Mental health discrimination at work
If your mental health is affecting work, write down what is happening and ask for the change you need. The Equality Act may protect you, and a tribunal deadline may already be ticking.
Your shifts are being cut after you disclosed depression. A manager is counting panic-related absences against you. Or you need a later start to get through a shift safely. Write down what happened today and ask for the change you need. In Great Britain, a mental health condition with substantial, long-term effects can be a disability, and an employer may have to adjust the job.
- 12 mths
- long-term effect test; recurring episodes can count
- 6 months
- minus one day; acts from 1 Oct 2026
- £123.25
- maximum weekly SSP from 6 Apr 2026
- £69,260
- yearly Access to Work cap in Great Britain
When does a condition become a disability?
The Equality Act 2010 disability definition asks three questions about how your mental health condition affects you. The name of the condition alone does not decide whether you qualify.
First, do you have a mental impairment? Depression, generalised anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, eating disorders, OCD and personality disorders can qualify. A label such as “stress” does not settle the question. You do not need a named diagnosis, but you do need evidence of an impairment and its effects.
Second, does it have a substantial adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities? Substantial means more than minor or trivial, not necessarily severe. Sleep, concentration, getting dressed, shopping, travelling and social interaction can all matter. For employment protection, the test also includes your ability to participate fully and effectively in working life on an equal basis with other workers. If medication or treatment controls the condition, the law considers the likely effects without it. Do not stop treatment to prove your case.
Third, is the effect long-term? That means it has lasted at least 12 months, is likely to last at least 12 months, or is likely to last for the rest of your life. You need not wait a year before asking for adjustments. Substantial effects that come and go can be treated as continuing if they are likely to recur.
Addiction to alcohol, nicotine or other substances is generally excluded. The exclusion does not apply where addiction originally resulted from medically prescribed drugs or other medical treatment. Depression or liver damage caused by addiction can independently count as a disability. The regulations also exclude certain conditions, including a tendency to steal, set fires, or physically or sexually abuse others.
Example: working does not mean you are not disabled
Leila has recurrent depression. During episodes, she struggles to sleep, prepare meals and follow conversations. Between episodes, medication helps her keep working. Evidence that the substantial effects are likely to recur can bring her within the disability definition. Her attendance on a good day does not answer the legal question.
What counts as discrimination?
“Toxic workplace” is not a legal term. To challenge discrimination, identify the decision or behaviour and how it relates to disability. The same incident may support more than one type of claim.
| Type | Example and legal test | Law |
|---|---|---|
| Direct discrimination | Refusing promotion because you have bipolar disorder, or because the employer wrongly believes you have a disability. Less favourable treatment because of disability cannot be objectively justified. | s.13 |
| Discrimination arising from disability | Disciplining you for absence caused by depression. The employer must justify the unfavourable treatment, unless it neither knew nor should have known about the disability. | s.15 |
| Indirect discrimination | A rigid hours policy puts people who share your disability, and you personally, at a particular disadvantage. The employer must objectively justify the policy. | s.19 |
| Failure to make reasonable adjustments | Refusing a reasonable change to hours or workspace that would address a substantial disability-related disadvantage. | ss.20-21 |
| Harassment | Unwanted disability-related comments violate your dignity or create an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. | s.26 |
| Victimisation | Cutting your shifts because you complained about discrimination or supported a colleague’s discrimination claim. | s.27 |
Section 15 matters when an employer says, “This is about your attendance, not your mental health.” Absence, medication side-effects or reduced performance can arise from a disability. The employer must show that its treatment was a proportionate way to achieve a legitimate aim, such as maintaining a reliable service. A policy does not prove proportionality. What alternatives did it consider, and would adjustments have helped?
You can also face direct discrimination because of someone else’s disability, for example if you care for a disabled partner. Perceived disability can support direct discrimination and disability-related harassment claims even if you do not meet the disability definition yourself. Victimisation protects people who raise or support discrimination complaints; a knowingly false allegation made in bad faith is not protected.
Bullying with no link to a relevant protected characteristic is not Equality Act harassment. Serious bullying may still breach health-and-safety duties or the implied term of trust and confidence. For employees, a fundamental contractual breach may support constructive dismissal, but get advice before resigning. The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 can cover sufficiently serious workplace harassment and requires a course of conduct, normally at least two incidents. Rudeness or an unpleasant manager alone is not enough.
