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Staff 2016/17 - Disability

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Staff 2016/17

Fields required from institutions in All fields

Disability


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valid entries
Typefield
Short nameDISABLE
Description

This field records the disability of a member of staff, on the basis of their own self-assessment

Applicable toEngland Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
Coverage

All staff

Valid entries and labels
CodeLabel
00No known disability
08Two or more impairments and/or disabling medical conditions
51A specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia, dyspraxia or AD(H)D
52General learning disability (such as Down's syndrome)
53A social/communication impairment such as Asperger's syndrome/other autistic spectrum disorder
54A long standing illness or health condition such as cancer, HIV, diabetes, chronic heart disease, or epilepsy
55A mental health condition, such as depression, schizophrenia or anxiety disorder
56A physical impairment or mobility issues, such as difficulty using arms or using a wheelchair or crutches
57Deaf or serious hearing impairment
58Blind or a serious visual impairment uncorrected by glasses
96A disability, impairment or medical condition that is not listed above
97Information refused
Notes

Disability is recorded on the basis of the member of staff's own self-assessment.

Code 00 'No known disability' should be returned when the member of staff indicates that they do not have a disability. Code 00 'No known disability' should also be used where it is not known whether or not a member of staff has a disability.

Under the Equality Act 2010, a person has a disability 'if they have a physical or mental impairment, and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities'. 'Substantial' is defined by the Act as 'more than minor or trivial'. An impairment is considered to have a long-term effect if:

  • It has lasted for at least 12 months
  • it is likely to last for at least 12 months, or
  • it is likely to last for the rest of the life of the person.

Normal day-to-day activities are not defined in the Act, but in general they are things people do on a regular or daily basis, for example eating, washing, walking, reading, writing or having a conversation.

Only serious visual impairments are covered by the Equality Act 2010. For example, a person whose eyesight can be corrected through the use of prescription lenses is not covered by the Act; neither is an inability to distinguish between red and green.

The same logic does not apply to hearing aids. If someone needs to wear a hearing aid, then they are likely to be covered by the Act. However, both hearing and visual impairments have to have a substantial adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities in order for a person to be covered by the Act.

The new coding frame has been designed to ensure that higher education providers (HEPs) do not have to re-survey or re-code continuing staff members. Where for 2011/12 a staff member recorded two disabilities in DISABLE1 and DISABLE2 this should be mapped to code 08 'Two or more impairments and/or disabling medical conditions' in DISABLE.

Although there is no requirement to resurvey staff annually, HEPs should be aware that if they choose to resurvey their staff then these fields should be updated even if the member of staff declares a disability in the first instance and then not when resurveyed.

The Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) has a number of resources relating to gathering information across the protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act 2010. These resources can be found at Equality Challenge Unit . If you have any further queries regarding equality monitoring, please email ECU at [email protected].

Quality rules
Quality rules relating to this field are displayed here.
Reason required

To monitor equal opportunities issues in the higher education sector and support higher education providers (HEPs) in meeting their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and Disability Equality Duty

Part of
Field length2
Minimum occurrences1
Maximum occurrences1
Schema components
Element: DISABLE
OwnerEquality Challenge Unit (ECU)
Version1.0

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