Disability leave

[ch 3: page 21]

One way of extending support is by having a separate policy for disability leave. Nationwide Building Society, for example, provides for paid time off to be agreed with a manager to help manage a disability, such as attending ongoing medical treatments, or while a reasonable adjustment is made.

North Somerset Council (which recently re-qualified as a “Disability Confident” employer under the Department for Work and Pensions’ Disability Confident scheme) has a disability leave scheme together with a disabled staff forum, an employee assistance programme and other relevant policies.

Disability equality at work, the negotiators’ guide produced by the Unite general union, calls for employers to commit to providing paid disability leave to ensure:

• sufficient time and help to adjust to changed circumstances;

• paid time off to allow reasonable adjustments to working conditions and arrangements to be made. This leave shall not be recorded as sickness absence;

• counselling and support; and

• paid time off for medical appointments