Reasonable adjustments meaning

This flowchart outlines the steps an employer should take once a performance or capability concern is identified, including collecting key documents such as the contract of employment and appraisal records, considering mediation, appointing who will carry out performance monitoring, arranging informal and then formal meetings, deciding on dismissal or another sanction, and overseeing the appeal stage. Click below to view or print the full-size PDF version: Note 1—identifying whether there is a performance issue If an employee’s output falls short of the required standard, the employer may choose to address it under its performance procedure. For an example procedure, see Precedent: Policy and procedure—performance and capability. A clear distinction should be drawn between misconduct and underperformance. Where conduct is the concern, a disciplinary process is the correct route—see Practice Note: Managing performance—Dealing with poor performance. Before commencing any formal action, review the terms of the employer’s performance procedure and check, for example, whether specific time periods are required between each stage...

This is a Checklist of the main issues that an employer will need to consider when seeking a medical report on a prospective employee during the recruitment process: For what reason is the report required? Refer to Practice Note: Medical reports—data protection issues and AMRA 1988—Purposes of medical report Why must health details be collected, and what grounds justify requesting a medical report—is there a particular aspect of the post that demands it, or is it to gauge overall fitness for a challenging senior position? What scope should the report have—what does the prospective employer actually need to know, steering clear of intrusion where it is unnecessary or irrelevant? Could the employer limit the health data it handles by engaging an occupational health (OH) service or specialist? Who will have access to the report, at what stage, and for what use? Has an employment offer already been made? If not, does the aim of the report sit within the allowed situations under section...

What is neurodiversity? Neurodiversity is a collective term covering conditions like ADHD, the autism spectrum, dyscalculia, dyslexia and dyspraxia, which influence how someone experiences and engages with the world. Sensory stimuli can be overpowering for people with these profiles. Yet many are exceptionally bright when they can operate in ways that align with how their brain works. Society is increasingly recognising that it should adapt to include neurodiverse people, rather than expecting them to reshape themselves to fit in, so that they can participate fully in community life. These conditions are more prevalent than many realise and are often unidentified because individuals have learned to mask. Firms are placing greater focus on inclusion and diversity, and this checklist is intended to help them review their environment and make it as comfortable as possible for all clients. Environmental Factors Sensory distractions can hinder concentration and attention for neurodiverse individuals in certain office settings, so it is worth exploring whether reasonable adjustments could be introduced. The following checklist highlights...

In this issue: Pay Prohibited conduct (discrimination etc) Equality, diversity and inclusion Whistleblowing Coronavirus (COVID-19) Issues arising on termination Employment tribunals Corporate governance Immigration Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content IRLR Highlights—September 2024 Dates for your diary Trackers New Q&As Pay Think tank High Pay Centre released analysis of FTSE 100 executive pay for 2023. While CEO pay growth has eased after the post-pandemic surge, the median package hit a new record, up from £4.1m in 2022 to £4.19m in 2023. See: LNB News 12/08/2024 34. Prohibited conduct (discrimination etc) ET permitted to reject dismissal complaints despite the employer’s previous omission to make reasonable adjustments. In Parnell v Royal Mail Group [2024] EAT 130, the claimant brought about 31 employment tribunal claims, divided into two periods, each decided by a different tribunal...

In this issue: Social housing Public procurement Governance Education Children’s social care Healthcare Planning Local government finance Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Social housing Sanctions for landlords who fail to provide ECRs to contract holders in Wales (Coastal Housing Group v Mitchell) The Divisional Court has determined that contract-holders in Wales do not owe rent unless, and until, their landlords supply them with a copy of the Electrical Condition Reports (ECRs) for their properties. This marks the first reported ruling on how the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (RH(W)A 2016) should be read, following its commencement on 1 December 2022. The Act brought sweeping reforms to Welsh landlord and tenant law, fully displacing the framework originating in the Housing Acts 1985 and 1988. Among other changes, it introduced the terms ‘occupation contract’ (i.e. tenancy agreement) and ‘contract-holder’ (i.e. tenant). It also ushered in a comprehensive set of requirements aimed...

In this issue: Individual rights arising from union membership Pay Tax Prohibited conduct (discrimination etc) Diversity and gender pay gap Whistleblowing Bribery, modern slavery, tax evasion and fraud Employment Tribunals Wales IRLR Highlights—December 2024 Dates for your diary Trackers New Q&As Employment resources on Lexis+® Daily and weekly news alerts Individual rights arising from union membership Supreme Court unanimously confirms that a trade union can rely on third party rights under C(RTP)A 1999 to secure a check-off term in an employment contract. In Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs v Public and Commercial Services Union [2024] UKSC 41, the Supreme Court—Lord Sales and Lady Rose delivering the principal judgment—allowed the Public and Commercial Services Union’s appeal. The Court held that the Union was entitled to invoke section 1 of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 (C(RTP)A 1999) to enforce a provision...

