Changes to the Disability Discrimination Act

Changes to the UK's disability discrimination legislation came into force on 1 October 2004.

The new Regulations, which are being introduced as amendments to the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act, will bring UK legislation into line with the requirements of the EU framework Directive on employment equality, which outlaws discrimination on grounds of religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation (2000/78/EC). The deadline by which the Directive should have been transposed into national law was 2 December 2003, but the government notified the European Commission that it required one additional year to implement the disability legislation (and three for age - see Equality report 2004).

From 1 October 2004, it is against the law for any employer (apart from the armed forces) of any size to discriminate against a disabled person because of their disability. Previously, the law only applied to enterprises with 15 or more employees, and certain professions were exempt from the requirements. These included: police officers; fire fighters; prison officers; barristers; and employees on ships and planes.

All employers will be required to have made "reasonable adjustments" to their businesses to ensure access for physically handicapped people if they already have an employee who is disabled or a disabled person applies for a job. Changes that need to be considered range from building wheelchair ramps to providing application forms in large print or braille.

Where appropriate, companies will have to offer their customers large print versions of paperwork and websites, and service providers - such as shops - will also be required to make appropriate changes to enable access for disabled people.

The law will recognise four types of discrimination for people with disabilities: direct discrimination; failure to make reasonable adjustments; disability-related discrimination; and victimisation. The new provisions also cover discriminatory recruitment advertisements. Failure to comply could mean a company being taken to an employment tribunal, where it could be fined or face investigation by the Disability Rights Commission.

The British Chambers of Commerce has sent information to its 60 local chambers offices to distribute to their members and has also contacted around 20,000 businesses with advice, but lawyers and business groups are concerned that there are hundreds of thousands of small companies that are either ignorant of the legal changes or have not made adequate preparations. They have highlighted what constitutes "reasonable adjustments" to a business as one area of concern.

However, David Bishop, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said that most of the organisation's 185,000 members were aware of the changes, thanks to a long-running campaign it has conducted with the Disability Rights Commission. Even so, he expressed his fears that of the around four million small businesses in the UK, there would be many which had not made the necessary preparations.

Alan Johnson, the secretary of state for work and pensions, welcomed the new legislation, saying: "This government has championed civil rights for disabled people and will continue to ignore the nonsense which suggests that this is anything to do with political correctness. This new legislation is about making 'reasonable adjustments' to give disabled people in this country the opportunity to participate fully so that society can benefit from the economic contribution they can make."

The general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, Brendan Barber, said, on the day the legislation came into force: "[Today's] changes will make a real difference to disabled people's work and home lives. Previously the limited scope of disability legislation meant that small firms were able to get away with treating disabled people unfairly. Now, discriminating employers will no longer be able to hide behind the law." He continued: "The TUC warmly welcomes the new disability regulations that come into force today [1 October 2004]" but warned that the many businesses that have not done enough to make their buildings fully accessible could end up in court facing hefty fines, claiming that "many firms have been burying their heads in the sand."

It is estimated that some 9.8 million disabled people will benefit from the new legislation. The Department for Work and Pensions has produced an information pack for employers and service providers, including a video on the Disability Discrimination Act (telephone 0845 124 9841).