Equality and wellbeing checklist: some points to consider

• Legal rights: are legal requirements, like those of the Equality Act 2010 (including the duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled workers) and the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures properly referenced in the policy and applied in practice?

• Women: does the policy ensure that women are not disadvantaged because of issues relating to menstruation, pregnancy, miscarriage or the menopause, by ensuring that they can be treated separately from other sickness absence

• Other leave: does the employer provide other forms of leave that might relieve the pressures on employees, like adequate time off to care for dependents?

• Mental health: is there recognition of the challenges posed by mental health problems, such as workers’ unwillingness to disclose these as a cause of sickness absence?

• Reasonable adjustment: does the policy focus on meeting the needs of each worker, rather than on the definition of disability?