Skip to content Accesskeys Newsroom

Disability discrimination at work

If you believe that your employer has treated you less favourably than others for a reason related to your disability, or if your employer has not made reasonable adjustments for you in the workplace, you may want to consider taking action.

Action to take if you are discriminated against

As a first step, you might want to have an informal discussion with your employer about your needs and why you feel you are being discriminated against. Remind your employer of your rights and their responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act.

If this discussion does not provide a satisfactory outcome, you could make a complaint about your treatment through your employer's internal grievance procedure.

If you are still not satisfied, you might want to contact the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI), or follow the 'Questions Procedure' or make a complaint to an Industrial Tribunal.

If you wish to make a complaint to an Industrial Tribunal, you must do so within three months of the date of the act of discrimination.

Help and advice from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland

The Equality Commission NI can provide free and confidential advice to people who believe they have been discriminated against for a reason related to their disability. It also provides free general advice to employers and service providers on recommended good practice under the Disability Discrimination Act.

For more information you can contact the Equality Commission NI as follows:

The Questions Procedure

To follow the Questions Procedure you must obtain a Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) questionnaire.

You need to complete the first part of this questionnaire yourself, setting out the reasons why you feel you have been discriminated against, and ask your employer to comment on your claim. You then need to ask your employer to reply to the questionnaire.

Whether or not you agree with them, your employer's answers in the questionnaire should help you decide if you can settle the dispute or need to make a complaint to an Industrial Tribunal.

The DDA questionnaire (DL56) is available from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland which offers free, confidential and impartial advice on all employment rights issues.

You can call the ECNI on 028 9050 0600 (lines are open from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday).

The Office of Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal can give information about tribunal publications, explain how the tribunal system works and answer general queries about tribunal matters. For further information, telephone the enquiry line on 028 9032 7666 or contact by fax: 028 9025 0100 (lines are open between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm Monday to Friday).

More useful links