Employers have expressed concern that display screen equipment (DSE) regulations will place pressure on them to provide free spectacles for all, the legal information provider Work Place Law has reported.
The regulations state that employers must provide and pay for eye tests and spectacles needed for screen viewing distance but employers fear that practices will make them pay for other conditions not caused by the use of VDUs, it asserted.
A spokesperson for Work Place Law said: 'We have had a lot of feedback from employers showing confusion about what they are obliged to pay for.'
Under the regulations, employers are not expected to pay for spectacles for purposes other than VDU use and the intention of the regulations is to supply spectacles for people with special needs related to the use of a VDU at no cost to themselves.
Work Place Law added that optical practices must supply a report to the employer with a copy to the employee stating clearly whether eyewear for work at a VDU was needed as well as when the employee should be re-examined.
The legal information provider also cited senior employment solicitor at Mills & Reeve, Vanessa Dicuffa, who said that the amount of employer contribution should be clearly stated in the company policy and that companies should fund a fixed limit for the basic cost of spectacles.