5 February 2016: Disability and ‘Day to Day Activities’:

According to s6 Equality Act 2010, a person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment, and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect the person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. But what are ‘normal day-to-day activities? Does that include activities at work?

Back in 2012, in Aderemi v London and South Eastern Railway Ltd, Mr Aderemi was a station assistant with back problems. The EAT considered that standing for significant periods of the day, which he had to do as part of his work, was a normal day to day activity.

In Banaszczyk v Booker reported this week Mr Banaszczyk was a picker in a distribution warehouse who also suffered back problems. Was lifting 25kg part of his normal day to day activities, if he only did so at work?

The EAT held that yes, warehouse work, such as manually lifting and moving cases of up to 25 kg, did constitute normal day-to-day activities under the Act.

It can often be difficult for employers to assess how likely someone’s medical condition is to amount to a disability under the Act. Employers would be wise to consider making Reasonable Adjustments to the persons role just in case.

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