Discrimination at work
Some of us experience disability discrimination at work because of our mental health. Find out about the laws that protect us from discrimination, plus where to go for support and advice.
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What other employment rights do I have?
You may have other employment rights besides disability discrimination rights.
For example:
- Employees with 2 years' service have rights related to redundancy and unfair dismissal
- Employers have a legal responsibility to make sure that employees have a safe system at work
To find out more about your other employment rights, you can:
- Check with Acas
- See a specialist legal adviser, which you can find in our useful contacts
- Find more information in our pages about mental health and work
Disability discrimination
When someone is treated worse because of their physical or mental health condition, this is known as 'disability discrimination'.
The Equality Act is the law that explains what a disability is, and when worse treatment counts as discrimination.
Generally, you have to show that you have a disability before you can challenge worse treatment as disability discrimination. The exceptions to this are if you received worse treatment because your employer thinks you're disabled but you're not, or because of your association with a disabled person.
See our pages on disability discrimination for more information.
Visit our full listing of Legal TermsThis information was published in November 2022. We will revise it in 2025.
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