Information for Employers

Every employer must provide Reasonable Adjustments to ensure that they are not discriminating against people in their workforce. Even small changes to computers, equipment, work patterns or responsibilities can transform people's lives and enable them to achieve their full potential.

It's good for business

Making Reasonable Adjustments can boost productivity and reduce sickness rates:

  • build a more productive, more loyal workforce
  • improve well-being and reduce sickness rates
  • protect the investment you have made in your teams
  • reduce legal risks of tribunals and claims of discrimination.

The law is very clear - employers must be pro-active

It's the law

The Equality Act and Health and Safety legislation require employers to take a pro-active approach to Reasonable Adjustments. Ignorance is not a defence in legal cases - you need to show how you identified someone's needs and demonstrate the adjustments you made to accommodate them.

If problems only come to light when a dispute arises then this demonstrates that you needed to take a more positive approach to identifying need and exploring reasonable adjustments.

What about the cost of the adjustments?

Many of the recommendations provided by the report can be made at no cost - changes to work patterns, moving a desk or chair, swapping keyboards and so on. Some may require low cost equipment, such as a specialist mouse, a document holder or coloured sheets to help someone with dyslexia.

In some cases specialist equipment may be required such as computer software, specialist hardware or desks or chairs.

If you use AbilityNet at any stage of the process you will not be tied to any specific supplier.

What do I need to do?

You can start now by offering your employees a professional workplace assessment, which is the ideal way to identify their needs. 

This pro-active approach will meet your legal responsibilities and help your employee achieve their full potential.

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