Free eyetest for computer users

fluberjit

hi, i know there is a law (VDU 1992) which says that by law if you use a computer for over 15 hours a week that your employer must pay for you to have a regular eyesight test. I heard that the employer should pay for or contribute to paying for any glasses i would need, but i cant find any information online to confirm this or to say how much they will pay. can anyone help me please

nedmundo

The employer is only obliged to pay towards glasses if they are for VDU only, which in practice is pretty rare. If that is the situation, most will only cover for cost of basic frames and lenses, the bare minimum to fulfil their legal obligations. Having said that, some employers will take better care of their employees and be a bit more generous - worth asking.

fluberjit

nedmundo wrote: »

most will only cover for cost of basic frames and lenses, the bare minimum to fulfil their legal obligations

yeah, that describes my work perfect

dmg24

Do you not need the glasses for anything else e.g. reading, watching tv?

JennyW_2

Work with Display Screen Equipment regulation 5 states:

The duty on employers is to provide a test where a user requests one. It is up to the employer to decide how to do this, whether by arranging for all their users to visit a particular optometrist or doctor nominated by the employer; by allowing users to make their own arrangements with optometrists and reimbursing the costs afterwards; by a voucher scheme or any other means.

"Normal" corrective appliances are at the user's own expense, but users needing "special" corrective appliances will be prescribed a special pair of spectacles for display screen work. Employers' liability for the cost of these is restricted to payment of the cost of a basic appliance, ie of a type and quality adequate for the user's work.

If however users are permitted by their employers to choose spectacles to correct eye or vision defects for purposes which include the user's work BUT go wider than than, employers need contribute only the costs attributable to the requirements of the job.

Have you not had a VDU risk assessment carried out where you work for you and your workstation? Regulation 2 states that every employer should perform a suitable and sufficient analysis and risk assessment.. Assessments should be carried out H&S personnel or other in-house staff if they have been trained. This will cover such points as furniture layout, lighting, hours, stress etc......

fluberjit

we haven't had any assessments, they are not really the type of people to spend money to stay within the law, and thats bad for a school

and i been to specsavers and the first girl said that everything is upto the employer, so i went back half hour later and a woman said that the employer has to provide only the test and most basic glasses available if i need them

i am getting contacts so she just said i would have to pay for it myself, its not too bad though