Disability Discrimination Act 1995
1995 c. 50
An Act to make it unlawful to discriminate against disabled persons in connection with employment, the provision of goods, facilities and services or the disposal or management of premises; to make provision about the employment of disabled persons; and to establish a National Disability Council.
[8th November 1995]
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
(1) Subject to the provisions of Schedule 1, a person has a disability for the purposes of this Act and Part III of the 2005 Order 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.
(2) In this Act and Part III of the 2005 Order“disabled person” means a person who has a disability.
(1) The provisions of this Part and Parts II , III and VAand Part III of the 2005 Order apply in relation to a person who has had a disability as they apply in relation to a person who has that disability.
(2) Those provisions are subject to the modifications made by Schedule 2.
(3) Any regulations or order made under this Act or Part III of the 2005 Order may include provision with respect to persons who have had a disability.
(4) In any proceedings under Part II , III or VA of this Act or Part III of the 2005 Order, the question whether a person had a disability at a particular time (“the relevant time”) shall be determined, for the purposes of this section, as if the provisions of, or made under, this Act or Part III of the 2005 Order in force when the act complained of was done had been in force at the relevant time.
(5) The relevant time may be a time before the passing of this Act or (as the case may be) the making of the 2005 Order.
(A1) The Office may issue guidance about matters to be taken into account in determining whether a person is a disabled person.
(1) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (A1), the Office may, in particular, issue guidance about the matters to be taken into account in determining—
(a) whether an impairment has a substantial adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities; or
(b) whether such an impairment has a long-term effect.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (A1), guidance about the matters mentioned in subsection (1) may, among other things, give examples of—
(a) effects which it would be reasonable, in relation to particular activities, to regard for purposes of this Act as substantial adverse effects;
(b) effects which it would not be reasonable, in relation to particular activities, to regard for such purposes as substantial adverse effects;
(c) substantial adverse effects which it would be reasonable to regard, for such purposes, as long-term;
(d) substantial adverse effects which it would not be reasonable to regard, for such purposes, as long-term.
(3) A tribunal or court determining, for any purpose of this Act or Part III of the 2005 Order , whether a person is a disabled person, shall take into account any guidance which appears to it to be relevant.
(4) In preparing a draft of any guidance, the Department shall consult such persons as it considers appropriate.
(5) Where the Department proposes to issue any guidance, the Department shall publish a draft of it, consider any representations that are made to the Department about the draft and, if the Department thinks it appropriate, modify its proposals in the light of any of those representations.
(6) If the Department decides to proceed with any proposed guidance, the Department shall lay a draft of it before the Assembly.
(7) If, within the statutory period, the Assembly resolves not to approve the draft, the Department shall take no further steps in relation to the proposed guidance.
(8) If no such resolution is made within the statutory period, the Department shall issue the guidance in the form of its draft.
(9) The guidance shall come into force on such date as the Department may by order appoint.
(10) Subsection (7) does not prevent a new draft of the proposed guidance being laid before the Assembly.
(11) The Department may—
(a) from time to time revise the whole or any part of any guidance and re-issue it ;
(b) by order revoke any guidance.
(12) In this section—
“the Department” means the Department of Economic Development;
“guidance” means guidance issued by the Department under this section and includes guidance which has been revised and re-issued;
“statutory period” has the meaning assigned to it by section 41(2) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954.
(1) For the purposes of this Part, a person discriminates against a disabled person if—
(a) for a reason which relates to the disabled person’s disability, he treats him less favourably than he treats or would treat others to whom that reason does not or would not apply, and
(b) he cannot show that the treatment in question is justified.
(2) For the purposes of this Part, a person also discriminates against a disabled person if he fails to comply with a duty to make reasonable adjustments imposed on him in relation to the disabled person.
(3) Treatment is justified for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) if, but only if, the reason for it is both material to the circumstances of the particular case and substantial.
(4) But treatment of a disabled person cannot be justified under subsection (3) if it amounts to direct discrimination falling within subsection (5).
(5) A person directly discriminates against a disabled person if, on the ground of the disabled person’s disability, he treats the disabled person less favourably than he treats or would treat a person not having that particular disability whose relevant circumstances, including his abilities, are the same as, or not materially different from, those of the disabled person.
