LRD guides and handbook May 2019

Law at Work 2019 - the trade union guide to employment law

Chapter 8

Disability and sick pay 





[ch 8: page 286]

In general, it is unlikely to be a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010 to pay better sick pay to a disabled than a non-disabled worker (O’Hanlon v Commissioners for HM Revenue & Customs [2007] EWCA Civ. 283, RBS v Ashton [2009] UKEAT/0542/09/LA). This is because paying extra sick pay is not regarded as supporting a return to work, and also because of policy considerations — the importance of not deterring employers from taking on disabled people. There is an exception where the worker remains off sick because the employer has failed to make reasonable adjustments (Nottinghamshire CC v Meikle [2004] EWCA Civ. 859) (see Chapter 7).