Understanding neurodiversity matters for both employers and employees when building a diverse, inclusive and supportive workplace. It is also key to ensuring an employer fulfils legal duties, for instance making reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates and workers. This Practice Note: Explains what neurodiversity and neurodivergence mean, including related conditions such as ADHD, autism, dyscalculia, dyslexia, dyspraxia and Tourette Syndrome Sets out the legal framework, covering obligations under the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010), the public sector equality duty, contractual considerations when altering terms and conditions of employment, and health and safety duties Examines practical measures to create a diverse and inclusive workplace, particularly within recruitment processes, through individual assessments, enabling remote working, providing training, and addressing conduct issues The concept of neurodiversity Neurodiversity describes the various ways that brains operate and process information. Most people are neurotypical, meaning their brain functions in the way it does for the majority of individuals...

This Practice Note outlines the matters an employer must weigh up when obtaining medical assessment reports for their staff and prospective recruits...

This Practice Note examines the legal framework governing a student’s relationship with their higher education provider in the context of discipline. It reviews the contractual position, its interface with public law, statutory obligations and criminal law. It also outlines categories of misconduct that may prompt disciplinary proceedings, and the factors to assess before any action is initiated. What power does a higher education institution have to discipline a student? Although a student’s dealings with their university are regulated by several areas of law, including: public law, including discrimination law (as set out in the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010)) statutory duties relating to freedom of speech on campus, human rights law data protection laws tort law, in respect of negligence claims, and property law concerning student accommodation the institution’s relationship with the student is predominantly contractual (Clark v University of Lincolnshire and Humberside). An institution’s authority to impose discipline therefore derives from that contract. See Practice Note: Higher...

Employee name: Employment commencement date and present length of service [ Insert date ] [ Insert length of service ] Job role: Division/Department Assessed by: Assessment date: Role: Approved by: Date: Role: Guidance: When using the criteria (other than disciplinary history), reasonable adjustments might be required for workers with a disability (as set out in the Equality Act 2010, s 6) where not doing so would put them at a significant disadvantage compared with non-disabled colleagues. This exception does not extend to disciplinary records. Service refers to continuous employment with the company and any linked company. Service includes transferred service within associated companies. If the worker has under 12 months’ service, convert the absence record to an annualised figure. Annualisation ensures a balanced and like-for-like assessment. Disregard the following absences: These must be excluded from absence calculations. absences linked to a disability (as defined by Equality Act 2010, s 6); maternity...

A: Employee information Employee: [ Provide name ] Role: [ Provide role ] Period of absence: [ Specify the duration of absence, or for intermittent absence state the number of days and the timeframe during which this took place ] Record completed by: [ Provide name ] B: Potential contractual adjustments Reduce working hours: [ Describe what has been reviewed and your findings, or what has been actioned and the result ] Change working pattern: [ Provide details ] Agree ...

Insert in para 8.2 of claim form ET1: The Claimant served with the Respondent as a [ insert job title, eg ‘paralegal and then as a trainee solicitor’ ] commencing on [ insert start date of employment, eg 6 September 2021 ] and continuing until [ his OR her OR their dismissal on [ insert date, eg 31 March 2024 ] ]. The Respondent is [ insert brief description of the nature of the Respondent, eg ‘an international law firm’ ]... [ The Claimant alleges that the Respondent subjected [ her OR him OR them ] to [ a course of ] discrimination, harassment and victimisation, which encompassed [ his OR her OR their ] discriminatory and unfair dismissal. ]... Disability The Claimant lives with [ insert details, eg ‘clinical depression and severe dyslexia’ ] and was, throughout the relevant period, a disabled person [ owing to each of these impairments ] for the purposes of section 6(1) of the...

Duty to make reasonable adjustments The Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) establishes a duty to make reasonable adjustments (referred to below as ‘the duty’), which contains three distinct requirements. The third requires that, where a disabled person would, without the provision of an auxiliary aid, face a substantial disadvantage in relation to a relevant matter when compared with people who are not disabled, such steps as are reasonable must be taken to supply the auxiliary aid. The situations in which the duty arises differ across workplace settings. Accordingly, the precise circumstances that engage the duty will not be uniform across all settings. For all three requirements, the duty is triggered only where a disabled individual is placed at a substantial disadvantage compared with non‑disabled people ‘in relation to a “relevant matter”’, and what counts as a ‘relevant matter’ (as defined in EqA 2010, Sch 8 Pt 1) varies according to the particular type of workplace. As a result, application of the duty is context‑specific to the workplace in question....

Disability discrimination Under section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) and EqA 2010, Sch 1, Pt 1, a diagnosis of cancer is treated, without further proof, as a disability for EqA 2010 purposes. See Practice Note: Disability. Attention must be given to the various forms of discrimination and other banned conduct contained in EqA 2010, as set out within that legislation and provisions therein. See the part of Practice Note: Disability discrimination headed ‘The basic types of discrimination and other prohibited conduct’, together with the fuller Practice Notes cited there and cross-referred within that section. For EqA 2010 purposes, a ‘dismissal’ also covers situations where an employee’s employment ends (and is not immediately renewed on identical terms) because a particular period has run out, or a particular event has happened, or a particular circumstance has arisen; this includes the ending of fixed-term contracts (EqA 2010, s 39(7)–(8)). Accordingly, the requirement to make reasonable adjustments binds employers when they are considering dismissing an employee; that is, dismissal will...

The obligation to implement reasonable adjustments consists of three distinct requirements in total. What unites all three, in particular, is that they only operate where a disabled individual is placed at a substantial disadvantage in relation to a 'relevant matter' when compared with people who are not disabled...