People with disabilities

摘要

MOST people pride themselves on being fair; of treating others as they would wish to be treated in return. Of course, this is misleading - otherwise there would be no need for the legislation that outlaws discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, sex or sexual orientation. A significant part of our society is made up of people who, rather than the rest of us who are simply not 100 percent fit most of the time, have a definite disability. They too are subject to protection under the law - giving them rights when they seek to purchase goods and services, when they wish to rent or acquire property and most importantly in employment. The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) defines a disabled person as someone with "a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities." The employment provisions apply to employers with 15 or more employees. They include duties that require employers to consider making changes to the physical features of premises that they occupy, and have been in force since December 1996. The law defines 2 ways in which an employer might unlawfully discriminate against a disabled employee or job applicant: either by treating him or her less favourably (without justification) than other employees or job applicants because of his or her disability; or by not making reasonable adjustments (without justification).