TUC advises unions on disability duty

The TUC has published advice for unions on the new “disability equality duty” that will be applied to public sector organisations from December.

As well as outlining the general and specific duties to promote disability equality as set out in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (see last month’s Workplace Report), and the organisations to which they apply, the advice outlines measures to enforce the new legislation – and expresses the concern that these measures may be inadequate.

But it welcomes the potential that the duties offer to unions. Acknowledging that “many public bodies currently display no such enthusiasm to challenge inadequate policies or bad practices”, it says that union involvement “may well be critical in moving the attitude from being one of reluctant compliance with ‘yet another government-imposed burden’, to one of genuine identification with the goal of disability equality”.

Furthermore, by pressing public bodies to extend their duties to any external contractors used, “unions will also be able to help extend both legal compliance and good practice to the private sector”.

With organisations’ disability equality schemes needing to be published before the end of the year, the TUC urges union reps in the public sector to press their claim to be involved in developing their employers’ schemes – and to prepare for the detailed discussion necessary by drawing on their own disabled members’ experience. The advice contains a detailed guide to what a scheme should ideally contain.

The advice is available online at www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-11323-f0.cfm