Assessment of whether disability is long-term

A claimant will be disabled, under the Equality Act 2010, if they have a mental or physical impairment and that impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities.  An impairment is likely to be viewed as ‘long-term’ if it has lasted for at least 12 months, is likely to last for at least 12 months or it is likely to last for the rest of the person’s life.  If the impairment ceases to have a substantial adverse effect at any point, it will be treated as continuing to have the effect if the effect is likely to recur.  

In Parnaby v Leicester City Council, the claimant was dismissed in July 2017 due to his long-term sickness absence.  He had suffered with work related stress on two occasions, from 15 April – 31 May 2016 and from January to June 2017.  The claimant claimed that his dismissal was unfair and discriminatory but also that various acts taking place before his dismissal were discriminatory on the grounds of disability.   The ET viewed the two periods of absence as discrete events and found that neither was sufficiently long-term.  In particular, the ET held that the second period of absence was a reaction to workplace difficulties and that, as there was limited communication between the claimant and his GP from mid-July 2017 until 10 April 2018 (ad hoc correspondence only stating that the claimant struggling ‘on and off’), the claimant’s condition had improved when he was dismissed.