- Medically recognised mental illnesses and mental impairments such as
- Learning disabilities – what used to be called mental handicap.
- Severe disfigurements such as scars birthmarks and skin diseases – but degree of severity are important, as is where the disfigurement is.
- Progressive conditions where disability is likely to become more substantial over time – things like cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy. The Act covers these things from the moment there is a noticeable effect on normal day-to-day activities. This definition may change at some point in the future with a wider definition of disability accepted so, as they say, watch this space.
Problems within the DDA
Some of the problems with the DDA include:
1)
Under the DDA 1995, HIV/AIDS falls within the category of progressive conditions, but at the moment the act only covers progressive conditions when a person displays symptoms of the disease. A person living with HIV and with no symptoms is not protected under the DDA 1995. But we know from experience that you don’t have to be sick to be discriminated against for being
HIV positive.
2)
Neither discrimination on grounds of assumed disability, the fact that someone assumes you are HIV Positive, nor discrimination on the basis of association, (that your partner or a member of your family Has HIV) are not covered by the DDA 1995.
3)
Drug use is not covered by the DDA 1995. An injecting drug user discriminated against on grounds of their imputed HIV status, or their drug use is not protected under the Act.
4)
The DDA 1995 does not currently apply to small employers, only to businesses with more than 15 employees. The Act also excludes some professional activities from its scope, most of them falling under the “Government’s thumb” (statutory office-holders, members of the Ministry of Defense, the British Transport Police, Royal Parks Constabulary, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary, prison officers, fire fighters, and members of the naval, military or air forces of the Crown). The DDA 1995 also does not apply to qualifying bodies, barristers and advocates, partners and volunteers.
5)
The scope of protection under the DDA 1995 does not cover constructive dismissals and does not make it unlawful for employers to instruct or pressurize other people to discriminate.
