Workplace adjustments: what UK law says you can ask for
In the UK, the law does not use the word "accommodations" - that is an American term. What UK employment law guarantees is reasonable adjustments, and there is a meaningful difference. An accommodation implies something optional, a favour granted at an employer's discretion. A reasonable adjustment is a legal duty. Employers are not doing you a favour when they make one. They are complying with the law.
This article explains exactly what that law requires, using the Equality Act 2010 as its foundation. If you want the practical step-by-step guide to requesting adjustments, read our guide to reasonable adjustments for neurodivergent employees. This article is the legal framework underneath that guide.
The source: section 20 of the Equality Act 2010
The duty to make reasonable adjustments comes from section 20 of the Equality Act 2010. It applies in Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland). Northern Ireland has separate but broadly similar legislation under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 as amended.
Section 20 sets out three distinct duties. Most people think of reasonable adjustments as a single thing, but legally there are three separate obligations, each targeting a different type of barrier.
Duty 1: provisions, criteria or practices (PCPs)
The first duty applies where a provision, criterion or practice (PCP) puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person. When that happens, the employer must take reasonable steps to avoid that disadvantage.
A PCP is essentially the way work is organised - rules, policies, requirements, and ways of doing things. Examples relevant to neurodivergent workers include: a requirement to work in an open-plan office, a policy that all meetings are verbal with no written agenda, a criterion that applications must be submitted via a timed online test, or a practice of giving feedback only in group settings.
The PCP does not have to be written down or formal. An informal working practice counts. If the team always communicates verbally and nothing is ever confirmed in writing, that is still a PCP, and if it disadvantages you because of your disability, the duty is triggered.
Duty 2: physical features of the premises
The second duty applies where a physical feature of the premises puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage. The employer must take reasonable steps to avoid that disadvantage.
Physical features include things like the layout of a building, lighting levels, acoustic properties of a space, and the design of workstations. For neurodivergent workers, this is more relevant than it might first appear - fluorescent lighting that causes sensory distress, an open-plan layout that makes concentration impossible, or a hot-desking arrangement with no quiet space are all physical features that can be challenged under this duty.
Duty 3: auxiliary aids and services
The third duty applies where a disabled person would be at a substantial disadvantage without an auxiliary aid or service. The employer must take reasonable steps to provide that aid or service.
Auxiliary aids and services include things like assistive software, noise-cancelling headphones, coloured overlays, text-to-speech tools, a support worker or job coach, written instructions instead of verbal ones, and specialist equipment. The Access to Work scheme, run through Jobcentre Plus, can fund many of these - but the employer's legal duty exists regardless of whether Access to Work funding is available.
Who is protected: the definition of disability
To be protected under the Equality Act 2010, you must meet the legal definition of disability in section 6. You have a disability if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
Each part of that definition matters.
Substantial means more than minor or trivial. It does not mean severe. Difficulty concentrating for extended periods, struggling to process verbal information quickly, or finding it hard to filter sensory input in a busy environment are all capable of being substantial.
Long-term means the impairment has lasted, or is likely to last, at least 12 months, or is likely to last for the rest of your life. An impairment that is likely to recur also counts. The EHRC's statutory Code of Practice confirms that you assess the position without any measures (like medication or coping strategies) that the person is taking - so if you manage your symptoms effectively, that does not strip you of protection.
Normal day-to-day activities is interpreted broadly. It includes things like concentrating, following instructions, interacting with people, and managing time.
Neurodivergent conditions that qualify
No specific conditions are listed in the Equality Act as automatically qualifying - but the following neurodivergent conditions routinely satisfy the definition, as confirmed by EHRC guidance and tribunal case law: ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia (developmental coordination disorder), dyscalculia, Tourette's syndrome, and acquired brain injuries. Some people with anxiety or depression also qualify, particularly where those conditions are long-term.
Cancer, HIV, and multiple sclerosis are deemed disabilities from diagnosis under Schedule 1 of the Act. Other conditions are assessed on the facts.
No formal diagnosis is required
This is one of the most important points in this article. The Equality Act does not require you to have a formal diagnosis. What matters is whether the impairment exists and meets the definition - not whether it has been given a clinical label.
The EHRC Employment Statutory Code of Practice is explicit on this point. If you are currently waiting for an assessment, or if you have never sought a formal diagnosis, you can still be protected. The law looks at the effect of the impairment, not the paperwork.
The employer's knowledge requirement
The duty to make reasonable adjustments is not triggered automatically. Under paragraph 20 of Schedule 8 to the Equality Act 2010, the employer must know (or could reasonably be expected to know) that you have a disability before the duty applies.
