Work Place Adjustments

Equality law recognises that bringing about equality for disabled people may mean changing the way in which employment is structured, the removal of physical barriers and/or providing extra support for a disabled worker or job applicant.

This is the duty to make reasonable adjustments.

The duty to make reasonable adjustments aims to make sure that as a disabled person, you have, as far as is reasonable, the same access to everything that is involved in getting and doing a job as a non-disabled person.

When the duty arises, your employer is under a positive and proactive duty to take steps to remove or reduce or prevent the obstacles you face as a disabled worker or job applicant.

The employer only has to make adjustments where they are aware – or should reasonably be aware – that you have a disability.

Many of the adjustments your employer can make will not be particularly expensive, and they are not required to do more than it is reasonable for them to do. What is reasonable depends, among other factors, on the size and nature of your employer's organisation.

If, however,

you are a disabled worker, and
you can show that there were barriers your employer should have identified and reasonable adjustments your employer could have made, and
your employer does nothing,

you can bring a claim against your employer in the Employment Tribunal, and your employer may be ordered to pay you compensation as well as make the reasonable adjustments. A failure to make reasonable adjustments counts as unlawful discrimination. You can read more about what to do if you believe you've been discriminated against.

In particular, if you are a disabled person, the need to make adjustments for you as a worker or job applicant:

must not be a reason not to promote you if you are the best person for the job with the adjustments in place
must not be a reason to dismiss you
must be considered in relation to every aspect of your job

provided the adjustments are reasonable for your employer to make.

Many factors will be involved in deciding what adjustments to make and they will depend on individual circumstances. Different people will need different changes, even if they appear to have similar impairments.

It is advisable for your employer to discuss the adjustments with you, otherwise any adjustments they make may not be effective.

The rest of this section looks at the detail of the duty and gives examples of the sorts of adjustments your employer could make.

Pages in this section include:

Which disabled people does the duty apply to?

How can your employer can find out if you are a disabled person?

The three requirements of the duty

Are you at a substantial disadvantage as a disabled person in that work situation?

Changes to policies and the way an organisation usually does things

Dealing with physical barriers

Providing extra equipment or aids

Making sure an adjustment is effective

Who pays for reasonable adjustments?