Absence, capability and workplace problems
Identify the next accountable step and protect time-sensitive options.
Absence and capability decisions should be individual
Disability-related absence may require an adjustment to recording or trigger points. Employers should consider support and adjustments before formal capability action.
What to do next: Keep the policy, correspondence, fit notes, occupational-health material and agreed adjustments together.
Important limit: Disability does not make every capability or dismissal decision unlawful; individual advice may be needed.
Ms L Sykes v Nails Inc, case 1801697/2016
Outcome: The section 15 claim succeeded. The reasonable-adjustments complaint was withdrawn; the tribunal awarded injury-to-feelings compensation and dealt separately with remaining remedy.
Safe lesson: Past disability-related absence can be the 'something arising' for section 15, but justification is decided on the evidence and proportionality in the individual case.
Limits: First-instance, fact-specific and non-binding. The judgment did not decide a reasonable-adjustments claim and is not clinical evidence about FND or non-epileptic seizures.
Status: First-instance, fact-specific and non-binding.
Read the official judgment
Miss C Friend v MHS Homes Ltd, case 2302233/2022
Outcome: Direct discrimination and unfair-dismissal complaints failed. Section 15 complaints, including in relation to dismissal, reasonable-adjustments complaints and harassment succeeded in the respects recorded by the judgment; the wages complaint failed.
Safe lesson: The same dismissal can be found fair under the Employment Rights Act test yet discriminatory under the separate Equality Act section 15 test; adjustment and communication failures must be analysed issue by issue.
Limits: First-instance, fact-specific and non-binding. Mixed findings must stay visible. The judgment does not mean every adjustment was required or every capability dismissal involving FND is discriminatory.
Status: First-instance, fact-specific and non-binding.
Read the official judgment
Mr R Neeves v BSH Home Appliances Ltd, case 3305177/2022
Outcome: The tribunal dismissed the disability-discrimination and unfair-dismissal complaints. Its findings included employer knowledge, but knowledge alone did not establish the substantive claims.
Safe lesson: Employer knowledge is only one element: a claimant must still establish the requirements of the particular cause of action, and an employer may still establish a defence or justification.
Limits: First-instance, fact-specific and non-binding. The unsuccessful result does not show that FND is outside disability law or that employer knowledge is unimportant; it reflects the tribunal's findings on the pleaded issues.
Status: First-instance, fact-specific and non-binding.
Read the official judgment
Sources and review information
Status: Owner released - source checked
Evidence check: Mapped to checked master-register claims
Jurisdiction: UK by nation
Last checked: 2026-07-15
Review trigger: Recheck quarterly, immediately before release, and when an official source changes
Prepared by: Project editorial team
Owner release date: 2026-07-22
Independent review: Not independently reviewed
Corrections: Use the site correction route without including personal health information.
Last checked: 2026-07-15
Jurisdiction: UK by nation; Great Britain; Northern Ireland
Prepared by: Project editorial team
Owner release date: 2026-07-22
Independent review: Not independently reviewed
Correction route: Report changed or inaccurate information without including personal health information.
Great Britain employment deadlines can be short
Most tribunal time limits are measured from the act complained of. Internal grievance steps do not safely replace an immediate deadline check; Acas early conciliation affects the calculation.
What to do next: Check the current Acas deadline and early-conciliation guidance now.
Important limit: This site does not calculate a deadline. Scheduled law changes must be rechecked against their actual commencement date.
Sources and review information
Status: Owner released - source checked
Evidence check: Mapped to checked master-register claims
Jurisdiction: Great Britain
Last checked: 2026-07-15
Legal status: current
Review trigger: Recheck quarterly, immediately before release, and when an official source changes
Prepared by: Project editorial team
Owner release date: 2026-07-22
Independent review: Not independently reviewed
Corrections: Use the site correction route without including personal health information.
Northern Ireland uses the LRA and Industrial Tribunals route
Northern Ireland has separate early-conciliation and tribunal processes. An internal complaint does not remove the need to check the live deadline.
What to do next: Contact the Labour Relations Agency or Equality Commission for Northern Ireland promptly.
Important limit: This site does not calculate a Northern Ireland deadline or classify a possible claim.
Sources and review information
Status: Owner released - source checked
Evidence check: Mapped to checked master-register claims
Jurisdiction: Northern Ireland
Last checked: 2026-07-15
Legal status: current
Review trigger: Recheck quarterly, immediately before release, and when an official source changes
Prepared by: Project editorial team
Owner release date: 2026-07-22
Independent review: Not independently reviewed
Corrections: Use the site correction route without including personal health information.
Sickness absence does not normally erase statutory holiday
Holiday can continue to accrue during sickness absence, but the applicable facts, dates and jurisdiction still need checking.
What to do next: Keep pay, leave and sickness records and use the relevant official or advice route.
Important limit: The Donaldson decision was about holiday pay; it was not a disability-discrimination ruling.
Mr L A Donaldson v The Nail and Beauty Zone Ltd, case 4106810/2024
Outcome: The tribunal found an unlawful deduction and ordered payment of accrued holiday pay. It did not determine a disability-discrimination complaint.
Safe lesson: Sickness absence does not automatically extinguish statutory holiday entitlement, but accrual, carry-over and payment depend on the applicable rules and employment facts.
Limits: First-instance, fact-specific and non-binding. This is a Great Britain wages/holiday-pay decision, not authority that treatment was disability discrimination, not Northern Ireland authority and not a holiday-pay calculator.
Status: First-instance, fact-specific and non-binding.
Read the official judgment
Sources and review information
Status: Owner released - source checked
Evidence check: Mapped to checked master-register claims
Jurisdiction: Great Britain
Last checked: 2026-07-15
Review trigger: Recheck quarterly, immediately before release, and when an official source changes
Prepared by: Project editorial team
Owner release date: 2026-07-22
Independent review: Not independently reviewed
Corrections: Use the site correction route without including personal health information.
Northern Ireland has its own working-time rules
Statutory holiday and sickness absence in Northern Ireland sit within the separate Northern Ireland working-time framework.
What to do next: Check the current Labour Relations Agency or nidirect route for an individual holiday-pay problem.
Important limit: The Scottish Donaldson decision is not a Northern Ireland authority and this page cannot decide a wage claim.
Sources and review information
Status: Owner released - source checked
Evidence check: Mapped to checked master-register claims
Jurisdiction: Northern Ireland
Last checked: 2026-07-15
Review trigger: Recheck quarterly, immediately before release, and when an official source changes
Prepared by: Project editorial team
Owner release date: 2026-07-22
Independent review: Not independently reviewed
Corrections: Use the site correction route without including personal health information.
Prepare for an occupational-health or return-to-work meeting
Use a local-only checklist for duties, barriers, variability, support tried, safety questions, review points and the decision owner.
What to do next: Print the checklist or save a local draft; nothing is submitted by this site.
Important limit: The checklist does not decide fitness for work, legal status or whether a proposed action is fair.
Sources and review information
Status: Owner released - source checked
Evidence check: Mapped to checked master-register claims
Jurisdiction: UK by nation
Last checked: 2026-07-15
Review trigger: Recheck quarterly, immediately before release, and when an official source changes
Prepared by: Project editorial team
Owner release date: 2026-07-22
Independent review: Not independently reviewed
Corrections: Use the site correction route without including personal health information.