Rank: New forum user 
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I have had a request from HR via an employee. As part of his role (railway), this employee must pass an audiometry standard but on the last test he failed. Advice from the audiometrist was that only certain frequencies were affected and he would only need to wear a hearing aid for the part of the job where his hearing is affected. I realise we need to investigate whether his routine activities have caused the hearing damage (based on the fact this is a particular frequency range) but my question is more about the provision of a hearing aid - the employee states he has been advised that since the device is only required for a specific task at work, his employer must pay for his hearing aid. I have never come across this before in any legislation or guidance docs and am reluctant to give HR the green light as surely this is admission of cause and can have greater repercussions. Has anyone experienced this before?
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Yes, I had an employee with hearing difficulties & as it was under the old DDA it was deemed that the purchase of a hearing aid would be a reasonable adjustment.
However, it was not as clear cut as in your case so we came to an agreement whereby he paid a percentage of the cost as it would improve not only his work life, but his private life too.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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DDA the Disability Discrimination Act is now part of the Equality Act and reasonable adjustment would cover provision of a hearing aid given that the employer requires particular frequencies to be heard. As with glasses etc. I would not pay for the top of the range designer equipment for work purposes but determine the base cost to be provided by the employer - if they then want to augment for aesthetic/domestic purposes additional cost should be the employees responsibility. Then of course you will need to consider if adjustment is required with hearing protection to accomodate the aid
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Rank: Super forum user
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DDA the Disability Discrimination Act is now part of the Equality Act and reasonable adjustment would cover provision of a hearing aid given that the employer requires particular frequencies to be heard. As with glasses etc. I would not pay for the top of the range designer equipment for work purposes but determine the base cost to be provided by the employer - if they then want to augment for aesthetic/domestic purposes additional cost should be the employees responsibility. Then of course you will need to consider if adjustment is required with hearing protection to accomodate the aid
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2 users thanked Roundtuit for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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I have hearing aids. They are set to match the frequencies at which my hearing is not up to standard. Some of the defective levels are almost certainly due to noise encountered years ago in a previous employment.
They cost me nothing courtesy of our local NHS Hearing Service. Even the replacement batteries are free! Why could he not be referred to his local NHS hearing service for a hearing test and supply of appropriate hearing aids? He could wear them all the time or only when needed for the particular part of his work.
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Rank: New forum user
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Originally Posted by: chris.packham  I have hearing aids. They are set to match the frequencies at which my hearing is not up to standard. Some of the defective levels are almost certainly due to noise encountered years ago in a previous employment.
They cost me nothing courtesy of our local NHS Hearing Service. Even the replacement batteries are free! Why could he not be referred to his local NHS hearing service for a hearing test and supply of appropriate hearing aids? He could wear them all the time or only when needed for the particular part of his work. Thanks Chris - I do believe the NHS has been the first port of call but the waiting time to have free hearing aids provided would mean our man would not be permitted onto the rail network and therefore unable to work.
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Rank: New forum user
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Thank you all for your advice, I have since passed them onto HR who are now happy to pay for the basics under the 'reasonable adjustment' clause.
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Rank: Forum user
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Roy, I have NHS hearing aids too. From GP appointment to fitting was less than 2 weeks - many areas use Specsavers. I saw the Gp on Thursday, my referral came through on Tuesday, 1st appt Friday and I had the aids by the next Wednesday..
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