Reasonable Adjustments: A Complete Guide for Employers

Reasonable adjustments are changes an employer makes to remove or reduce a disadvantage a disabled person faces at work. They are a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010, not a discretionary benefit, and they apply from recruitment onwards.

They are also one of the most common sources of tribunal claims. Disability discrimination accounted for 16% of employment tribunal complaint receipts in the final quarter of 2025/26, up three percentage points year on year, second only to unfair dismissal. Most of those disputes were avoidable – let’s explore how yours can be too.

What are reasonable adjustments?

Acas defines them as "changes an employer makes to remove or reduce a disadvantage related to someone's disability". They are specific to the individual, which is why a standard package rarely works.

Section 20 of the Equality Act 2010 sets out three requirements, and employers often think only of the first:

• Changing a provision, criterion or practice. Policies, working patterns, absence triggers, assessment methods.
• Changing a physical feature. Doorways, layout, lighting, parking.
• Providing an auxiliary aid. Equipment or a service, such as assistive software or an interpreter.

Why they matter

Nearly one in four of the working-age population were classed as disabled in 2025, around 10.4 million people, with 5.5 million in employment. The disability employment gap stands at 29.7 percentage points.

There is a retention argument too. The Work and Pensions Committee reported in May 2026 that one in ten disabled people leave work each year, against one in twenty non-disabled people.

The cost is usually small. Acas, citing the Business Disability Forum, says the average cost for an individual can be as little as £75, and most are free.

Who is eligible?

GOV.UK sets the test as a physical or mental impairment with a substantial and long-term negative effect on normal day-to-day activities. "Substantial" means more than minor or trivial; "long-term" means 12 months or more.

Three points employers regularly miss:

• Symptoms do not have to be constant. Acas confirms a condition can be long-term even if the effects come and go, which covers many mental health conditions.
• Some conditions are automatic. Cancer, HIV infection and multiple sclerosis are covered from diagnosis, whatever their current effect.
• Progressive conditions count before their effects become substantial.

When does the duty apply?

This is where liability usually begins. The duty is triggered when you know, or could reasonably be expected to know, that someone is disabled. You cannot avoid it by not asking.

Acas lists the triggers as a disabled employee or applicant asking for adjustments, someone who is disabled having difficulty with part of their job, or an absence record linked to a disability. That last one matters: if an absence pattern suggests an underlying condition, the duty may already have arisen even if nobody has used the word "disability".

It covers employees and workers, contractors hired to do the work personally, and job applicants.

Examples of reasonable adjustments

The following come from Acas and the Equality and Human Rights Commission:

Working arrangements

Flexible or hybrid working, adjusted start times to avoid rush hour, reduced hours or a phased return, redistributing tasks, more evenly spaced breaks, and paid time off for treatment.

Physical environment

Accessible workstations, relocating someone from an inaccessible floor, adjusting lighting or layout, reserved parking, and adapted equipment.

Mental health

Acas suggests reviewing tasks and deadlines to keep workloads reasonable, breaking work into shorter tasks, agreeing a preferred communication method, a quieter workspace, a buddy or mentor, and flexibility with absence trigger points. That last one deserves emphasis. Applying a standard trigger rigidly to disability-related absence is among the most common routes into a claim.

Neurodivergent employees

Acas groups these by barrier rather than condition. For concentration: noise-cancelling headphones, a quiet space, regular breaks. For written communication: screen readers or speech-to-text, instructions broken into steps, extra time. For organisation: visual planners and regular check-ins. For sensory overload: dress code flexibility and early warning of changes are just some of many examples of adjustments that can be made.

Recruitment

Extra time in assessments, alternative interview formats, accessible materials, and asking candidates what they need rather than waiting to be told.

What makes an adjustment "reasonable"?

There is no statutory definition. The EHRC sets out the relevant factors: how effective the change will be, its practicality, the cost, your organisation's resources and size, and the availability of financial support.

The size point cuts both ways. A small employer is not expected to do what a multinational could, but it is expected to think seriously and record its reasoning. You do not have to change the basic nature of the job, but where you decline a request, you should explain why and still look for another way to help.

