DSE Eye Tests: An Employer's Five Minute Guide

What the law says

Under the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, if an employee is a "DSE user" and asks for an eye test, their employer must provide one and pay for it. This is not optional and it is not new: the rules have been in force since 1993 and apply to businesses of every size, including a two-person office.

Who counts as a DSE user?

Anyone who uses display screen equipment, meaning computers, laptops or tablets, daily and for continuous periods of an hour or more as part of their job. In a typical office that is most of the team. Home workers and hybrid workers count too; the regulations follow the work, not the building.

What exactly must the employer pay for?

• A full eye test, when a DSE user requests one, and further tests at the intervals the optometrist recommends
• A basic pair of glasses, but only where the test shows the employee needs a special correction specifically for screen distance and their normal glasses will not do. In practice this applies to a minority of staff, and the employer's duty covers a functional pair, not a designer frame

Employees choose whether to take up the test. You cannot make it a condition of the job, but you do need to make the offer real and easy to use.

Vouchers or on-site testing?

There are two ways to meet the duty. Voucher schemes give each employee a voucher for a high street test, which they redeem in their own time or, more usually, in yours. On-site testing brings the optometrist to your office and works through the team in a single visit. The honest comparison: vouchers look cheaper per head but cost hours of working time and often go unredeemed, which leaves the duty unmet. An on-site day means no travel, no lost half-days and no chasing, and everyone who wants a test actually gets one.

How often do tests need repeating?

At the interval the optometrist recommends for each person, typically every two years, or sooner if someone reports headaches, eye strain or vision changes at the screen. A good provider tracks this for you and tells you when re-tests fall due.

What records should you keep?

Keep a note of who was offered testing, who was tested and when, and any glasses provided under the regulations. After an on-site visit with us, you receive individual outcomes for each employee plus a summary report for HR, which is your compliance evidence in one document.

Getting it sorted

Tell us roughly how many people need testing and where you are, and we will plan a visit day around your business. One visit, one invoice, everyone compliant. See workplace eye tests for how it works.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Written by Bilal Abbas MCOptom, GOC No. 01-38339. Last updated: 12 September 2026