Disability leave is planned or unplanned time off from work for a reason relating to an\u00a0individual\u2019s\u00a0impairment\/disability.<\/p>\n
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Although in the UK there isn\u2019t technically a legal requirement for every organisation or company to have such a policy, the Equality Act 2010 requires employers to make \u2018reasonable adjustments\u2019 to the workplace for disabled staff members, to ensure that we are not put at an unfair disadvantage due to having an impairment. Disability leave is listed as an example of a reasonable adjustment that employers could implement to ensure that employees aren\u2019t unfairly disciplined or disadvantaged, due to absence from the workplace which is disability\/impairment related.<\/p>\n
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Working alongside Spark! HR has recently published its Disability Leave Policy which has been highlighted to managers, however we felt that it would be helpful to highlight the policy here as well, so that you can direct your manager to it if they are unaware. We have worked with HR to ensure that the types of circumstances that should be considered to be \u2018disability leave\u2019 are wide ranging, varied and inclusive of all no matter what your impairment is.<\/p>\n
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It’s worth having a quick look at the policy even if you don\u2019t think it is currently something that you could benefit from, especially as it seeks to make provision to separate \u2018disability related leave\u2019 from standard \u2018sick leave\u2019 which should help to reduce instances of disabled members of staff reaching the university\u2019s absence triggers.<\/p>\n
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