Disability Discrimination Act - UK

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995) is a UK parliamentary act of 1995, which makes it unlawful to discriminate against people in respect of their disabilities in relation to employment, the provision of goods and services,education and transport. It is a civil rights law. Other countries use constitutional, social rights or criminal law to make similar provisions. The British Government set up the Disability Rights Commission to provide support for the Act. Equivalent legislation exists in Northern Ireland, which is enforced by the Northern Ireland Equality Commission.

It is still permissible for employers to have reasonable medical criteria for employment, and to expect adequate performance from all employees once any reasonable adjustments have been made. In addition to imposing obligations on employers, the DDA 1995 places duties on service providers and requires reasonable adjustments to be made when providing access to goods, facilities, services and premises.

Disability Discrimination Act Legislation Information

The duties on service providers have been introduced in three stages:

Since 2nd December 1996 - It has been unlawful for service providers to treat disabled people less favourably for a reason related to their disability;
Since 1st October 1999 - Service providers have had to make 'reasonable adjustments' for disabled people, such as providing extra help or making changes to the way they provide their services.
Since 1st October 2004 - Service providers may have to make other 'reasonable adjustments' in relation to the physical features of their premises to overcome physical barriers to access.

Amending legislation

The Act has been amended by the following legislation:

The Disability Rights Commission Act 1999, which replaced the National Disability Council with the Disability Rights Commission (DRC);
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 inserted new provisions in Part 4 of the DDA 1995 in connection with disability discrimination in schools and other educational establishments;
The Private Hire Vehicles (Carriage of Guide Dogs etc) Act 2002, which prevented operators of such vehicles refusing to take assistance dogs, or making additional charges for such dogs.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations 2003, and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Pensions) Regulations 2003 which amended the DDA in line with the EU employment directive.
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005, which completed the implementation of the Disability Rights Task Force recommendations, including the extension of the DDA 1995 to cover public transport, and the introduction of a duty on public authorities to promote equality for disabled people.

The details of the positive duty to promote equality are discussed in Delivering Equality for Disabled People. The Equality Act 2006 makes provision for the replacement of the DRC by a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR), with powers to issue guidance on and enforce all the equality enactments (covering race, sex, disability, religion and belief, sexual orientation and age). The CEHR is expected to begin operation in October 2007.

Principles

The DDA 1995 departs from the fundamental principles of older UK discrimination law (the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976). These Acts depend on the concepts of direct discrimination and indirect discrimination. However, these concepts are insufficient to deal with the issues of disability discrimination.

The core concepts in the DDA 1995 are, instead:

less favourable treatment for a reason related to a disabled person's disability; and
failure to make a reasonable adjustment.