smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Trying to hire staff

There’s no getting round the fact that great ideas are...
Have your say »

RSS

Q: I am about to set up a physio practice in commercial premises and need to understand the disability legislation. Can you please direct me to a paper or other information detailing the issues I will need to consider?

Sep 06 2006

Answered by: Peter Done Ask a question

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) affects the way you treat your staff, job applicants and customers. Under the DDA, small and medium-sized businesses have to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ so they do not discriminate against disabled customers. The law has been designed so that you only have to make reasonable changes, but if you fail to do what is reasonable, a disabled person could take legal action against you for treating them unfairly. Our article Adapting for disabled customers has more on this. When employing staff, the DDA also comes into play. Read our Employing disabled staff guide for details.

Comments

There are currently no comments on this article

Prize Draw

Free prize draw!

Smallbusiness.co.uk has teamed up with Avery® Quick&Clean™ Business Cards to offer five lucky readers the chance to win a copy of BBC Dragons' Den James Caan's new book The Real Deal and a pack of Avery® premium heavyweight business cards. To enter the prize draw, simply answer our question here

Polls

Q & A

Small business guidance

Marc Barber, SmallBusiness.co.uk Ask a question

News

smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Firms' gender pay gap figures to be revealed

Companies may be forced to publish figures on the pay difference between male and female employees, in changes to the government's equality bill.

SMEs lacking pension schemes

The vast majority of SMEs do not offer workplace pension schemes, according to a survey by advisory body the Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA).

No minimum wage increase, urges business group

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is urging the Low Pay Commission (LPC) to recommend a zero per cent increase on the National Minimum Wage (NMW).

Firms 'should consider long-term cost of redundancies'

Firms should consider the ultimate cost of redundancies and use them as a last resort to cut outgoings, after it was revealed it comes at a price of over £16,000 per employee.

Office workers lie for boss

The majority of office workers have admitted to lying on behalf of their manager, with many taking the heat for a managerial mistake.

Pensions 'not deciding factor'

Companies may no longer need to offer attractive pension and employee benefit packages as jobseekers do not see it as a determining factor, according to one group.

Unemployment hits 10-year high

The number of people out of work reached 1.86 million in the last quarter - the highest levels since 1997.

Companies 'should focus on staff skills'

The current climate makes it more critical for businesses to invest in developing people and increasing their skills.

Safety representatives 'key' for businesses

Safety representatives are crucial to achieving successful health and safety in the workplace, the watchdog's boss says.

Bosses should help fight staff obesity

Employers should help staff battle obesity with healthy eating options, as it will lead to a more productive workforce.

Bosses 'need to tackle stress'

Company bosses need to identify stress in staff early and ensure they are tackling it before it becomes a more serious problem, an expert advises.

Guides & Tips

Training: the key to retaining staff

Learning on the job can lead to a more motivated and productive workforce and enable your staff to keep up with the latest trends in areas such as technology and people management.

Creating successful teams

Quite often creating a team to solve an organisational or business problem is seen as the best way forward. However, they can become a source of frustration and antagonism rather then promoting ideas and action.

Guide to induction and training

The usual definition of induction is a formal introduction of a new employee to a job. However, Peter Done, managing director of Peninsula and SmallBusiness.co.uk Q&A panel expert, feels that induction and training should not only happen at the start of employment, but ‘should be ongoing in order to provide solutions to problems as the job duties change’.
Read on for tips on getting the most out of new starters...

Store

FT Guide to Personal Tax

Formerly the Lloyds TSB Tax Guide, the FT Guide to Personal Tax is now published by Pearson Education. Written by Sara Williams, CEO of Vitesse Media Plc and Jonquil Lowe, this unique guide gives step-by-step advice to completing your tax return as well as 100 tax-saving tips.

FT Guide to Business Start Up

Formerly the Lloyds TSB Small Business Guide, the FT Guide to Business Start Up is now published by Pearson Education. Written by Sara Williams, CEO of Vitesse Media Plc, this unique guide has sold over two million copies. It offers practical advice about starting and running your own business.

Growth Company Investor

Growth Company Investor is widely recognised as the leading magazine for investors interested in AIM and smallcap companies. Published 10 times per year, and brought to you by an award-winning analyst team, it offers subscribers unrivalled insight into high-potential smaller companies. Subscribe today with a 50% discount in your first year.