I'm helping a client with a claim for DLA. The client works full time. Does her employer have to issue a certificate or any document to cover the client whilst absent from work with illness caused by the disability? i.e. doesn't count for sick pay purposes, or redundancy selection.

Sorry but i don't understand your question?

If the client is absent from work because of the effect the disability is having on their ability to do their job, then it doesn't count as an absence due to sickness.

Dosn't it? Must admit to never having come across this question before!!

nor have i

From the website of the Disability Rights Commission, click here for link, hope this helps you:

Sick leave, sick pay and medical appointments

If you have a disability or a long-term health condition, your sickness absence may have nothing to do with your disability. You may have caught flu, chicken pox or a cold. However, if your sickness absence is related to a disability, your employer has a duty under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 to make reasonable adjustments.

What reasonable adjustments can I expect?

Adjustments relating to absences can take a number of forms:
• predictable short-term absences: time off every week for treatment or counselling for example. Your employer should accommodate this if it cannot be done outside working hours
• unpredictable short-term absences: if these happen often and for a variety of reasons, you yourself may not be aware that this may for instance be the onset of depression or another condition. Your employer should pick up on this. They may suggest you work flexible hours or lighten or change your workload for a while
• predictable long-term absence: you may be recovering after an operation, in which case your employer should have discussed reasonable adjustments prior to your absence. These may include maintaining contact, a phased re-introduction to work, or any other adjustments you need to do your job well on your return
• unpredictable long-term absence: if you have been absent for six weeks continuously or your regular absences have accumulated to over 20 days, your employer will want to discuss with you what adjustments would help you to work effectively.

Can my sickness absences be held against me in any way?

Your employer’s records should record separately disability and non-disability related absences, especially as it may be necessary to discount all or some disability related absences for the following purposes:
• disciplinary procedures
• performance appraisals, especially when linked to bonuses, ongoing professional development and pay rises
• references
• selection criteria for promotion
• selection criteria for redundancy.

Still don't see how this relates to an application for DLA though.....
*confused*

The reason it is relevant for DLA is that the client will have to show that they still have care needs and mobility problems even though they work.
Part of this may be achievable if the firm she works for has evidence of the disability and how they have changed the job description or workplace to accommodate the ckient. If she has absenses through illness, these will not show on her employment record so the tribunal will have to understand that the client is telling the truth about her absenses, ie frequency of disability. Don't forget a tribunal will have very little understanding of DDA issues unless an employment lawyer is sitting as chair.

Thought you were just making a claim, didn't realise it was an appeal?