It’s okay to be camera-shy, says tribunal
An employment tribunal has ruled that companies may breach disability discrimination laws if they insist workers keep their cameras on in Zoom calls.
The Croydon-based tribunal issued a decision in June, finding that Holiday Extras had failed to make reasonable adjustments for employee Laura Tait. These included allowing her to turn off her camera in meetings, giving her flexible start and finish times and a compressed working week of four shifts.
Employers have a duty under sections 20 and 21 of the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, in order to avoid putting them at a substantial disadvantage compared to people without disabilities. Failure to do so can amount to unlawful disability discrimination.
Tait worked from home selling insurance policies through the company’s call centre. After periods off work due to anxiety and stress, Holiday Extras said it could not decrease the ratio of voice calls to emails scheduled for her, due to “fairness and workloads”. While it made some adjustments to Tait’s working hours, it refused various other proposals such as a four-day week, time to prepare for calls and having her camera off in meetings. It offered her a settlement agreement, which she declined.
Among other findings, the tribunal said that Tait had shown that joining meetings with her camera on could cause overwhelm, putting her at a disadvantage. It said that Holiday Extras had eventually allowed the adjustment, but more than a year after it was requested.