Time off for medical appointments

In NAT’s study, the most commonly requested reasonable adjustment was time off to go to medical appointments. Indeed, the former Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) had explicitly highlighted time off, during working hours, for treatment as an example of a reasonable adjustment.¹

Moreover ‘disability leave’, as a reasonable adjustment, is mentioned in both the Code of Practice for the DDA and the draft Code of Practice for the Equality Act (EA).^2,3 Disability leave is understood to be planned and predictable, and so distinct from sickness absence.⁴

If an employer’s policy made it hard for a person with HIV to take time off for hospital appointments, this might also be considered to be indirect discrimination or discrimination arising from a disability.

However, for employees who have not disclosed their HIV status, it is worth noting that there is no specific right in mainstream employment law to have time off for medical appointments.

Nonetheless, some employment contracts may allow for this. Other workers may have flexibility over their working hours and could use this for clinic appointments. This is more often the case for white-collar professionals who have a degree of autonomy in their work. It is less likely to be the case for people in manual occupations or less secure employment.