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A judgement by the Employment Appeal Tribunal has introduced new rights into UK discrimination law, which will primarily benefit carers of disabled people.

Ginny Hallam, Head of employment at Midlands law firm Berryman, commented: "The judgement in the case has an impact on the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) going forward. It now expressly protects against discrimination against a non-disabled person on the grounds of the disability of a person they are associated with, such as a disabled child.

"Carers are already entitled to limited time off work to deal with emergencies affecting those for whom they have responsibility and have the right to apply for flexible working. Now it is clear they can resort to the Disability Discrimination Act where they feel they are treated less favourably than others or subjected to harassment for a reason relating to the disability of the person they are caring for."

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) confirmed that the judgement is not limited to carers or even those associated with a disabled person, as Ginny explains: "According to EAT, the judgement covers direct discrimination or harassment of an employee based on the disability of any third party, though it does not create any new rights to reasonable adjustments."

She adds: "All acts of discrimination introduced on or after the 1st October 2004 are affected by this decision by the EAT. The DDA should now be read as if new subsections have been inserted to encompass this new concept of ‘associative discrimination'.