
Disability discrimination is treating disabled employees badly or differently to those without a disability but it can also be treating them the same.
If you are forced out of your job because of your employer’s reaction to your medical condition, this is also likely to be considered an unfair dismissal.
What is a disability?
Under the Equality Act 2010 (which replaced the Disability Discrimination Act) a disability is any condition that has a significant effect on your day to day activities (at work or at home) and is likely to last over 12 months.
There is a long government guidance that can help to work out if you have a disability for employment law purposes. It deals with special cases like recurring conditions, whether treatment and prosthetics make you able-bodied in the eyes of the law and so on. It also says what is and isn’t counted as a disability.