Disabled access to office and discrimination

[Delta_Software_Services]

Hi,

we have taken on offices at a business entre on the second floor.

no way exists for someone in a wheelchair to get to the second level.

as we are currently interviewing for staff are we in trouble for not employing a disabled person because our facilities would not support them.

thanks.

 

[lesliedocherty]

i thought it only applied to new builds,

 

[Zeno]

Hi,

we have taken on offices at a business entre on the second floor.

no way exists for someone in a wheelchair to get to the second level.

as we are currently interviewing for staff are we in trouble for not employing a disabled person because our facilities would not support them.

thanks.

Basically, no as there are no reasonable adjustments you could make to accomodate a disabled worker.

 

[profitxchange]

Its all about what can reasonably be done.
I am surprised that the office centre management have not doen anything. You could always ask.

 

[crossdaz]

as we are currently interviewing for staff are we in trouble for not employing a disabled person because our facilities would not support them.

Not really, as others have stated the DDA regulations generally allow for an element of common sense.

For a new building or where modifications requiring Building Control approval apply then Approved Document M of the current building regulations is the benchmark standard.

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_ADM_2004.pdf

If you need any more information just let me know.

 

[Employment Law Clinic]

More red tape, but what you need to consider is what the access barriers for disabled people (which of course is a lot wider than those people that use a wheelchair) are. Once you've properly considered these, you'll be better placed to decide what reasonable adjustments you can - or can ask your landlord to - make.

As long as you've conducted a disability access audit, and addressed where you can make reasonable adjustments, you shouldn't have a problem.

You may find there are a few small things you can do to improve access, but sometimes you won't be able to do anything or the scale of work necessary couldn't be defined as reasonable. All subjective, but if you simply shake your head at the narrow doors of the elevator, decide you can't get a new one installed, and ignore anything else you might be able to do, you could be in trouble. In most cases though, as long as you can prove you conducted an audit & made any reasonable adjustments identified, you should be fine.


Karl Limpert

 

[oldeagleeye]

Don't worry about it as Zeno said the name of the game is reasonable. Incidentally. We had a chap in a wheelchair complain that he couldn't get into my last pub beause the step was too high.

Rather nasty piece of work he too. Never told me about this. Just went to the council and turned up again with some council guy in tow. The council had informed me of the visit however and after he has bashed his chair so as to prove the point he looked at me with a big smirk on his face.

It didn't last long. Whooose. 2 of my regulars had lifted him up and plnoked him down in front of the bar before he knew what hit him. Needless to say he left to try somewhere else because all too often this disability access law is turning into a compensation racket.

 

[crossdaz]

Don't worry about it as Zeno said the name of the game is reasonable. Incidentally. We had a chap in a wheelchair complain that he couldn't get into my last pub beause the step was too high.

I agree with your point but don't forget that not all disabled people are in wheelchairs. For instance, someone with a vision or hearing impairment is also considered under the act.

Another point to note that if someone who was disabled applied for a job then what 'reasonable' measures could you employ to accommodate them - for example, could they work from home and still do the job?

As someone earlier mentioned the word 'audit' - so long as you have sat down and considered any relevant points then you needn't worry about falling foul of the law.

 

[oldeagleeye]

I agree. Just wanted to point out that reasonable is the name of the game. I personally would be more than happy take on a poorly sighted person if the job entailed answering the telephone as I have found in the past that employees with diabilities are extrmely hard working and loyal and worthy of consideration - but lets face it a 2nd floor office with no lift access desn't come anywhere near the remit where a wheelchare bound applicant is concerned.

 

[Zeno]

I was in my local with a friend one time when the barman asked if we could help to take an old boy who looked like he had had one too many.

So we duly helped him down the road, pretty shocked as he could not stand up without assistance and kept falling over.

"What a state for a man of your age to get into. You should be ashamed of yourself".

We get him to his house, and out comes his wife. We leave him in her care and are about to leave when she shouts "You stupid b*stards! You've forgotten his zimmer frame!"

 

[oldeagleeye]

We had a guy in my pub called Ernie. 75 years old he was. Used to chase the young girls around on Karaoke nights and gawd forbid when he got up and sang with one of the 2 young girls that ran it. I had to threaten to ban him 10 times before he stop grabbing her ars-.

 

[Employment Law Clinic]

I totally agree with CrossDaz: the first (and often only) instinct when we think about the Disability Discrimination Act is to arrange a ramp where a step existed before.

If you were to think about the buildings we often enter from the position of other disabilities though, we can often find small things that we can reasonably do, which always helps to show to those that go out just to make a fuss, without having 2 regulars to aid that awkward squad, that "reasonable" adjustments have been made:

• Pull the door when the buzzer sounds - but what about those that can't hear? A simple light will resolve that.
• Press the button on the left to release the door - but what if I'm pulling/pushing the door, but can't see the sign telling me about the button on the left? Or if I can see it, but only have one upper limb? A braille sign near the handle, or a timed release when you press the button will resolve these hurdles.
• Hand rails for the stairs - most of us are comfortable traversing stairs, but without our vision, would we be so comfortable without a rail?
• Fire alarms are an awkward one - for those with hearing difficulties, you might consider flashing lights, but for people with epilepsy, you'll want to remove flashing lights!

It's not easy to realise what can be done, which is why an audit is best - ideally by a pro, or at least someone unfamiliar with the building - with active thoughts of how someone would cope if they had any of the many restrictions we too often fail to think about.


As for anecdotes, when I was involved in the pub trade we used to have a couple of customers on mobility scooters. Once in the pub (the back door was opened early, just to let them roll in & get settled) they would expect to be able to smoke, regardless of laws. A reasonable adjustment? Some staff thought not, but knew better than to complain. If strangers were in the bar (not common, as the trade is sadly dying) they'd use the kitchen (food was never prepared in there, so really just a spare room behind the bar). Of course, they were in a pub, so they needed company, and they were not mobile enough to go back & forth to their bench... come an average evening, most of the regulars had occupied the kitchen, while the bar was empty. Might have been breaking one law, but only to satisfy another!


Karl Limpert