Reasonable Adjustments
Reasonable adjustments are changes an employer makes to remove or reduce a disadvantage related to someone's disability. For example this can include:
making changes to the workplace
changing someone's working arrangements
finding a different way to do something
providing equipment, services or support
Reasonable adjustments are specific to an individual person. They can cover any area of work. It's not enough for employers to provide disabled people with exactly the same working conditions as non disabled people. Employers must scope reasonable adjustments by law, known as the duty to make reasonable adjustments.
Not all disabled people need or want reasonable adjustments...but it's important to appreciate that this may change over time.
When An Employer Must Make Reasonable Adjustments
The Equality Act 2010 says that employers must make reasonable adjustments for:
employees and workers
contractors and self employed people hired to personally do the work
job applicants
Employers must make reasonable adjustments when:
they know, or could reasonably be expected to know, someone is disabled
a disabled staff member or job applicant asks for adjustments
someone who's disabled is having difficulty with any part of their job
someone's absence record, sickness record or delay in returning to work is because of, or linked to, their disability
The employer must also:
make reasonable adjustments for anything linked to someone' disability, for example someone with an assistance dog where dogs are not normally allowed on work premises
make sure other people do what's needed for a reasonable adjustment to work, for example if someone needs information in a different format, making sure that is done
The first question that everyone asks is, what is reasonable? There is no legal definition of what that actually is, and it can be subjective, however there is some guidelines that employment tribunals use to determine whether it can be done:
the financial resources that an organisation has
is it practical to make the adjustment
will it remove the disadvantage
health and safety of the individual and others
the type and size of the employer
Another myth that line managers and organisations preceive, is that reasonabe adjustments cost thousands and there is no budget to cover it. In actual fact most reasonable adjustments cost very little, and there is also grants through Access to Work which can help. Things such as hybrid and home working which prior to the Covid Pandemic was seen as not reasonable by some...has been shown to work, and opened the door for thousands of disabled people to enter the labour market.
Examples Of Reasonable Adjustments
Reasonable adjustments are pretty much user led and can cover any aspect of the employment life cycle from recruitment to exit. These can include:
changing the lighting above someone's desk or workstation
changing the layout of a work area or the entrance to a building
providing an accessible car parking space
holding a job interview in a room that is accessible for someone who uses a wheelchair
changing someone's working patterns
distributing someone's breaks more evenly across the day
giving extra time to do a task
trying different ways to train someone if they find the current process difficult
adaptive equipment
emails and documents which are accessible
If someone needs reasonable adjustments in the workplace, then it's a great time to get an understanding of what someone needs to help them thrive. It's also a great time to educate other staff around disability in the workplace.
When we begin to think about a change, a process, or the design of something, it is vital to take disabled views into account to make it as accessible as possible. We often get asked what reasonable adjustments are needed for a specific condition, however people are people and will need different things. We have put some things together which may help you to discuss this to improve accessiblity.
