A lawyer is warning employers to focus on what reasonable adjustments they can make for returning workers with long Covid as people are likely to be protected under disability discrimination law.
Philip Landau, employment lawyer at law firm Landau Law, told Health & Protection that while some cases of long Covid may well meet the definition of a disability under the Equality Act 2010, this will depend on how severe any individual case happens to be.
“This is bearing in mind there are a significant number of long Covid symptoms,” he said.
“The impairment due to Covid must be long term to meet the definition of being a disability, and as the first Covid case in the UK was little more than a year ago, we do not have a huge amount of data yet in this regard.”
But Landau said employers should not consume themselves with whether the legal test of disability is met and should focus more on what reasonable adjustments can be made.
“Indeed, this position is endorsed by ACAS [The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service], and employers can easily find themselves on the receiving end of disability discrimination claims if they are reckless to these risks,” he continued.
“In terms of making reasonable adjustments for both physical and mental impairments, this could include a phased return to work, increased rest breaks to help with fatigue, allowing time off for medical appointments, reducing screen time where appropriate, a flexible working policy, and of course being more understanding when it comes to performance expectations against an employee.
“Given the wide variety of symptoms of long Covid, adjustments will need to be considered on a case-by-case basis.”