(6) If, in a case falling within subsection (1), a person is under a duty to make reasonable adjustments in relation to a disabled person but fails to comply with that duty, his treatment of that person cannot be justified under subsection (3) unless it would have been justified even if he had complied with that duty.
(1) For the purposes of this Part, a person subjects a disabled person to harassment where, for a reason which relates to the disabled person’s disability, he engages in unwanted conduct which has the purpose or effect of—
(a) violating the disabled person’s dignity, or
(b) creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for him.
(2) Conduct shall be regarded as having the effect referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) only if, having regard to all the circumstances, including in particular the perception of the disabled person, it should reasonably be considered as having that effect.
4 Discrimination against applicants and employees.
(1) It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a disabled person –
(a) in the arrangements which he makes for the purpose of determining to whom he should offer employment;
(b) in the terms on which he offers that person employment; or
(c) by refusing to offer, or deliberately not offering, him employment.
(2) It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a disabled person whom he employs –
(a) in the terms of employment which he affords him;
(b) in the opportunities which he affords him for promotion, a transfer, training or receiving any other benefit;
(c) by refusing to afford him, or deliberately not affording him, any such opportunity; or
(d) by dismissing him, or subjecting him to any other detriment.
(3) It is also unlawful for an employer, in relation to employment by him, to subject to harassment –
(a) a disabled person whom he employs; or
(b) a disabled person who has applied to him for employment.
(4) Subsection (2) does not apply to benefits of any description if the employer is concerned with the provision (whether or not for payment) of benefits of that description to the public, or to a section of the public which includes the employee in question, unless –
(a) that provision differs in a material respect from the provision of the benefits by the employer to his employees;
(b) the provision of the benefits to the employee in question is regulated by his contract of employment; or
(c) the benefits relate to training.
(5) The reference in subsection (2)(d) to the dismissal of a person includes a reference –
(a) to the termination of that person’s employment by the expiration of any period (including a period expiring by reference to an event or circumstance), not being a termination immediately after which the employment is renewed on the same terms; and
(b) to the termination of that person’s employment by any act of his (including the giving of notice) in circumstances such that he is entitled to terminate it without notice by reason of the conduct of the employer.
(6) This section applies only in relation to employment at an establishment in Northern Ireland.
(1) A complaint by any person that another person—
(a) has discriminated against him in a way which is unlawful under this Part, or
(b) is, by virtue of section 57 or 58, to be treated as having discriminated against him in such a way,
may be presented to an employment tribunal.
(2) Where an employment tribunal finds that a complaint presented to it under this section is well-founded, it shall take such of the following steps as it considers just and equitable—
(a) making a declaration as to the rights of the complainant and the respondent in relation to the matters to which the complaint relates;
(b) ordering the respondent to pay compensation to the complainant;
(c) recommending that the respondent take, within a specified period, action appearing to the tribunal to be reasonable, in all the circumstances of the case, for the purpose of obviating or reducing the adverse effect on the complainant of any matter to which the complaint relates.
(3) Where a tribunal orders compensation under subsection (2)(b), the amount of the compensation shall be calculated by applying the principles applicable to the calculation of damages in claims in tort or (in Scotland) in reparation for breach of statutory duty.
(4) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that compensation in respect of discrimination in a way which is unlawful under this Part may include compensation for injury to feelings whether or not it includes compensation under any other head.
(5) If the respondent to a complaint fails, without reasonable justification, to comply with a recommendation made by an employment tribunal under subsection (2)(c) the tribunal may, if it thinks it just and equitable to do so—
(a) increase the amount of compensation required to be paid to the complainant in respect of the complaint, where an order was made under subsection (2)(b); or
(b) make an order under subsection (2)(b).
(6) Regulations may make provision—
(a) for enabling a tribunal, where an amount of compensation falls to be awarded under subsection (2)(b), to include in the award interest on that amount; and
(b) specifying, for cases where a tribunal decides that an award is to include an amount in respect of interest, the manner in which and the periods and rate by reference to which the interest is to be determined.
(7) Regulations may modify the operation of any order made under section 14 of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (power to make provision as to interest on sums payable in pursuance of employment tribunal decisions) to the extent that it relates to an award of compensation under subsection (2)(b).
(8) Part I of Schedule 3 makes further provision about the enforcement of this Part and about procedure.