need advice depression

[sanjay2013]

can anyone help, i am facing gross misconduct at work for something i believe i am been made an scape goat of, suspended from normal duty, but was on manual duty for 4 weeks whilst investigation was taking place, which totally depressed me, been off work with depression since dec, whilst investigation was taking place (over a month) had interview with atos who stated i was covered under equality act, spoke to them again 4 weeks later, still i am depressed with note from gp, this time atos stated that i am not covered under equality act, this does not make sense to me, can this be right, my sympthoms are still the same, not feeling any better.

[ebbzie]

Without being nosey, if your depression was caused by the loss of a loved one or messy divorce they would probably think a month was sufficient to get "over" this. If this is not the case ask for another ATOS interview, that would be the way forward . Good luck and hope you fell better soon.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Depression is usually covered as long as all the other qualifying criteria are met. Without going into details on here you are probably best contacting your Branch and speaking to the ADR or H&S Rep, or even better the equality rep if there is one.

[noggin1969]

Which mental health conditions does the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) cover?

Since December 2005 a mental impairment no longer has to be clinically well recognised for it to be covered by the DDA. This means that potentially any mental health condition could be covered – it could include someone with depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, or an eating disorder.

The DDA is not, though, impairment specific and only lists HIV, MS and Cancer as definitely being covered from the point of diagnosis onward.

All other conditions and their effect on an individual are subject to the decision of a court. This is because the definition of disability under the DDA is a legal one rather than medical.

The court will decide whether someone is covered by the DDA by considering whether their mental health condition has a long term substantial adverse effect on his or her day to day activities. “Long term” means likely to last or has lasted for 12 months (and there are special provisions relating to recurring conditions); substantial means more than minor or trivial.

Obviously with this degree of ambiguity you would be unable to confirm whether someone was definitely covered by the Act (unless you went to court).

Therefore, instead of trying to work out whether a certain condition is covered you should adopt a best practice approach. This would mean treating an individual who you believe or know to have a mental health condition, regardless of what it is, as if they are covered by the DDA.

You should make reasonable adjustments to remove any disadvantage the individual is facing in their job which will help you to meet your legal duties under the DDA.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Without being nosey, if your depression was caused by the loss of a loved one or messy divorce they would probably think a month was sufficient to get "over" this.

Unfortunately this kind of depression wouldn't be covered by the equality act as its not a long term diagnosis. To be considered under the equality act the symptoms have to be long term and affect daily life.

If this is not the case ask for another ATOS interview, that would be the way forward . Good luck and hope you fell better soon.

Thats good advice though thanks for the catch.