In the current climate of austerity and mass redundancies in both the public and private sectors, employers will often look for reasons other than redundancy to dismiss employees to avoid paying a redundancy payment.
Just because someone is on long-term sick leave does not necessarily mean they are disabled.
Clauses 3, 4 and 5 of section 20 of the Equality Act impose a duty on employers (referred to as “A” in the legislation) to make reasonable adjustments.