Workplace Law Magazine is available only to Premium Members of the Workplace Law Network. Produced 10 times each year, it is distributed in hard copy format in the first week of the month, and is also available online.
"We don't serve wheelchairs"
When Sir Bert Massie, former Chairman of the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), spoke of a time when service providers were simply able to state 'we don't serve wheelchairs' he likened it to shops that put signs in their windows saying 'no blacks or Irish'.
These are both phrases that we would be shocked to come across nowadays, but that also highlight that these minority groups were not even treated as human. Instead, referring to disabled people as 'wheelchairs' simply objectified them in a pretty derogatory way.
Today you'd be unlikely to come across such derogatory terms being used in a service providing environment, but it was once acceptable. Now, of course, we all have a fundamental right to be treated as human beings, and it is people like Sir Bert and the DRC who have fought for this right for all human beings over the years.
This issue we address just how far things have come in the last 30 years or so, as we look back at some of the very first key discrimination cases that have influenced how the law and workplaces as a whole have developed. Sir Bert also gives a personal insight into the way things were when he was growing up in the 50s and 60s and a disabled child.
In this issue ...
Latest
Editorial
Will the launch of the Equality and Human Rights Commission serve to address human rights within all forms of discrimination?
Legal calendar
Key legislative dates and events taking place during and January and February 2008.
Case law
- Do religious beliefs offer the right to discriminate?
- Is homeworking a reasonable adjustment?
9th Facilities Management Legal Update Conference and Dinner
Find out what's going on at the "must attend event of the year".
Focus
Where are they now?
The workplace of 30 years ago is barely recognisable to the employers and employees of today's enlightened culture. Sarah Clark goes back in time to examin the very first discrimination cases, what happened to those involved, and the disparity that exists between what was appropriate then ... and now.
Changing Faces: changing attitudes
There's a huge discrepancy between what the law says and how people with disfigurements are actually being treated, says Head of Professional Development for Changing Faces, Henrietta Spalding. Speaking to her, Claire Fuller discovers that the greatest battle is one against assumptions.
Effortless inclusion
"If we get the products right, then those products will effortlessly or automatically appeal to the widest range of possible users and customers," says BT's Dave Wilson.
Comment
What is a day-to-day activity?
In the case of Paterson v. The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis did the dyslexia which was suffered by Mr Paterson have a substantial adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities?
Network
Behind the scenes at the Certificate in Employment Relations, Law and Practice
Fresh from the residential block of the Certificate in Employment Relations, Law and Practice, three Workplace Law students give an inside view on studying the course, the benefits of elearning and the lessons they've learned.
Clinic
Workplace Law Network premium members seek professional advice on disability-related queries.
Challenge
We don't serve wheelchairs
How Sir Bert Massie fought for 40 years to change the attitudes of a nation.
Technical
Legal update
In-depth information and guidance on: Carers - a need for new discrimination legislation?; Employment Tribunal claims - will the numbers keep rising; and Equal pay cases - who is a comparator?
The data
This month's statistics
Five pages of key statistics and information on employment law and health and safety.
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