This means you generally need to tell your employer, or at least give them enough information that a reasonable employer would realise a disability might be present. You do not have to use the word "disability" or provide a medical report. Telling your manager that you have ADHD and are finding certain tasks very difficult is usually enough to put them on notice.
The "ought reasonably to know" standard is important. If you display obvious signs of difficulty and your employer ignores them entirely, they cannot necessarily hide behind a claim of ignorance. An Employment Tribunal will look at what the employer knew and what they should have known in the circumstances.
Once the employer has knowledge, the clock starts. They should not delay unreasonably in starting a conversation about adjustments. ACAS guidance recommends addressing adjustment requests promptly and treating them as a priority.
What "reasonable" actually means
The word "reasonable" is doing a lot of work in this legal framework. It is also the part that employers sometimes abuse - claiming adjustments are unreasonable when they are not.
The Equality Act does not define "reasonable" exhaustively, but the EHRC Code of Practice and case law identify the key factors a tribunal will consider:
- The effectiveness of the adjustment - will it actually remove or reduce the disadvantage?
- The cost of the adjustment - financial cost to the employer, including disruption to the business
- The employer's financial resources - a small employer is held to a different standard than a large corporation
- The practicability of the adjustment - how easy or difficult it is to implement
- Availability of external financial assistance - including Access to Work funding
- The nature of the employer's activities - some adjustments are not possible in certain roles
There is no fixed financial threshold above which an adjustment is automatically unreasonable. A tribunal weighs all the factors together. Cost alone is rarely sufficient to justify refusal, particularly for large employers or where Access to Work could meet the cost.
Indirect discrimination: the alternative legal route
Reasonable adjustments are not the only legal protection available to disabled workers. Indirect discrimination under section 19 of the Equality Act 2010 provides a separate and sometimes more powerful route.
Indirect discrimination occurs when an employer applies a provision, criterion or practice that is neutral on its face but which puts people with a protected characteristic (including disability) at a particular disadvantage compared to others. Unlike the reasonable adjustments framework, indirect discrimination does not require you to identify a specific individual disadvantage.
For example: a blanket policy requiring all employees to work in the office five days a week may be indirectly discriminatory against disabled people who need flexibility to manage their condition, even if no individual has yet asked for an adjustment. The employer can defend indirect discrimination if the PCP is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim - but that is the employer's burden to prove, and tribunals scrutinise it carefully.
Indirect discrimination and reasonable adjustments often overlap. In practice, a neurodivergent worker might bring both claims together.
Where the duty applies
The duty to make reasonable adjustments applies more broadly than most people realise.
Employees are the obvious category, but the duty covers the full employment relationship - not just the day-to-day job, but recruitment, promotion, training, and dismissal.
Job applicants are protected from the point of application. This means employers must make adjustments to their recruitment process if it puts a disabled applicant at a substantial disadvantage. If you need extra time in a timed assessment, written rather than verbal interview questions, or a different format for a skills test, those are legitimate requests at the application stage. You do not need to be employed to invoke the duty.
Contract workers and agency workers are also covered under section 41 of the Act. The principal (the business using your services) owes you adjustments duties, as does the agency.
When employers do not comply: the tribunal route
If an employer fails in their duty to make reasonable adjustments and you cannot resolve it internally, you can bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal.
Before bringing a tribunal claim, ACAS early conciliation is a mandatory first step in most cases. You must contact ACAS before you can submit a claim. ACAS will offer both parties the chance to resolve the dispute without going to tribunal. Many cases settle at this stage.
The time limit for bringing an Employment Tribunal claim for disability discrimination is three months less one day from the act you are complaining about (or the last act in a series). This is a strict deadline. The tribunal has limited discretion to extend it, so if you think you have a claim, take advice quickly.
Compensation for successful disability discrimination claims is uncapped. That distinguishes it from unfair dismissal, which has a statutory cap. Compensation can include loss of earnings, injury to feelings, and in some cases aggravated damages where the employer's conduct was particularly high-handed.
A note on pre-employment health questions
Section 60 of the Equality Act 2010 prohibits employers from asking about your health or disability before making a job offer in most circumstances. This includes asking whether you have a disability, whether you have taken sick leave, or whether you need any adjustments - before the offer stage.
There are limited exceptions: an employer can ask whether you need adjustments to take part in the selection process itself, and whether you meet an occupational requirement that requires a particular physical attribute.
If an employer asks you unlawful pre-offer health questions, they are not automatically liable - but if you are rejected and you can show the question was asked and your disability was a reason for the rejection, that is strong evidence in a discrimination claim.
The legal framework is more robust than many employers - and many employees - realise. The duty to make reasonable adjustments is not aspirational guidance. It is a statutory obligation with teeth. Understanding exactly what it requires puts you in a far stronger position to advocate for what you need.
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