UK employment law August 2025: Think broadly about disability discrimination as claims increase

Think broadly about disability discrimination claims rise 

With disability discrimination claims increasing by a third in the past year, it is worth noting the context of this rise. 

Disability discrimination at work applies where a person with a disability is placed at a disadvantage by something that happens in the workplace (a provision, criterion, or practice - PCP).  

With evidence now indicating that disability claims relating to depression, stress and the menopause are contributing to the increase in claims, practitioners may wish to consult CIPD guidance on these matters to review their practice. 

In addition, it is worth considering employers obligations in relation to preventing such discrimination: 

• Preventing disability discrimination is a positive duty for employers i.e.  an employer must proactively and pre-emptively account for PCPs that could put someone at substantial disadvantage. This means that all employers should think broadly about the type of claims that can be made. A disability is any physical or mental impairment that has a substantial long-term, adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, including work activities. For example, an employee may chat to an employer about suffering the menopausal symptom of becoming too hot, and how this is distracting. It would be reasonable for an employer to ensure that fans were made available to the employee (without the employee having to ask for a fan) to prevent any potential disadvantage.
• Further, employers should note that a disability does not need to be diagnosed by a doctor for an employer to need to consider potentially detrimental PCPs. Instead, case law (such as Gallop v Newport City Council [2016] IRLR 395, EAT) highlights that employers need to consider everything they know about a potential disability, and not just assume that an occupational health opinion is the only matter that sways their considerations. 

Things to check in September 

September heralds the return to certain trends in the world of work:

• As parliament ramps up following summer recess, employers should expect to see the third reading of the Employment Rights Bill and a series of consultations launched. The public policy team are taking an active part in discussions with government on these matters and you can keep ahead of the practical changes on the tracker.
• Employers may want to note that employees applying for the next batch of annual leave normally peaks around September (and January). You can provide support to line managers managing batches of holiday requests by sharing the guide on managing holidays.
• Thirdly, as more people look to second jobs amid a challenging economic climate, practitioners may wish to review the legal content on ‘second jobs and side hustles’ which indicates that the employer and employee need to consider any restrictions in relation to the Working Time Regulations and whether both or either contract restricts second roles.  

Excluding others by speaking a language not understood by all 

The case of Ms S Kellington-Craword v Newlands Care Angus Ltd [2023] has returned a judgement. The part of the claim that was successful related to race discrimination and harassment in relation to a meeting on 14 December 2022. 

Here, following a series of disputes between the parties, a meeting was conducted in to attempt to resolve the issues. In the meeting, the Managing Director and another Manager (both of whom were native Polish speakers) made comments in Polish in front of the claimant (who expressed as being English national origin and could not speak Polish). These comments were not explained in English and due to this, the claimant felt uncomfortable.   

The judge concluded that this did contribute to the race discrimination and harassment. However, the judge also noted that this was part of a wider context than the language difference. The claimant felt uncomfortable because of this incident but also because of the meeting’s conduct in general.  

Employers may wish to safeguard their processes by ensuring that all managers are briefed on how to best conduct difficult conversations.  

Monitoring employee attendance  

The monitoring of staff attendance on site is a hot topic, grabbing headlines on an almost weekly basis. As people professionals, knowing where the line lays between what you can and cannot monitor can be difficult. 

There is no one size fits all. Monitoring crosses over into multiple aspects of law. Instead, as a people professional or employer, it may be useful to consider matters such as: 

• Does the data collected during tracking comply with UK GDPR? Employers may wish to review ICO guidance on monitoring workers as this is closely aligned with the UK GDPR rules.
• Does the organisation have contracts that stipulate a certain level of onsite attendance? or, is such a matter signposted as contractual in staff handbooks?
• When considering stress and wellbeing – how will mandated on site hours impact the group and individuals? 
• What is the role of onsite attendance in relation to organisational culture and trust? 

And finally  

From 1 September a failure to prevent fraud offence is in force under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. For most employers the change will be unsurprising – essentially it codifies that it is not ok if a business’ employees, agents, subsidiaries or other "associated persons" commit fraud that is intended to benefit the organisation.  

The practical aspect of this is that, where the organisation meet certain size criteria, then, if there were a court case relating to fraud, an organisation would need to show that it took proactive steps to introduce reasonable fraud prevention.    

Read more on this in the guide to staff fraud.