How to handle a request

Make it easy to ask There is no prescribed form and no statutory procedure. A request can be made in writing or in conversation, and it does not have to use the words "reasonable adjustment". Treating an informal mention as insufficient is a mistake. Acas recommends having a policy covering how people request adjustments and how managers respond.

Meet and listen

Acas advises employers to "take the lead from the person asking", because the employee understands their condition and their job better than anyone else in the room. Ask what would help before suggesting what you think might, be honest that some things may not be possible, and take notes.

Get medical input where you need it, not reflexively

Occupational health advice helps where the effect of a condition on the job is unclear. It is not a prerequisite for every request. Government research found 83% of Acas conciliators cited employers seeking a second opinion as a cause of delay.

Decide promptly

The Equality Act specifies no timescale, and the same research notes that guidance offers employers none either. The consequences are well documented: it cites a 2025 TUC survey finding 82% of disabled employees waited four months or more for implementation. In May 2026 the Work and Pensions Committee recommended a legal duty to respond within two weeks, with written reasons for refusals. That is a recommendation rather than law, but two weeks is a sensible internal standard to adopt now.

Record it

Acas recommends a reasonable adjustments passport, held by the employee, recording how their disability affects them at work and what has been agreed. When their manager changes, the agreement travels with them.

Review it

Acas suggests every six months, or sooner if the role, the workplace or the person's condition changes.

What happens if you get it wrong

Failing to make a reasonable adjustment is itself a form of disability discrimination, which an employee can raise informally, through a grievance, then at tribunal.

Two recent changes increase the exposure. Tribunal time limits doubled on 1 October 2026, from three months minus one day to six months minus one day for most claims, with the clock running from the most recent incident. There is also no statutory cap on discrimination compensation.

How Wisdom Wellbeing can help

Most adjustment disputes do not begin as disputes. They begin as a conversation a manager was not confident enough to have, or a request that sat unanswered while someone decided whether occupational health input was needed. The difficulty is rarely the law itself. It is knowing what is reasonable in a specific case, and moving quickly enough that the employee does not conclude they are being ignored. That is where our HR and management advice line earns its place. Managers can talk a request through before they respond to it, which is considerably more useful than advice after a decision has gone wrong. The questions we are asked most often are the ones in this guide: whether an absence trigger should apply, what is reasonable given the size of the business, and how to decline something without creating a claim.

Where the effect of a condition on someone's role is genuinely unclear, our occupational health assessments give you a clinical view of what the person can do and which adjustments would help, which is the evidence base a defensible decision rests on. Alongside that, our Employee Assistance Programme supports the employee through what can be an exposing process, with confidential counselling available at any hour without going through their manager.

Conclusion

The duty is not complicated in principle. Find out what disadvantage the person faces, work out with them what would reduce it, do what is practical and proportionate, write it down and review it.

Employers come unstuck on process rather than principle: not recognising the duty had been triggered, applying a standard absence policy to disability-related absence, waiting on occupational health or an Access to Work grant before acting, or never telling the employee what was decided. Given that most adjustments cost little or nothing, and disability discrimination is now the second most common tribunal complaint, the economics are not close.

Frequently asked questions

Do employers have to pay for reasonable adjustments?

Yes. Section 20(7) of the Equality Act 2010 prevents an employer passing the cost to the disabled person. Access to Work may help with costs beyond your legal duty, but does not pay for reasonable adjustments themselves.

Can an employer refuse a reasonable adjustment?

Only where it is not reasonable, judged on effectiveness, practicality, cost, your size and resources, and health and safety. Explain the decision, document your reasoning and look for an alternative.

Do employees need medical evidence?

No. Occupational health advice can inform a decision where the effect on the role is unclear, but support should not be delayed waiting for paperwork, and many adjustments need no medical input.

How quickly must we respond to a request?

There is currently no statutory deadline. The Work and Pensions Committee recommended two weeks in May 2026, which is not law but is a sensible internal standard.

Are reasonable adjustments permanent?

Not necessarily. Acas recommends reviewing every six months or whenever something changes. A reasonable adjustments passport keeps the record with the employee.

What counts as knowing someone is disabled?

The duty applies where you know or could reasonably be expected to know. An absence pattern linked to a health condition can be enough, even if the employee has never used the word "disability".

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