The Disability Discrimination Act was introduced in 1995 and superceded the previous legislation on disability rights dating from 1944. This 1994 act contained the '5' rule which was to ensure employers accepted a minimum number of disabled workers into their workforce. The new Act does away with this requirement, in that it requires people with disabilities to be given equal rights to employment, and accessibility to buildings as non-disabled people. The act applies to employers with 15 or more employees, regardless of the size and number of branches. From December 1996 employers had a duty to take such steps as are reasonable to ensure the design and arrangement of buildings and their furniture do not have a discriminatory effect. From October 1999 service providers had to change their policies, provide auxiliary services or reasonable alternatives to their service so as not to discriminate the disabled. For example, for the visually impaired, large print utility bills are available. Alternatively a verbal statement can be obtained by ringing the service provider. Another example could be a physically disabled shopper who can not reach goods on the top shelf. In this instance a personal shopper could be available to assist in this instance. It is not yet clear if the Highway Authority is defined as a service provider. However the main force of the legislation will be felt from 2004. From that date, any feature that disadvantages the disabled may be reported to the Disability Rights Commission (DRC). This is the 'teeth' of the act. Its functions are: ·Assistance: assisting people to secure their rights and arranging legal advice and help where appropriate. ·Information and Advice: providing information and advice to disabled people, employers and service providers. ·Codes of Practice: preparing and reviewing statutory codes of practice on meeting the obligations. · Conciliation: providing an independent conciliation service in the event of dispute. ·Investigation: undertaking formal investigations into how disabled people are treated in a particular organisation or sector - and into unlawful acts. ·Research: carrying out research to inform discussion and policy-making and to ascertain how well the law is working. The DRC is already in contact with the disabled to ensure that they are aware of their rights in time for 2004, and preparing for a series of 'Test Cases' for the new legislation.
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