What adjustments can you ask for?
If you are disabled and a workplace rule, physical feature or lack of an aid puts you at a substantial disadvantage compared with people who are not disabled, your employer must take reasonable steps to address it. That is the reasonable adjustments duty. You do not pay for those steps. The employer must know, or reasonably be expected to know, both that you are disabled and that you are likely to face the disadvantage.
You do not have to use the word “disabled”. A fit note, an occupational health report or a pattern of absence may put the employer on notice and require it to investigate. None automatically proves knowledge of a disability. Explain the effects, how long they have lasted and the problem at work.
Match the adjustment to the problem
If rush-hour travel triggers panic attacks, a later start may help. If interruptions make concentration difficult, a quieter desk, headphones or protected time for focused work may be more useful. In care, a predictable rota or travel time between visits may help; in retail or a warehouse, a quieter stockroom task or written instructions may help; in hospitality, planned breaks away from a noisy service area may help. These are options to discuss, not automatic entitlements.
After absence, you might need a phased return, temporary changes to duties or a regular slot for therapy. Ask how pay will work during reduced hours. On attendance, Acas gives examples including recording disability-related absence separately, raising review thresholds or discounting some or all of that absence.
There is no universal list of adjustments every employer must provide. Effectiveness, practicality, cost, available resources and disruption all matter. A larger employer may be able to do more than a small business, but size alone does not settle the question. If your preferred option is not reasonable, ask what alternative would address the disadvantage. A trial with an agreed review date can help establish what works.
What to tell your employer, and when
You generally choose whether to disclose your condition. For adjustments and section 15 protection, though, the employer’s actual or reasonably expected knowledge matters. You can explain the effects without sharing your entire medical history. Ask HR or your manager who needs the information to arrange support. Direct discrimination, harassment and victimisation have different tests; disclosure is not a condition for every claim. If you are not ready to disclose, keep a private record of what is happening and seek confidential advice first.
Before an offer, including a conditional offer, section 60 restricts health questions. Exceptions include arranging interview adjustments, checking whether you can perform an intrinsic job function after adjustments, diversity monitoring and certain positive-action or occupational-requirement enquiries. A general question about last year’s sick days is normally prohibited. The Equality and Human Rights Commission enforces the question ban. You cannot bring a tribunal claim merely because the question was asked, but discriminatory use of the answer can support a claim. After an offer, health questions are allowed, but discrimination is not.
Absence, dismissal and sick pay
A disability does not make you immune from dismissal. It does mean your employer cannot treat an absence policy as the whole answer. It should understand the medical position, consider reasonable adjustments and assess whether a warning or dismissal is justified. Ask which absences are linked to your condition and how the policy accounts for them. Mechanically applying a Bradford score to depression-related absence risks discrimination.
For employees, ordinary unfair dismissal generally requires two years’ service where the effective date of termination falls before 1 January 2027. The compensatory award is usually capped at the lower of £123,543 or 52 weeks’ gross pay for dismissals from 6 April 2026; a separate basic award may also be payable. Some automatically unfair dismissals have no service requirement or compensation cap. From an effective termination date of 1 January 2027, the ordinary qualifying period falls to six months and the compensatory cap is removed. Disability discrimination claims have no minimum service requirement and no statutory compensation ceiling.
What sick pay covers
Since 6 April 2026, eligible employees receive Statutory Sick Pay from the first full qualifying day of sickness, with no minimum earnings threshold. The weekly amount is the lower of £123.25 or 80% of average weekly earnings, normally calculated over eight weeks. It is payable for up to 28 weeks and is subject to tax and National Insurance. Your contract may provide more. Self-certify the first seven calendar days of sickness; after that, your employer can ask for a fit note from a doctor, nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist or physiotherapist.
Example: two colleagues, one week off
Amara’s average weekly earnings are £90 across three qualifying days. She is sick for all three. Her SSP is 80% × £90 = £72 for the week. Ben earns £500 and works Monday to Friday. He is sick for all five qualifying days. His 80% calculation gives £400, so he receives the lower amount of £123.25.
