Disability Discrimination Act 1995
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1995 c. 50 |
| Year | 1995 |
Disability Discrimination Act1995
1995 CHAPTER 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]
B e 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:—
Part I
Disability
1 Meaning of ‘disability’ and ‘disabled person’.
(1) Subject to the provisions of Schedule 1, 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.
(2) In this Act ‘disabled person’ means a person who has a disability.
2 Past disabilities.
(1) The provisions of this Part and Parts II and III 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 may include provision with respect to persons who have had a disability.
(4) In any proceedings under Part II or Part III of this Act, 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 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.
3 Guidance.
(1) The Secretary of State may 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) The guidance 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, whether an impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, shall take into account any guidance which appears to it to be relevant.
(4) In preparing a draft of any guidance, the Secretary of State shall consult such persons as he considers appropriate.
(5) Where the Secretary of State proposes to issue any guidance, he shall publish a draft of it, consider any representations that are made to him about the draft and, if he thinks it appropriate, modify his proposals in the light of any of those representations.
(6) If the Secretary of State decides to proceed with any proposed guidance, he shall lay a draft of it before each House of Parliament.
(7) If, within the 40-day period, either House resolves not to approve the draft, the Secretary of State shall take no further steps in relation to the proposed guidance.
(8) If no such resolution is made within the 40-day period, the Secretary of State shall issue the guidance in the form of his draft.
(9) The guidance shall come into force on such date as the Secretary of State may appoint by order.
(10) Subsection (7) does not prevent a new draft of the proposed guidance from being laid before Parliament.
(11) The Secretary of State may—
(a) from time to time revise the whole or part of any guidance and re-issue it;
(b) by order revoke any guidance.
(12) In this section—
‘40-day period’, in relation to the draft of any proposed guidance, means—
(a) if the draft is laid before one House on a day later than the day on which it is laid before the other House, the period of 40 days beginning with the later of the two days, and
(b) in any other case, the period of 40 days beginning with the day on which the draft is laid before each House,
no account being taken of any period during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued or during which both Houses are adjourned for more than 4 days; and
‘guidance’ means guidance issued by the Secretary of State under this section and includes guidance which has been revised and re-issued.
Part II
Employment
Discrimination by employers
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) 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; or
(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.
(4) In this Part ‘benefits’ includes facilities and services.
(5) In the case of an act which constitutes discrimination by virtue of section 55, this section also applies to discrimination against a person who is not disabled.
(6) This section applies only in relation to employment at an establishment in Great Britain.
5 Meaning of ‘discrimination’.
(1) For the purposes of this Part, an employer 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, an employer also discriminates against a disabled...
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