Freeney Williams Ltd. http://www.freeneywilliams.com The Disability and Equality Agenda e-bulletin – May 2011 For information about how Freeney Williams Ltd can help your organisation achieve the disability and equality agenda please contact: enquiries@freeneywilliams.com Please forward this bulletin to a colleague so they can subscribe. In this month: 1 Disabled volunteers still not covered by legislation 2 Father wins fight to bring autistic son home 3 Positive action and the Equality Act – guidance issued 4 Access to Work – eligibility letter 5 Recruitment websites not welcoming to disabled people 6 High Court Judge rules against Birmingham City Council over impact of cuts 7 Three-quarters of Incapacity Benefit claimants fit to work Back to top 1. Disabled Volunteers not covered by legislation A landmark discrimination case launched against Mid Sussex Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) by an unpaid disabled volunteer has been rejected by the Court of Appeal. The Employment Tribunal first ruled in favour of Mid Sussex Citizens Advice Bureau in November 2009 after a volunteer claimed that she had been treated less favourably due to her disability. Her case relied on European Equal Treatment Legislation which covers those in "occupation" - a term that she claimed should cover volunteers. The Court of Appeal rejected the volunteer's appeal against the decision, with judges voting unanimously volunteers were not covered under this legislation. The decision means that volunteers are still not protected by the European Equal Treatment Legislation or the Equality Act, although the latter does protect volunteers from discrimination if there is a contract between the volunteer and the organisation. As the volunteer did not have a contract with CAB and did not receive remuneration which would infer a contract, it was held, she was not protected from discrimination by the DDA (and so would not be protected under the new Equality Act). Appeal judge Lord Justice Elias said: "Volunteers are extensively employed throughout Europe and it is unrealistic to believe that they were intended to be covered by concepts of employment and occupation which would not normally embrace them." For a briefing on the case click http://www.farrer.co.uk:80/index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=items&cid=299%3Abriefing&id=1199%3Ax-v-mid-sussex-citizens-advice-bureau-another&Itemid=4 Back to top 2. Father wins fight to bring autistic son home Mark Neary, 51, battled with Hillingdon Council over 20-year-old Steven since December 2009 when his son went into a 'positive behaviour unit' for three days of respite care because his father was ill. Details of the case can only now be reported after a judge in the normally secretive Court of Protection agreed that journalists could attend hearings. For more details click http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8353732/Secretive-Court-of-Protection-in-legal-reporting-first-over-mans-battle-with-council.html 3. Positive action and the Equality Act – guidance issued The Government Equalities Office (GEO) has issued a 'quick start' guide to the Equality Act's positive action provisions which came into force on 6 April 2011. Positive action is not covered in the Employment Code of Practice because it wasn't in force when the Code was laid before Parliament. However, it is worth bearing in mind the guidance does not have the same legal standing the Code of Practice. For a briefing on this provision click http://www.jobsatteam.com/news/archive/government-publishes-guidance-on-employers%E2%80%99-ability-to-take-positive-action-under-the-equality-act-2010/ 4. Access to Work – eligibility letter The Government has published a new online questionnaire to allow disabled jobseekers to find out if they are eligible for support from Access to Work. If someone is eligible they can print off a new pre-employment eligibility letter which can be shown to prospective employers. For more information click http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/Employmentsupport/WorkSchemesAndProgrammes/DG_4000347 5. Recruitment websites not welcoming to disabled people A report published earlier this year found that recruitment firms are not considering equality legislation in the way they are designed. According to a study of 300 recruitment websites: * 97% made no attempt to provide inclusive online application and recruitment procedures. * 54% were Accessibility, Equality & Diversity ‘blank’. * 25% offered either Accessibility features OR Equality & Diversity Information. * 21% offered both Accessibility AND Equality & Diversity Information. * Only 3% of recruitment firms included Equality & Diversity information on their websites within Application & Recruitment procedures or Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). For the full report click http://www.diversityjobs.co.uk/diversityjobs/ 6. High Court Judge rules against Birmingham City Council over impact of cuts A High Court Judge ruled against Birmingham City Council for failing to take account of the impact of £1.4 cuts on 13 voluntary organisations on disabled people. Their Equality Impact Assessment was defective and therefore the decision was unlawful. The judge awarded costs against the council in the region of £100,000, and refused them leave to appeal. In giving his decision the Judge said that the local authority’s financial difficulties did not mean that it could ignore equalities legislation. For further details click http://www.birminghampost.net:80/dailybulletin/2011/03/31/decision-to-axe-1-4m-funding-for-birmingham-voluntary-groups-ruled-unlawful-65233-28438118/ 7. Three-quarters of Incapacity Benefit claimants fit to work The majority of people who apply for Incapacity Benefit are found fit to work or drop their claims before they are completed, official figures from the Department of Work and Pensions show. However, initial assessments of people's fitness to return to the workplace have been overturned in almost four in 10 cases in which individuals appealed. For more details click http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/apr/28/three-quarters-sickness-benefit-claimants-fit-work Contact us enquiries@freeneywilliams.com T 01273 32771 To subscribe or unsubscribe click http://www.freeneywilliams.com/dea-e-bulletin.asp © Freeney Williams Ltd 2011 37 Buckingham Road Brighton East Sussex BN1 3RP T 01273 327715 F 01273 327715 mailto:enquiries@freeneywilliams.com