Fibromyalgia and the Equality act

[karmaz]

I had an Occupational Health referral today . I have been off work due to having a hysterectomy and this has caused my fibromyalgia to flare up. One of the questions on the form was " In your opinion does the health problem meet the criteria for disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010" I believe that my fibromyalgia under the wording of the act does meet the criteria. However the OH after admitting that she didn't know a lot about The Equality Act later said in her report that she had " limited information to make an informed decision but in my opinion, it is likely at the time of writing. A decision would ultimately be made in a court of law " .
Can anyone tell me who determines or what determines who is covered for disability under this act . Has a decision got to be made in a court of law as she stated ? I am confused ...

...sorry that was "UNLIKELY at the time of writing"...so basically she disagreed with me.....

Hi Op, I work in OH. Our position is a bit tricky as we’re expected to give an opinion on whether an individual’s condition may come under the equality act or not, but ultimately as we are not lawyers,we can only give a ‘medical’ opinion that it is likely or unlikely and not a ‘yes,it definitely does’. It is ultimately up to a court of law to make the final decision.

However, if an OH professional advised a manager in a report that an individual was ‘likely’ in their opinion to fall under the equality act because of their condition, most managers would act as though they do have a disability (and would be a bit foolish not to) and consider reasonable adjustments etc. Does that make sense?

Hi Cloudhopping yes that does sort of make sense. I appreciate its tricky. In my case she said it was "unlikely"...I made a mistake in my original post (sorry ) and put this in the post underneath . What I didn't like was that how she said she had limited information to make an informed decision but gave her opinion anyway . An opinion that no doubt my workplace will take above my experiences ! Why not just say she didn't know ? I really don't understand the court of law bit ? Not everyone who is considered as having a disability under the Equality act has had to go to court to prove it ? Can't for example a Doctors opinion count for anything ? ?...I am still confused

It is a legal decision as stated above (I also work in OH).

There are only three conditions which automatically qualify on diagnosis - MS, HIV and Cancer. After that, whether or not you condition would fall under the provisions of the Equality Act is based on how the condition impacts in your life (or would do should it not be treated), and how long this has occurred for, or is likely to do so which of course you’ve made reference to.

If you didn’t agree with the content of the report, whilst you can’t ask the Clinician to alter their clinical opinion, you could have asked them to make an addendum to state that you feel that your condition impacts you as such that it may be classed as a disability under the equality act. I wouldn’t have an issue with that, that’s why I type my reports there and then, and have the client read and consent in front of me so that we can discuss anything they don’t agree with.

It’s a very complex area of Employment Law which OH should have an awareness of, but as we aren’t Employment Tribunal Judges we can’t physically make those distinct decisions.

Orangesox. I am in the process of writing to OH and will ask her if she would consider adding an addendum to state how I feel about my condition...Thank you !

OH made a decision on the Equality Act point in my case. The assessor told me verbally and then put in her report that I am not covered by the Equality Act. Unfortunately, she got this very, very wrong, but HR now won't send me back to be re-assessed, won;t delete the incorrect report and will not accept, even with medical evidence, that I have a disability.

It's a minefield, but if you have a long term. chronic, relapsing condition, you should be covered.

Sorry to hear that NaToth. I sent the OH an e-mail and put my point across , luckily for me she changed her report. She put across how debilitating fibromyalgia is and took away her comment that it was "unlikely " that I was covered by the Equality Act. She changed it to say that she didn't have sufficent information of my history or the condition to make an informed decision. She also then stated that I personally thought that I was covered due to the length of time I have had the condition and the substantial and adverse effect it has on my daily activities . I am much happier now, will have to see what my workplace thinks/ does about it .