Disabled workers to get more equality rights

All public bodies must now comply with DDA

Another element of the UK’s Disability Discrimination Act came into force this week. From Monday 4 December all public bodies in the UK, including schools, hospitals and local and national government will have to provide a document that details how they will fulfil equality rules.

The Disability Equality Duty (DED) requires bodies to publish a Disability Equality Scheme. Failure to do so could see them being issued with a compliance warning or even a court summons. The Disability Rights Commission has produced a document to aid compliance.

In a note on its site the DRC said, “The DED is meant to ensure that all public bodies - such as central or local government, schools, health trusts or emergency services - pay 'due regard' to the promotion of equality for disabled people in every area of their work.”

According to the UN, providing access to the disabled is as valuable as it is worthy. Business executives speaking at the UN’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities event this week said that ensuring that web sites were accessible was a legitimate business investment.