Worst work meeting ever

I am very sorry to hear what happened. Everyone should read carefully and understand the equality act fully before disclosing the disability and approaching the employer about adjustments.

Rocinante gave an excellent presentation of the duty to make reasonable adjustment and the processes and I would just add this.

1. You need to read all the act, not just the adjustment bit.

2. Did they know you had a disability? Did you disclose it during recruitment? You don't have to. There were cases when employers dismissed for not disclosing and I think this went to tribunal and was deemed to be discrimination. You don't have to disclose. But you have to disclose if you want to to rely on the act, to have the protection and rights. If they knew and you were doing well in your job for a while, refusing reasonable adjustments or starting disciplinary procedures because you asked for adjustments would be discrimination.

3. Before the duty to make reasonable adjustments arises, you need to demonstrate that you can do the job. That your disability does not preclude you from performing in your role. It is a very fine line. Go very heavy on your impairments and needs, and they could argue that you are not fit for the role and that you did not disclose the whole extent of your impairments  to them, and for this reason they don't need to make any adjustments and can just dismiss you. This is what possibly they were grilling you about - how your impairments affect your ability to do the job and whether you in fact can do it.

4. So when you ask for reasonable adjustments, they should be reasonable, which is a vague  term for the courts to decide, but the needs and impairments you use as a reason for adjustments should not be something that basically undermines your very ability to do the job.  It should not put in question whether you can teach, like in 3). 

5. The definition of disability is doing things differently, in different way or needing more time.

6. So the adjustments you can ask should be ones that enable you to achieve the same result (i.e. teach) but in a different way in a different time. Again they should be reasonable - the school could argue that they cannot change the time table, the curriculum, the students, the buildings to accommodate you, you need to demonstrate that the adjustment is helpful for you, but does not undermine the job for the employer. There is a happy spot somewhere, but usually the employers are not forthcoming. You might want to think carefully and propose something specific in that happy zone..

7. Did you disclose it just without reason, because of new diagnosis? Or did you have some problems at work? Was the problem unofficial, known only to you and you asked for adjustments to help you cope better? Did you have performance reviews that say you are good at your job? In that case there is evidence that you can do the job and just need reasonable adjustments to cope better, reduce stress, improve productivity etc. This is one discussion.

8. Did you have any performance problem issue going on officially? In that case you can disclose and seek reasonable adjustments in the process of dealing with the issue. You could propose an adjustment in line ith 4) and 7) that would solve your problem and ask for more time to see and reevaluate your performance after a reasonable time - 3 or more months. 

9. If they refuse that and  proceed with the disciplinary action that would be failure to make reasonable adjustments that you could bring to tribunal for compensation.

I think you need to read the act carefully and understand how it applies to your situation. You should discuss your situation with the trade union or ACASS before talking to your employer again.

If you have a good performance track record and just asked for some reasonable things that would improve the productivity of your work, try to de-escalate it with them, don't go 'all tribunals' and try to make an amicable agreement. You will need to take advice and clarify your position as to the basis for adjustments - not questioning your ability to do the job, about the how you do it and that it is reasonable.

If things are sour and getting worse by the day, focus on documenting the process and all violations in anticipation of the tribunal. Take someone not from the company with you as support in meetings, don't go alone.

Good luck. 

Access to work are very good and well under used I agree.

Some managers have absolutely no idea.  They seem to think 'equality' simply means that everyone is treated the same way.

Not the case at all.

Equality means that you should be given adjustments to help negate any disability you have.  And it doesn't matter how many staff they have, or how many they have with a disability.

Many meetings I have found are of the type ' We'll discuss what we have decided' rather than have meaningful consultation.  Adjustments have to be reasonable to enable to enforce them - and ultimately only a tribunal can decide what is reasonable or not.

I know I have said many times that Access to Work is a good place to start, as they can both supply funding for adjustments which may fall beyond what is deemed 'reasonable' and also suggest adjustments that are reasonable which your employer would be well advised to follow.  For a start, it appears that your employer could do with autism training for managers and staff and it is one of the things that Access to Work will provide funding for.  You may also be able to get a support worker for a one or two sessions a month.  I get two sessions of an hour and a half each per month, one to accompany me for monthly 'supervisions' (all staff have monthly supervisions to discuss work) and the other for me to discuss any problems I have whether work or not.  My support worker will also act as a go between should problems at work occur, which have become very few and far between now.

Your school should have a grievance procedure, and you should consider using this.  In any case you couldn't go to a tribunal at a later date unless you have gone through a grievance procedure or one is in progress.  Just remember that there are time limits (three months minus one day) for putting the first stage of a tribunal, which would be 'Early Concilliation', and this would be from the date help was refused.  You should consider though other methods since however much you may think you have a case, the process is very very slow and no guarantee of success.  But it is there for you as a final resort,  if protests seem to be falling on deaf ears.

  You should also have a teacher governor whom you might be able to approach with your problem.  A grievance should be heard by someone not involved, which for a school would probably be a governor (since your grievance would be with the headteacher and deputy) or it may be someone from the county council.  It should not be a daunting experience, but you would need help with this in order to make the best case.  Are you in a union? 

