What equality law means - Birmingham Disability Resource Centre

The three requirements of the duty
The duty contains three requirements that apply in situations where a disabled person
would otherwise be placed at a substantial disadvantage compared with people who
are not disabled.
• The first requirement involves changing the way things are done (equality law talks
about where the disabled job worker is put at a substantial disadvantage by a
provision, criterion or practice of their employer).
For example:
An employer has a policy that designated car parking spaces are only offered
to senior managers. A worker who is not a manager, but has a mobility
impairment and needs to park very close to the office, is given a designated car
parking space. This is likely to be a reasonable adjustment to the employer’s car
parking policy.
• The second requirement involves making changes to overcome barriers created by
the physical features of your workplace.
For example:
Clear glass doors at the end of a corridor in a particular workplace present a
hazard for a visually impaired worker. Adding stick-on signs or other indicators to
the doors so that they become more visible is likely to be a reasonable
adjustment for the employer to make.
• The third requirement involves providing extra equipment (which equality law calls an
auxiliary aid) or getting someone to do something to assist the disabled person
(which equality law calls an auxiliary service).
For example:
An employer provides specialist software for a member of staff who develops a
visual impairment and whose job involves using a computer.
Each of these requirements is looked at in more detail later in this part of the guide.
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