For an otherwise identical first, unlinked week of sickness in 2025-26, Ben would have received only two paid days after three waiting days: £118.75 ÷ 5 × 2 = £47.50. The new rate and removal of waiting days together increase that week’s SSP by £75.75. Amara would not have met the old £125 weekly earnings threshold. At the 2026-27 maximum weekly rate, 28 × £123.25 = £3,451 before deductions.
Access to Work is a separate Great Britain scheme. It can fund practical support such as a job coach, support worker or additional travel costs, and offers mental health support plans. The annual cap is £69,260 for grants awarded or reviewed from 8 April 2024 to 31 March 2027. Your award depends on your needs, not the cap. The scheme will not fund reasonable adjustments your employer is legally required to make, and you do not have to wait for a grant before asking for them.
Dress codes and appearance
A dress rule can look neutral and still discriminate. A policy that bans head coverings, requires close shaving, mandates high heels or forbids sunglasses indoors can be indirect discrimination on grounds of disability, sex or religion unless the employer can objectively justify it. Justification needs evidence, not preference.
For mental health, identify how the rule affects you. An adjustment might allow a different uniform fabric where the standard one causes sensory distress, sunglasses for medication-related light sensitivity, or an exemption from shaving where it worsens a disabling skin-picking condition. Acas guidance says dress codes should not discriminate and employers must consider reasonable adjustments. Equivalent standards for men and women do not mean identical clothes. For religious clothing and grooming, see our guide to religious dress rules.
When being at work makes you worse
Working while ill is often called presenteeism. An expectation that you stay logged on does not override sick pay, working-time or disability rights. The Working Time Regulations 1998 generally give adult workers a 48-hour average weekly limit, usually averaged over 17 weeks, although you can voluntarily opt out. They also provide rest breaks and 5.6 weeks’ paid annual leave. For most adult workers, rest means a 20-minute break when working more than six hours, 11 hours between working days, and weekly rest. Some jobs have exceptions and compensatory rest rules.
Employers must also assess work-related stress risks and act on them, whether or not you are disabled. The HSE Management Standards cover demands, control, support, relationships, role and change. A counselling helpline does not resolve an unmanageable workload. Ask for the risk assessment and what will change in your job.
Workers have protection against detriment for leaving or refusing to return where they reasonably believe there is serious and imminent danger they cannot reasonably avert. Employees also have automatic unfair dismissal protection under section 100, without a service requirement. These are specific legal tests, not a general right to walk out because work is stressful.
Employees can make a statutory flexible-working request from their first day. You can make two requests in any 12 months. The employer must consult before rejecting one and decide, including any appeal, within two months unless you agree an extension. If the change is needed because of disability, ask for it as a reasonable adjustment too. The duty to make adjustments is separate from the right to request flexible working; a business reason for refusing a request does not by itself answer the Equality Act question.
Self-doubt is not the legal test
Imposter syndrome describes feeling like a fraud who is about to be found out. The label is not itself a medical diagnosis or proof of disability. If that feeling comes with an impairment such as anxiety or depression, assess the effects and duration using the same disability test. You do not need to acquire a different diagnostic label before asking for help.
Even without a disability, you can ask for a workload review, mentoring or action on work-related stress. You may also have protection if someone discriminates against you because of a perceived disability, or punishes you for a discrimination complaint. Tell your GP what you struggle to do and how long it has been happening. At work, describe the specific problem rather than relying on the phrase “imposter syndrome”.
Who is covered and who is not
Employment protection can cover you
- Employees can claim discrimination without minimum service. Unfair dismissal and SSP have separate eligibility rules.
- Workers contracted to do work personally generally have discrimination and adjustment rights.
- Agency and contract workers may have claims against the agency, the hirer or both, depending on who did what.
- Job applicants are protected against recruitment discrimination and can need interview adjustments.
Different or limited protection
- Running a genuinely independent business for clients generally falls outside ordinary employment protection.
- Unpaid volunteers without a contract are generally outside employment discrimination protection.
- The armed forces have a disability exemption for service.
The Equality Act’s definition of employment includes a contract personally to do work, so a “self-employed” label does not decide your rights. Check your working status before ruling out a claim. Ordinary unfair dismissal and the disciplinary and grievance Acas Code compensation adjustment are employee rights. SSP has its own eligibility rules and can cover agency workers. Access to Work can also support eligible self-employed people, while health-and-safety duties can protect people affected by a business who are not its employees.
