What is considered a disability at work?

The award of £4.7m to a bank worker subjected to disability discrimination highlights the high-cost employers can pay for failing to tackle unlawful treatment in the workplace.
The woman, known only as AB, was run over by a car and suffered severe depression and psychosis after staff at several London NatWest branches, which is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, discriminated against her.
After the accident, AB suffered permanent nerve damage, had a visible limp and difficulty twisting. It led to colleagues calling her a ‘hindrance’.
The Employment Appeals Tribunal found that the bank failed to make reasonable adjustments, that AB had been subjected to bullying comments and prevented from transferring to another bank, which amounted to discrimination.
The total payout is thought to be the largest award ever made by a British Employment Tribunal for a successful disability discrimination claim.
There are some obvious conditions that we all know to meet the definition of a disability.
Understanding other conditions that may not be as obvious, and others that include those known as ‘hidden disabilities’, is crucial in tackling discrimination in the workplace.
You are disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities
• ‘Substantial’ is more than minor or trivial, eg it takes much longer than it usually would complete a daily task like getting dressed.
• ‘Long-term’ means 12 months or more, eg a breathing condition that develops as a result of a lung infection.
Some conditions that automatically qualify as a disability include cancer, blindness, multiple sclerosis, an HIV infection and severe, long-term disfigurement.
In recent years research has shown that a large number of employees have suffered from mental health problems, which in some cases can be defined as a disability.
Research by the mental health charity Mind, published in 2018, spoke to 44,000 employees and revealed that nearly half (48 per cent) reported experiencing a mental health problem in their job
An employee who has suffered long-term with a psychological condition – for example,stress, anxiety and depression – can be considered to have a disability.
In the case of Sadeghi v TJX UK (2017) the Employment Tribunal held that the Claimant, Mr Sadeghi, had been both wrongfully and unfairly dismissed and discriminated against on the grounds of his disability. Mr Sadeghi suffered from depression and anxiety

An Employment Tribunal will ultimately decide if an employee has a condition that meets the definition of a disability and if they have suffered discrimination as a result of it.
Other conditions that can be defined as a disability, depending on the impact and severity of the condition, include learning difficulties such as dyslexia and dyspraxia, heart disease, asthma, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, ME, impairments due to injury to the body or brain and progressive conditions such as motor neurone disease, muscular dystrophy and forms of dementia.
If you are having any difficulties in work you should raise your concerns with your employer as soon as possible. You can seek support from your union in doing so.