What counts as a disability at work, and why it matters for AI tools, in Great Britain

Software that tracks attendance, typing speed, call handling time or sickness absence can flag people whose figures are affected by a health condition. Whether that person is protected by the disability provisions of the Equality Act 2010, including the duty to make reasonable adjustments, depends first on whether they meet the Act's definition of disability. This page explains that definition as it applies in Great Britain.

The short answer: a person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities (s6(1)). For work, those activities include the ability to participate fully and effectively in working life on an equal basis with other workers (Sch 1 para 5A). People who had a disability in the past are covered too (s6(4)).

The parts of the test

• Impairment: physical or mental. Regulations can say that a particular condition is, or is not, an impairment (Sch 1 para 1).
• Long-term: the effect has lasted at least 12 months, is likely to last at least 12 months, or is likely to last for the rest of the person's life (para 2(1)).
• Recurring effects: if the substantial adverse effect stops but is likely to recur, it is treated as continuing (para 2(2)).
• Normal day-to-day activities, at work: since 1 January 2024, for the work provisions this includes the ability to participate fully and effectively in working life on an equal basis with other workers (para 5A).

Treatment, aids and particular conditions

• Effect of treatment: an impairment is treated as having a substantial adverse effect if measures, such as medical treatment or a prosthesis or other aid, are being taken to treat or correct it and without them it would be likely to have that effect (para 5(1) and (2)). This does not apply to sight impairment correctable by spectacles or contact lenses (para 5(3)).
• Cancer, HIV infection and multiple sclerosis are each a disability (para 6).
• Severe disfigurement is treated as having a substantial adverse effect, subject to regulations (para 3).
• Progressive conditions: where a progressive condition has some effect on day-to-day activities that is not yet substantial, the person is treated as having a substantial adverse effect if the condition is likely to result in one (para 8).

Why it matters for AI and monitoring tools

A tool does not decide whether someone is disabled, but the definition decides what the employer must then do. Points to keep in mind:

• Treatment hides effects: someone whose condition is controlled by medication may show no effect in the data, but is still assessed as if the treatment were not there.
• Recurring conditions: a person with a condition that flares up from time to time may meet the test even when an absence or speed metric looks normal for long stretches.
• Working life counts: because participation in working life is included, effects that show up mainly at work, such as on pace, screen use or attendance, are relevant to the test.
• Past disability: the Act's protection extends to people who have had a disability, so old absence or health records used by a model can matter.

Once someone meets the definition, the rules on discrimination arising from disability and reasonable adjustments apply; see the Equality Act and AI at work and AI and disabled workers. For questions before a job offer, see health questions before a job offer.

This page covers Great Britain and is general information on the law as at 2 November 2026, not legal advice.