Build your case without missing the deadline
- After your shift, write five things down. Note the date, what happened, who saw it, the effect on you and any relevant message or absence record. Keep your notes and copies somewhere your employer cannot remove them.
- Send one short request. Explain the work problem and the change that could help. You do not need a diagnosis to ask. Request a written answer and review date.
- Get someone on your side. Ask your union representative to help. UNISON represents many care and health workers; Unite and GMB cover workers in sectors including hospitality and logistics; Usdaw represents retail workers. If you are not a member, try Citizens Advice or a local law centre. Acas gives free early conciliation advice.
- Raise a grievance if needed, but do not wait on it. Say what treatment you believe is discriminatory and what would resolve it. A union representative can help you prepare and accompany you at a grievance hearing.
- Notify Acas before time runs out. Notification is required before most tribunal claims. Taking part in conciliation is voluntary. It can last up to 12 weeks, but that is a maximum, not an automatic extension for everyone. Do not wait for a grievance or appeal to finish.
- Submit your tribunal claim in time. Keep the conciliation certificate and calculate the revised deadline using the notification and certificate dates. Timely notification pauses the clock; it does not revive an expired claim. There is no fee to bring a claim.
Put the incident date and any missed adjustment review date in your diary today. The relevant date can depend on whether conduct continued or an adjustment was not made.
For discrimination on or after 1 October 2026, the usual deadline is six calendar months minus one day. Under the transitional rules, a standalone act before that date keeps the old three-month-minus-one-day limit. Continuing discriminatory conduct is treated as occurring at the end of the period. A failure to make an adjustment has its own timing rules. Do not assume that a later incident makes every earlier incident part of one continuing act. A tribunal can extend discrimination time limits where it is just and equitable, but you should never rely on that.
What a successful claim can be worth
If you establish facts from which a tribunal could infer discrimination without another explanation, the employer must show it did not discriminate. A successful claim can compensate you for financial loss and injury to feelings. “Uncapped” means there is no statutory ceiling, not that you will receive any sum you ask for. You must establish the losses caused by the discrimination and take reasonable steps to reduce financial loss, for example by looking for suitable work.
| Vento band | Range | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Lower | £1,300 to £12,600 | Less serious cases |
| Middle | £12,600 to £37,700 | Cases that do not merit an upper-band award |
| Upper | £37,700 to £62,900 | The most serious cases; exceptional awards can exceed £62,900 |
The Vento bands guide compensation for the hurt caused by discrimination. They are not a tariff for particular diagnoses, and losing your job does not automatically put you in the middle band.
Example: loss of earnings and injury to feelings
Suppose an employee wins a disability discrimination claim. The tribunal assesses injury to feelings at £18,000. Proven net earnings loss is £2,400 a month for six months, with no replacement earnings or other deductions in this example. £2,400 × 6 = £14,400; adding £18,000 gives £32,400 before interest.
If the employer also unreasonably failed to follow the disciplinary and grievance Acas Code where it applied, and the tribunal awarded the maximum 25% uplift on that sum, the addition would be £8,100, making £40,500 before interest. Neither the band nor the uplift is automatic. The Code does not generally apply to a dismissal solely for ill-health capability, although mishandling a discrimination grievance may engage it. An employee’s own unreasonable failure to follow the Code can reduce compensation by up to 25%.
What changed and what is still coming
- Sexual harassment prevention duty begins
GB employers must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. The Equality and Human Rights Commission can enforce the duty.
- Longer conciliation period
For notifications from this date, Acas early conciliation can last up to 12 weeks instead of six.
- Day-one sick pay
The SSP waiting days and minimum earnings threshold are removed UK-wide. The weekly rate is the lower of £123.25 or 80% of average weekly earnings.
- Longer tribunal deadline
The usual GB employment discrimination limit becomes six months minus one day for acts from this date. Earlier standalone acts retain the old limit.
- Scheduled harassment changes
The GB duty not to permit third-party harassment and the stronger sexual harassment prevention duty are scheduled to start. They are not yet in force.
