Should an employer pay for glasses?
A friend at work, who is a computer programmer, has just been told that he needs to wear glasses. I have read somewhere that, due to his job, our employer should contribute to the cost. I've also heard that my friend should be entitled to yearly eye tests, again with contributions from our employer. Is this right?
Andrea
Yes this is correct. The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 apply to Display Screen Equipment (DSE) users. As a computer programmer, your friend should meet the definition of a DSE user, which is 'an employee who habitually uses display screen equipment as a significant part of his or her normal work'.
The Regulations state that employers must provide DSE users with an appropriate eye sight test on request - before starting VDU work, at regular intervals, and if they experience visual difficulties attributable to work.
If the glasses your friend has been told he needs are 'special corrective appliances', i.e. lenses prescribed specifically for VDU work, the cost of the eye tests and any lenders prescribed for VDU work must be met by the employer. If, however, he merely needs normal corrective appliances for a reason unconnected to his job, the employer does not have to pay.
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