If a disabled agency worker requires an adjustment (e.g. a specific type of chair), who is responsible for providing it, agency or hirer?

The Disability Discrimination Act extends to those working under “a contract of service or of apprenticeship or a contract personally to do any work”. It also renders it unlawful for a “principal”, in relation to “contract work” to discriminate against a person who is a “disabled contract worker”. “Principal” means a person who makes work available for individuals who are employed by another person who supplies them.

This requirement of a contractual relationship can cause problems when it comes to agency workers supplied by employment agencies and businesses to carry out work for third parties, since it is not always clear whether such workers are employed by the agency, by the third party