Employers should consider a host of factors when determining what reasonable adjustments to make to accommodate ill or injured workers, including changes to facilities and work hours, says Herbert Smith Freehills lawyer Helen Donovan.
Donovan told a webinar, hosted by OHS Alert's associate publication HR Daily on Thursday, that employers often need to make adjustments to provide ill or injured workers with equal opportunities within the workforce and to avoid discrimination litigation.
There are "quite a broad range of considerations" an employer should take into account when determining what reasonable adjustments are necessary, and what effect the adjustments will have on the organisation, she said.
Adjustments can be made to an ill or injured worker's duties, the workplace, access areas, the provision of equipment and facilities, how workers communicate with each other, work methods, hours of work, or the use of leave entitlements.
Employers can provide extra training that includes the ill or injured worker and his or her co-workers.
They must also consult medical specialists to determine whether the employee will be able to perform the inherent requirements of the role if proposed adjustments are made, Donovan said.
Further, they should determine whether any adjustments could impose an unjustifiable hardship on the business, by considering "the effect of the disability of the person concerned, and the financial circumstances and how much it's likely to cost the employer".
An employer's profitability, funding, size, number of employees and financial viability will be considered in court when determining whether the employer has suffered, or could suffer, unjustifiable hardship, she said.
Discrimination exemptions
It is not discrimination if an employer dismisses an ill or injured worker who can't perform the inherent requirements of his or her job with or without the provision of reasonable adjustments, Donovan said.
Another exemption from discrimination is when the discrimination is "reasonably necessary to protect the health and safety of a person", she said.
Donovan said further exemptions are likely to apply if the draft Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012 is passed, including "justifiable conduct" and "inherent requirements" exemptions.
Recordings of the webinar are available for purchase here.
