We all know that employers have a duty not to discriminate against disabled staff, but are you aware of the extent of this duty?

The Disability Discrimination Act (1995) states that employers must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that working arrangements and the physical features of the workplace don't put disabled employees at a disadvantage.

The huge impact of this duty can be seen in two recent cases: Archibald v Fife Council (2004) and Nottingham County Council v Meikle (2004).

Mrs Archibald became disabled following an operation and was no longer able to carry out her job as a road sweeper for Fife Council. She applied for a number of desk jobs at the council, all of which were at a higher grade than her job as a road sweeper. She was unsuccessful at her interviews and subsequently dismissed.

She then brought a discrimination claim against the council, arguing that it had failed in its duty to make reasonable adjustments by not transferring her to an existing vacancy.

The House of Lords held:

l There is a positive duty to make reasonable adjustments. Unlike under race and sex discrimination law, an employer is obliged to positively discriminate in favour of disabled people.

l This obligation potentially includes allowing disabled persons to "trump" other applicants. If the disabled employee is able to do a particular role, they should take precedence over other, better candidates.

Mrs Meikle was employed as a teacher by Nottinghamshire County Council. Suffering from a degenerative eye condition, she eventually became sight-disabled.

Following a period of absence on account of her disability, the council reduced Mrs Meikle's pay to half, in line with their policy.

Mrs Meikle brought several claims against the council. One was that the reduction to half pay was in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act.

The case was eventually heard by the Court of Appeal. It ruled that the employer had a duty to make reasonable adjustments to its sick pay policy and had breached that duty.

These two cases highlight how frighteningly wide employers' obligations now are under the Disability Discrimination Act. And, from October 1 this year, the Disability Discrimination Act will apply for the first time to all employers.