What is it about?

In today's diverse workplace, it is common for employers to receive requests from workers for changes to things like dress codes, start and finish times, physical set-up of the workplace, etc in response to the needs of specific workers. These can arise from issues such as religious beliefs, caring responsibilities, disabilities. This article examines what obligations there are on employers in EU law to accommodate the needs of workers.

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Why is it important?

Women and minorities are often under-represented in the labour market, so removing barriers to their participation is an important way of advancing equality and respecting the dignity of individuals. For example, more flexibility in working time could help women and men who need to combine working with caring responsibilities. Fundamentally, this is about making our labour market more inclusive.

Perspectives

In practice, almost all employers are going to encounter a situation where a worker needs a temporary or permanent change to working practices because of an individual circumstance (e.g. caring for an ill relative). The law has evolved in a somewhat inconsistent fashion. This article reflects on the rationale for developing a general duty on employers to take reasonable steps adapt workplace practices to the diversity of workers, and what forms this could take in legislation.

Mark Bell
University of Dublin Trinity College

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Adapting work to the worker, International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, June 2018, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1358229118788459.
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