When an employee asks for an adjustment, most managers want to say yes. What holds them back is uncertainty. Is this too much to ask of the team? Will other people resent it? Do we legally have to agree? What happens if we say no?
Working out whether an adjustment is reasonable is one of the most useful skills a people manager can have. This guide sets out what the law means by a reasonable adjustment, the factors that decide whether a request is reasonable, and a simple process for handling requests well.
What is a reasonable adjustment?
A reasonable adjustment is a change to the workplace, to working arrangements or to the way things are done that removes a barrier for a disabled employee. Under the Equality Act 2010, employers in Great Britain must make reasonable adjustments where a disabled employee or job applicant is put at a substantial disadvantage compared with non-disabled people.
Many neurodivergent people, including autistic, ADHD, dyslexic and dyspraxic people, meet the legal definition of disability, though not everyone does. In practice, good employers do not get stuck on that question. If something is creating a barrier and the fix is sensible, they make it. Our guide to your legal responsibilities on reasonable adjustments covers the duty in more detail.
Common adjustments for neurodivergent employees include:
- flexible start and finish times
- noise-cancelling headphones or a quieter place to work
- instructions and meeting actions in writing
- some or all work from home
- assistive technology, such as text-to-speech or mind-mapping software
Adjustments do not lower the standard expected. They remove the barriers that stop someone meeting it.
Why it is worth getting right
Beyond the legal duty, adjustments are one of the cheapest retention tools you have. Employees who get what they need are more likely to stay, and changes made for one person often help others. Written meeting summaries and quieter spaces rarely benefit only the person who asked for them.
Getting it wrong is expensive. Tribunal cases such as the one in our article on dyslexia, reasonable adjustments and the FEAT case show how often claims turn on adjustments that were never properly considered.
Four factors for deciding what is reasonable
There is no fixed list of reasonable adjustments. The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s guidance sets out the factors employers should weigh, including how effective the change would be, how practical it is, the cost, the organisation’s size and resources, and whether financial help is available. Grouping them into four questions makes them easier to use.
1. Will it remove the disadvantage?
Start with whether the adjustment would actually help the person do the job. A flexible start time for an ADHD analyst who focuses best later in the day, or partial home working for someone whose role does not depend on being in the room, can make a clear difference.
If a change would stop someone doing the core of the job, such as a forklift driver asking to work entirely from home, it is unlikely to be reasonable. That is a prompt to look for a different adjustment.
2. Is it practical?
How complex is it, how quickly could it be put in place, and do existing systems support it? Sending instructions in writing can start tomorrow. Redesigning a shift pattern at short notice may need more planning. Practical does not mean effortless; it means it can reasonably be done with the resources available.
3. What does it cost, and who could help pay?
Cost matters, but it has to be weighed against the organisation’s size and resources. What is reasonable for a small charity will differ from what is reasonable for a multinational. Look at the full picture:
- the cost relative to your budget and headcount
- funding from Access to Work, which can pay for support and equipment
- the cost of not making it, such as losing a good employee or defending a claim
Most adjustments for neurodivergent employees cost little or nothing. Headphones are a small one-off cost; a private office in shared premises may not be reasonable. The employee should not be asked to pay for an adjustment themselves.
4. How will it affect the team and the business?
A flexible break pattern will barely register with colleagues. Moving every team meeting each week to fit one person’s diary might cause real disruption, so you would look for a version that meets the need with less impact.
Be careful not to confuse disruption with disapproval. If colleagues resent an adjustment because they do not understand it, that does not make it unreasonable. It means you have some explaining to do, without sharing private details.
Weighing it all together
Look at the four questions together rather than in isolation. A slightly costly adjustment that is highly effective may well be reasonable; a free one that does not help is not much use to anyone. Write down how you reached your decision, so you can show the request was considered carefully.
Handling a request, step by step
- Acknowledge it. Thank the person for raising it and avoid an instant yes or no.
- Understand the need. Ask what barriers they are experiencing and how the change would help.
- Weigh it against the four questions. Use them as your framework, not your instinct.
- Look for alternatives if you cannot agree. There is often another way to meet the same need.
- Decide promptly. Delay adds stress and can itself become a problem. Keep the person updated.
- Confirm in writing. Record what was agreed, for how long and when you will review it.
If the right answer is not obvious, a workplace needs assessment gives you an independent, expert view of what would help.
Examples
Likely to be reasonable
Giving an autistic employee a fixed desk instead of hot-desking, to reduce sensory load and uncertainty. Letting a dyslexic employee use text-to-speech software. Agreeing that a team member can keep their camera off in some meetings, an issue we look at in camera-on policies and reasonable adjustments.
Less likely to be reasonable
Indefinite paid leave where someone cannot carry out any duties and no alternative arrangement is possible. Removing every essential task from a role with nothing to replace them. Even here, it is worth asking whether moving some duties, or redeployment to a different role, would work, as those can be reasonable adjustments in their own right.
Talking to the team
Adjustments can cause confusion if they are handled quietly and inconsistently. You do not need to share anyone’s personal information. A simple, consistent message helps: “We make changes to how people work when it helps them do their job well, and anyone can ask.” When people know the door is open to them too, resentment tends to fade.
The bottom line
Most adjustment requests are simpler than managers fear. Think about whether the change works, whether it is practical, what it costs against what you have, and how it affects others. Make the decision promptly, write it down and review it. Handled this way, adjustments become a routine part of managing people well.
How Enna can help
Our Reasonable Adjustments: Putting It Into Practice workshop takes managers through real requests and gives them the confidence to decide quickly and fairly. For a specific employee, our needs assessments recommend practical, costed adjustments you can act on.
If you want to see how consistently adjustments are handled across your organisation, our neuroinclusion audits review policy and practice together. Book a call with our team to talk it through.
