Equality Act 2010

daveboy

I am asking this on behalf of myself.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was replaced at the end of last year by the Equality Act 2010. The following passage appears in both for the definition of a disability:

.....a person has a disability for the purposes of this Act if he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

It is slightly different in the Equality Act but equates to the same wording split into two sections.

Schedule 1 of the DDA 1995 and the Equality Act 2010 say the following:

The effect of an impairment is a long-term effect if

(a)it has lasted at least 12 months;

(b)the period for which it lasts is likely to be at least 12 months; or

(c)it is likely to last for the rest of the life of the person affected.

My question is.......does having an ileostomy (better known as a stoma) come under the definition of being disabled for the purposes of the law.

I had a hernia repair done in November 2009, but in early 2010 the bulge came back because the muscles around the stoma have simply given up. I wear a support belt to try and push it back a bit.

My work currently is through an agency working in a warehouse picking items for a large national company. There is an area in this warehouse where the items are relatively small and there isn't much bending needed. There is an hourly pick rate which I have regularly hit for the last 4 months or so.

My question is, with my stoma, hernia repair and wearing the belt, am I protected under the Equality Act? Could I insist that they keep me in the area where the items are relatively small?

I am working through what would be called an employment service provider and am not contracted to the national company, so I realise that my concerns would have to go to the provider.

Additionally, I had the stoma operation in January 2008 and it will be for life as I do not wish to undergo a stoma reversal.

Comments from anyone with legal knowledge in this area is much appreciated.

Edited to add:

The Equality Act 2010 has the following in Chapter 2 (Duty to make adjustments):

.....the second requirement is a requirement, where a physical feature puts a disabled
person at a substantial disadvantage in relation to a relevant matter in comparison with
persons who are not disabled, to take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to
avoid the disadvantage.

That seems to answer one question.

It is just whether having a stoma (and hernia repair) fall under the definiton of a disability in the first place.

daveboy

Forget the physical feature part, further reading means that 'physical feature' refers to actual physical obstructions etc in the workplace, not as in the physical features of an individual, which is what I initially thought.