- Scheduled unfair dismissal reform
For effective termination dates from this date, the GB ordinary qualifying period falls to six months and the compensatory cap is removed.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland has the same Equality Act disability tests and employment discrimination deadlines as England and Wales. The joint Vento guidance applies, subject to its Scotland-specific provision. The separate extension for breach-of-contract tribunal claims is scheduled for 9 November 2026. Do not confuse that exception with a disability discrimination claim. Stress-related personal injury claims in Scottish courts follow Scots procedure.
In Northern Ireland, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, not the Equality Act, governs workplace disability discrimination. The core substantial and long-term effects test is similar, but do not import the GB claim routes or deadlines. The usual NI disability discrimination deadline remains three months minus one day, subject to the rules for timely Labour Relations Agency notification. Seek advice from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland before an industrial tribunal claim. The GB six-month disability discrimination limit and January 2027 unfair dismissal changes do not alter these NI rights. Statutory Sick Pay applies UK-wide, including the lower-of-£123.25-or-80% formula and removal of waiting days. Northern Ireland has its own Access to Work service.
Questions people ask
Can depression be a disability if you are still working?
Yes. The question is whether an impairment has substantial, long-term effects, not whether you can hold a job. Treatment-controlled symptoms and recurring substantial effects can count. You do not have to wait 12 months if the effects are already likely to last that long.
Can your employer dismiss you for mental health absence?
Sometimes, but a known disability requires the employer to consider reasonable adjustments and justify unfavourable treatment arising from it. No rule requires every disability-related absence to be ignored. Your service length affects ordinary unfair dismissal rights, not your right to challenge disability discrimination.
Do you have to disclose your condition at interview?
Generally, no. Pre-offer health questions are restricted, with exceptions such as interview adjustments and intrinsic job functions. If you need an adjustment to the recruitment process, explain the disadvantage and the support you need. Employers can ask health questions after a conditional or unconditional offer, but cannot discriminate.
Can you ask for adjustments without a formal diagnosis?
Yes. Describe the impairment, its effects and duration, and the workplace disadvantage. Medical evidence can help, but a named diagnosis is not essential to the disability test. The employer must know or reasonably be expected to know about the disability and likely disadvantage for the adjustment duty to arise.
How much compensation can you get?
There is no statutory cap on discrimination compensation. The tribunal assesses financial loss and injury to feelings on the evidence. The Vento bands guide the latter; they do not guarantee a minimum award or a particular band because you have a diagnosis. Where the disciplinary and grievance Acas Code applies, unreasonable failures can change an employee’s award by up to 25%.
Sources
- Equality Act 2010, section 6: disability, legislation.gov.uk
- Equality Act 2010, Schedule 1: duration, recurrence, treatment and working life, legislation.gov.uk
- Equality Act 2010 (Disability) Regulations 2010: exclusions, legislation.gov.uk
- Statutory guidance on the definition of disability, GOV.UK
- Equality Act 2010: discrimination, harassment, recruitment and remedies, legislation.gov.uk
- Equality Act 2010, Schedule 8 paragraph 20: knowledge and adjustments, legislation.gov.uk
- Reasonable adjustments, Acas
- Disability-related absence, Acas
- Dress codes and appearance, Acas
- Employment tribunal time limits, Acas
- Employment Rights Act 2025 commencement regulations: tribunal limits and transition, legislation.gov.uk
- Early conciliation amendment regulations: 12-week maximum, legislation.gov.uk
- Early conciliation, Acas
- Acas Code compensation adjustments, legislation.gov.uk
- Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures, Acas
- Management Standards for work-related stress, HSE
- Statutory Sick Pay: what you’ll get, GOV.UK
- Employer rates and thresholds for 2025-26: historical SSP comparison, HMRC
- Access to Work factsheet, GOV.UK
- Flexible working, GOV.UK
- Working Time Regulations 1998, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2026, legislation.gov.uk
- Unfair dismissal reform commencement regulations, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 2025, legislation.gov.uk
- Plan to Make Work Pay: timeline update, GOV.UK
- Vento bands: ninth addendum to Presidential Guidance, judiciary.uk
- Disability Discrimination Act 1995: NI employment claim deadlines, legislation.gov.uk
- Disability discrimination law: employment rights, nidirect
- Disabled workers’ access to reasonable adjustment, TUC, May 2025
- Bullying, harassment and discrimination of Disabled people in the workplace, TUC, June/July 2025
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