Disability 



“Disability” has a strict definition under the EA 10. To succeed in a tribunal claim, each limb of the definition must be satisfied. Under section 6 and schedule 1 of the EA 10, a person has a disability if they have a “physical or mental impairment” that has a “substantial and long-term adverse effect” on their ability to carry out “normal day-to-day activities”. 



• A condition is “long-term” if it has lasted for 12 months, is likely to last at least 12 months, or for the rest of the affected person’s life.


• “Substantial” means “more than minor or trivial” (section 212(1), EA 10). If something cannot be regarded as “trivial”, it will be substantial (Aderemi v London and South Eastern Railway Limited [2012] UKEAT/0316/12/KN). The time taken to perform an activity must be taken into account when deciding whether an effect is “substantial”. 



In an important European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling in 2013, Ring v Dansk almennyttigt Boligselskab [C-335/11] and [C-337/11], the ECJ confirmed that courts and tribunals must consider the “social model” of disability when deciding whether someone is disabled. This model emphasises the social purpose of laws promoting the rights of disabled workers, which is to remove barriers to full participation at work, caused by the environment and by stereotypical attitudes to disability.