If you are in a union, they may also be able to help with your Access to Work application and be with you when the assessment is done.  Access  Work is quite a painless application, it can be done online, and they will contact you soon afterwards and also your employer.  Your employer refusing to see them would give you evidence that your employer is being unreasonable, so they are unikely to refuse and in all probability your school is already dealing with them for other members of staff.  They will come into your school, interview you, and do a workplace assessment.  The people who assess for Access to Work are the same companies who do PIP assessments, but do not let that put you off.  They are on your side this time since the purpose of Access to Work is to keep you in employment.

Reasonable adjustments should include the right to be accompanied on many occasions when you have otherwise no statutory right.  You should have been accompanied for your meeting for a start.  And you should be given time to 'digest' information and questions, since a common problem for someone autistic is delayed comprehension.  Firing questions and information at you is likely to cause sensory overload, so once again they should not do this.  You could be given more time to prepare lessons, some classroom help, a room away from  distractions (such as away from extraneous noise) and equipment that would make your job easier. You should also be consulted about any changes to your work, since this can cause huge issues with someone autistic.  Remember the expert on any  problems you have is you yourself, so think about solutions to any problems you have at work.

Hopefully your head will be more reasonable about things in future. 

these ATL and TUC docs are useful. https://www.atl.org.uk/Images/equality-disabled-education-staff-atl-guidelines.pdf and www.tuc.org.uk/.../Autism.pdf

I'm a teacher and in school NEU rep, so am happy to offer some advice if you wish.

I have a somewhat similar situation in that I’m being told by line manager that ‘that’s just the job!’. Because I’m in a large organisation though I was able to contact HR and get a referral to Ocupational health (in a few weeks). Is there anything similar you can do as it does definitely sound as though you’re being discriminated against. For you maybe that would be via your union? I’d def try to sort it out without going to tribunal if you can, but if nothing else works that’s def an option. NAS helpline was very helpful on this actually (if you can get through)

Good luck. 

Contact EASS for advice. They don't offer representation, but can tell you if the law has been broken. 

www.equalityadvisoryservice.com

Mine are like that, we are all but a small cog.......

Employers need to wake up to the fact they don't get the best from their employees through bullying. 

Don't go to any more meetings unescorted. I speak from experience....

I thought teachers were in high demand. Is moving school an option? To be honest I would not be surprised if my employer would do the same but then I am looking to leave them anyway.

Yes, sorry.  neekby gives a summary above of the relevant parts.  Enforcement can take the form of an employment tribunal, at which as I understand it your employer would need to prove why it would be unreasonable to make adjustments to accommodate you for your disability.  I would try contacting Acas first or going to Citizens Advice if you aren't in a union.  Acas is here http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1410

I typed in a question on their question search tool and it came up with the following answer

What options are available to a worker who believes they are being discriminated against at work?

Holy crap! For a document that aims to ensure equality for people with disabilities (among others) that is one mother-fxxing impenetrable document...!!!

There's this: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/6 which sets out what is meant by a disability, specifically:

Disability

(1) A person (P) has a disability if—

(a) P has a physical or mental impairment, and

(b) the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on P's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Then this https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/20 which covers the duty to make adjustment, specifically:

20 Duty to make adjustments

(1) Where this Act imposes a duty to make reasonable adjustments on a person, this section, sections 21 and 22 and the applicable Schedule apply; and for those purposes, a person on whom the duty is imposed is referred to as A.

(2) The duty comprises the following three requirements.

(3) The first requirement is a requirement, where a provision, criterion or practice of A's puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage in relation to a relevant matter in comparison with persons who are not disabled, to take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to avoid the disadvantage.

(4) The second requirement is a requirement, where a physical feature puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage in relation to a relevant matter in comparison with persons who are not disabled, to take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to avoid the disadvantage.

(5) The third requirement is a requirement, where a disabled person would, but for the provision of an auxiliary aid, be put at a substantial disadvantage in relation to a relevant matter in comparison with persons who are not disabled, to take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to provide the auxiliary aid.

There's a whole schedule (13) dedicated to Education but it looks like that's aimed at students - I guess teachers would be covered by the 'Employment' regulations...

TBH it's massive and complicated & I've just skimmed it looking for the obvious bits... you probably need to refer to someone with specific knowledge in this area...

This page on NAS might be a good starting point to refer your employer to: https://www.autism.org.uk/professionals/employers/information-for-employers/managing.aspx

Plus the info here: https://network.autism.org.uk/knowledge/insight-opinion/top-autism-tips-employment-reasonable-adjustments

They sound disgusting - I wouldn’t even acknowledge the existence of the horrible pieces of dirt! Yuk

That's a big scary document. What bit should I be looking at ?

I'm very sorry to read this.  It very much sounds to me as if your employer is discriminating against you under the explicit terms of the Equality Act 2010.  If you had a phyisical disability they would accommodate you.  An educational establishment should really know better than this as they presumably have some similarly affected pupils. As has been said already, you should approach your union if you are in one.  Otherwise seek some form of legal help.  Go to Citizens Advice, or even contact ACAS.  Here is the Equality Act https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents

I'm so sorry to hear about this. It does sound like it was totally pre-planned, they weren't remotely understanding to your needs or your disability. Do you belong to a union that you could involve?