Redeployment of disabled workers

I am a union representative in the local hospital trust. One of my members is no longer able to do her job due to a disability, but there is another job she would like to do. The trouble is that this job is on a different grade and the trust says that she needs to apply and take part in a competitive interview. Surely, since she is disabled, she should have the right to the job without having to compete?

Employers have a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments to make it possible for a disabled worker to continue in employment. However, this does not go as far as obliging an employer to offer the worker a different job, particularly if its terms and conditions are different.

A recent ruling by the Court of Session in Scotland held that the obligation to make adjustments did not require the employer to make a job available to a disabled worker where the post was quite different and involved a different contract.

* More information: Archibald v Fife Council, 9 December 2003