There is a profound misunderstanding about the rights of workers with disabilities when it comes to time off work for disability-related medical treatment and appointments. Call it an urban myth if you like but for me it goes further and is more serious. If this blog achieves anything it will be to point out to those who are protected by the disability provisions in the Equality Act 2010 that they are wrong if they think their employer must pay them for this time off.
The right to time off for medical appointments obliges employers to allow this time off. It’s a well-established reasonable adjustment to disability to provide the time off. It does not however oblige them to pay for the time off. In the same way that a part-time worker only gets paid for the time they work, an employee taking time off for treatment would not be entitled to be paid for that time off. They only get paid for time worked.
I use the terms worker and employee interchangeably in this blog and not with their legal technical meaning. (Before I get messages from any employment lawyers pointing out that there is a distinction! Yes, I know…). This is a general information post not a legal journal.
Your employer is entitled to ask you why you need the time off and to ask you to produce evidence that you need the time off, i.e. an appointment letter. You could be disciplined for lying about time off for appointments or because you are repeatedly taking time off for unjustified appointments. It is not a free for all. It is not discriminatory for your employer to ask you questions about the time off you are taking. If you want to take time off during your working hours, they are perfectly entitled to enquire.
You may be able to use holiday to take paid time off for treatment or appointments. This would be paid in the usual way as other holiday. What you cannot do is be on sick leave and on holiday at the same time – you have to choose which it is. If you opt for holiday that is to be able to be paid for the time off. If you choose sick leave then the sick pay provisions in your contract will apply. Noting also that if you cannot take holiday because you are sick you continue to accrue it while sick. More on that in another blog post.
Similar misconceptions are rife about asking for flexible working for disabled employees but that too is another blog for another day.
Check your contract and Handbook (employer’s workplace policies) around what is says regarding time off for appointments and treatment. If it requires that you submit advance requests, copies of appointment letters, etc. you must ensure you comply and not lay yourself open to a charge of being absent without leave or abusing your position. You are obliged to explain and account to your employer as much as they are obliged to make reasonable adjustments. Having a disability is not a shield to ignoring established workplace policies.
