In
a lively presentation, Minding your back – a legal update, employment law
expert, Joan Lewis, succinctly covered recent case law that may affect the
occupational health professional.
Topics
for discussion included the Court of Appeal’s guidance on stress 2002, where
the judge defined a risk assessment as "absolutely crucial".
She
also focused on some recent cases concerning disability and sickness, including
long-term sick leave and holiday entitlement, disability discrimination after
employment has ended and medical misinformation given to occupational health
staff by employees.
Lewis
summarised the practical effects of the Human Rights Act on employers since it
came into force in 2000 and took delegates through an analysis of part one of
the eventual four-part information on the Data Protection Code, published in
March of this year.
The
talk was illustrated with examples of recent cases that underline the important
role played by occupational health in interpreting employment law.
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