Opinion: A huge step for carers
Lucy McLynn, partner, Bates Wells & Braithwaite, solicitors for
Sharon Coleman
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The case of Sharon Coleman, the mother of a disabled child who took a legal case to Europe to establish that she herself was protected from disability discrimination, has had a lot of coverage in the media. Much of it, however, has been misleading. 'Six million carers win right to flexible working', shouted the headlines.
Actually, the case was not about a right to flexible working at all.What Ms Coleman was saying was that she should have been treated in thesame way as colleagues who were parents of non-disabled children. So,where colleagues were allowed to work from home or to take unpaid leaveto care for their children, she should not have been refused the samearrangements. She believed that she was treated worse than other parentsat her work because of prejudice towards her.
The European Court has ruled that the protection from disabilitydiscrimination should extend to workers associated with disabled peoplewho are treated badly at work for that reason. This is a huge stepforward for carers in terms of creating a level playing field.
Of course, what parents of disabled children really need is the actualright to work flexibly - subject to their employer's business needs -and for reasonable adjustments to be made to accommodate theircircumstances where possible. This would go far beyond the existingright for carers to 'request' to work flexibly, which employers areentitled to refuse, providing they follow due process and give aprescribed reason. It would also go far beyond anything required byEuropean law.
It will only happen when our Government is prepared to take active stepsto improve the situation of one of the hardest pressed groups in society- those trying to juggle work and caring for a disabled child. Despiteall their talk about family-friendly policies, I, for one, will not beholding my breath.
