The case of Ashton v Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has confirmed that the obligation to make reasonable adjustments to those with a disability does not extend to increasing the amount of sick pay an employee gets. Ms Ashton had frequent absences caused by her disability, and RBS made several adjustments to her working pattern and role allowing her employment to continue. However, RBS did enforce its absence policy by giving Ms Ashton a formal disciplinary warning once her absences reached a certain level, which consequently affected her sick pay.
Ms Ashton claimed that by issuing the formal warning and withholding her sick pay, RBS had failed to make reasonable adjustments. However, the Employment Appeal Tribunal found that she was not at a substantial disadvantage in comparison to those who were not disabled because all employees were treated consistently in accordance with the absence policy, and confirmed that extra sick pay would only need to be paid in exceptional circumstances. In RBS’s favour was fact that the policy was sometimes relaxed for those with disabilities.
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