Is this disability discrimination?

[oldandknackerd]

My current workplace is relocating to a site that will be at least a 45 drive away which although not ideal is fine (I currently work 10mins away from home and this was one of the reasons I applied.
Unfortunately my car is 14 years old and although very reliable it's age does means a large repair bill could happen if something was to go wrong and there's no way i can afford to pay a large bill without saving up for it ....
I could in theory get public transport to the new site but it would take me 3 buses and a 20 minute walk (total nearly 2 hours each way )
Due to having severe arthritis cold and fatigue are things that make my condition worse (I already have a couple of small 'reasonable adjustments in place to accommodate this)and reality don't think i could manage the journey via public transport if for any reason I couldn't use my car .

My point is could or should my organisation be making a reasonable adjustment under the DDA for the above scenario?

Just for clarity I earn 25k a year as a lone parent so there is no way i can afford to buy a newer car ..

Definitely look into access to work. https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work

Also talk to your employer to see if WFH is an option. Also ask if they do a car leasing scheme or salary sacrifice.

No it isn't disability discrimination and it also isn't a reasonable adjustment.

I presume that your disability means that you receive PIP and could therefore trade in the mobility award for a brand new motability car?

Op I'm going to add - the poster who suggested posting in legal is right - the answers you are getting are wrong, post on legal.

The answer to your question is yes, if your employer has failed to consider the impact on you, as you have a disability, of moving 45 minutes away, it is quite possibly discrimination.

Equality is NOT treating everyone the same.

You clearly know sweet FA about PIP and are presuming quite a bit there.

OP I have a friend who got to work by taxi paid for by access to work,look into it and good luck.

I receive PIP at the highest level in both categories so I think I am very familar with it. I think the point is that if she has a disability - and arthritis is not automatically a disability - then the OP couldn't walk for 20 minutes, never mind what the weather was like. There is an assumption here that the OP cannot use public transport and cannot walk - that is not actually in evidence. The OP has been very clear - she can use public transport and her reason for not wanting to is because she doesn't want to make a 2 hour / three bus journey then walk 20 minutes. I don't blame her. But those are not reasons for saying that you have a disability as it is defined in law.

I don't think I am the one "presuming" - there's a lot of it on this thread.

I definitely think it would be a good opportunity to ask for a pay rise to help cover increased costs associated with the move. It might be reasonable to be allowed to work from home if your car was in the garage, but the expectation would be that this would be a day or a few days, not weeks or months. Are you claiming PIP? It would be good to put in a claim if you're not.

Unfortunately yes. Companies can move an hour away without compensation to employees. It isn’t two hours each way - Thats is only if you need to take public transport, but you drive and have a car. I know you think it’s unfair and hard but it isn’t discriminatory as they aren’t picking on you specifically. They are moving the business which will affect a lot of people.

I would say that I think your best way forward is being upfront. Currently you have a car, so it's not an issue. That is actually quite important. You are not asking for something all the time.

So ask for a meeting with your line manager. You chose your firm partially because of the location and that you could get to it easily, obviously. You will struggle for the times when the car is in the garage (don't talk about it permanently breaking down and not being able to afford a new one because that will sound like catastrophising) and ask what they suggest because you don't feel that it is fair to expect you to take holiday, nor can you take public transport.
Then ask if you will be getting a pay rise due to increased costs of transport including wear and tear of the car, don't forget.

In dh's firm that was done, but they did tease someone (who was on holiday when it was announced) that as their commute was closer they were getting a pay cut and it took them a surprisingly long time to work out it was a joke.

And the employee needs to be reasonable too.

Not everything can be adjusted for I'm afraid.

Might be worth looking for another job closer to home.

Thanks everyone for your comments .
I think I shall speak to management re a worst case scenario contingency plan.
They have said that they will put a plan in place for those catching public transport in case of bad weather due to its remote location so I don't feel I'd be being unreasonable to request some consideration due to personal circumstances...

Have they done a proper consultation on how staff would be affected by the move?

Have they made some provision to deal with staff with disabilities who might be particularly badly affected by the move?

In your case I would put an official request for home or hybrid working as a reasonable adjustment. Your arthritis is a long term health condition that affects your daily life so it does qualify as a disability.

There is a lot of ableism on Mumsnet so you are better off getting some support from ACAS to make your request for reasonable adjustments.

She already has some reasonable adjustments at work so the company have acknowledged this.

OP can definitely ask for some investigation into further reasonable adjustment, but going in blazing Disability Discrimination is not going to do her any favours. As it's not DD. The best approach is open discussion.

Op please speak to ACAS, they have a helpline, because there's a huge amount of posters on here who don't understand the Equality Act and how it applies here.

Do you have a place of work stated in your contract and have you gone through a consultation for it to change.

14 years is not ancient in car terms these days. My last car (a Honda) was 18 years old when I part ex'd her and that was because of rust on the rear wheel arches, the engine though was still running like a dream.

As others have said, either post this in Legal Advice or contact an organisation who actually knows what they're talking about like ACAS. People are commenting here despite having no knowledge. Depending on your contract there may be rules around your employer relocating and that's without considering the disability/equality angle.

How on earth is your car anyone else's problem? Because you don't agree with a decision sticking a label on it called 'discrimination' does not make it that

It’s not Disability Discrimination because you haven’t got a car.
So if you had a newer car and have said you don’t mind driving the 45 minutes this would be fine.
But because you haven’t got a car it’s your workplaces problem ??
You need to re look at how you are thinking this.

How is this nothing to do with the car?

Unfortunately my car is 14 years old and although very reliable it's age does means a large repair bill could happen if something was to go wrong and there's no way i can afford to pay a large bill without saving up for it

You are basically saying that you can drive the 45 mins but your car is old and if something went wrong with it you cannot get it fixed unless you save for it. You then go on to say why you cannot get public transport if your car breaks down.

So essentially the problem is you think your car may be too old and therefore calling discrimination because you don’t have s newer car!

My current workplace is relocating to a site that will be at least a 45 drive away which although not ideal is fine

I would not presume anyone with a disability gets PIP. I've seen some very disabled people turned down. In fact, most seem to be and then you have to appeal and it's really tough. They don't hand out motability cars from what I can see.

I'm really sick of the disabled bashing posts tonight on various threads.

Agree.

@oldandknackerd please ask @mnhqto move this to legal or work because you are getting a lot of very uniformed opinions rather than knowledgeable advice.

You don’t know if you’re going to have to go by public transport, your car although old you said it’s reliable might be ok for the next 5 yrs .

I'd probably look for a job more closer to home.
Even if your car lasts and is fine, there's a lot of additional costs and time to factor in for the longer journey and your salary perhaps isn't worth that?
My ex job moved around 45-1 hour away, for the first 2 years they paid us 30p per mile. After this lots of admin people left, as the commute and losing the mileage wasn't worth it. I didn't have kids at the time, but my colleagues who did had to pay for breakfast club as additional childcare and there was an accident/roadworks every other week on the main road which took so long to get home sometimes.

Will your company pay for your mileage to the new base, for a fixed period of time after the move? If so it may help to cushion the blow of wear and tear on your car, or depending on the rate, you could save it up towards a replacement.

It makes sense to check out any other potential sources of support too.