Disability-related absence

Identify the connection without making a diagnosis

Disability-related absence may cover illness caused by a disability, treatment or therapy, recovery from treatment, or time away for a disability-related appointment. It can be one day or a long period. Length alone does not tell you whether an absence is disability-related.

Talk with the employee about the connection and what they need at work. Do not require them to prove a diagnosis to a manager or assume every absence after a disability disclosure has the same cause. The Acas disability-related absence guidance explains why individual discussion matters.

Consider how ordinary rules create disadvantage

An employer may need to adjust absence reporting, contact, review points or return arrangements where ordinary treatment would disadvantage a disabled person. Separate recording can help a manager see disability-related days without erasing them from the record.

An adjustment might change an attendance trigger, allow planned treatment time or set a different contact method. Review it when the person's circumstances or role change. Keep the absence itself distinct from any later capability process.

Use the right legal framework

Great Britain uses the Equality Act 2010. Northern Ireland uses the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and separate official guidance. The practical questions are similar, but the legal wording should not be copied from one jurisdiction into the other.

Keep only the health information needed to understand the absence and agreed support. Managers need the decision, dates and review point. More detailed evidence should remain restricted. If the position is uncertain, obtain appropriate advice and continue the conversation rather than turning uncertainty into an automatic refusal.