Reasonable adjustments at work

I can imagine the wider team training might actually open you up to some bullying, because some coworkers might not take the training seriously. The other accommodations sound reasonable, but that one seems like it could either really help or really hinder you.

Hi 

You've had some great advice from other community members. I want to follow up by sharing a link to our guidance on reasonable adjustments here which has some advice directly linked to your question: https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/employment/what-are-reasonable-adjustments-and-when-can-they

Kind regards

Sharon Mod

So sorry this has happened & is happening to you. Law or not,  some organisations still go off "vibes" (including HR) rather than understanding the purpose of RA & that what they "feel" is reasonable wouldn't be a defence at tribunal.  Others rely on people giving up & leaving, or burning out or buckling under the pressure of tribunal.

I'm sure there are companies that are genuinely informed & supportive. I'm just sorry we can't all work for them. 

For what it's worth,  employers will drag out grievances to push them past the 3 months - 1 day rule for tribunal applications. I believe there shoukd be a law that you need to make any employee that raises a grievance aware of the deadline, that it starts from the last act, not the complaint, & that they can start Early Conciliation  at any time,  they don't have to wait for Grievance outcome.

disability confident scheme is not verified/audited - so its largely a badge on the website.

A university lecturer presented a report to Parliament committee and it said the scheme - had no benefit for ND employees !

Anyway my company is part of the scheme - and I say thus far , I agree , although there's signs of this changing.

What I would say is document everything and interaction with HR, Occ Health and you manager, as far as Reasonable Adjustments go

TBH the wider team training - not sure I agree, yes to your manager, but colleagues will either be interested (largely because they have someone with ND in their family or know someone who is ND or a relation of theirs) but regardless of this - don't feel you have to disclose, in fact I would largely recommend you don't at work or do partial disclosures, around accommodations

Under the Equality Act 2010, employers have a statutory duty to make reasonable adjustments, and “reasonable” is determined objectively based on factors like effectiveness, practicality, cost, and resources.

It isn’t a matter of the employer’s personal view.

Sadly it seems a lot of organisations & even their HRCteam, don't understand this. 

There is advice on ACAS if you have issues with it.

I can only speak about my experience around reasonable adjustments. My employer refused occupational health suggestions and conflated previous requests (which they refused) to look as if I was asking for the world! I have lost my professional career after over 30 years of employment. My managers took my diagnosis as the excuse to remove me from my department and redeploy me with a view to dismissal after a period 'on the list' if I cannot secure another post, so effectively dismissing me.

I went down the lines of grievance (still not concluded) and tribunal process. I now have a date for my tribunal only a matter of weeks away. The stress is awful and the lawyer is expensive.

I thought the law was clear and on my side but my organisation doesn't see it that way.

If I was to start again I would think long and hard about what I would do as you may think you have the law on your side (and you have) but it is difficult to prove without evidence.

Share your OH report and ask for the suggestions as a starting point for a reasonable adjustments conversation.

Do your research and look at various reasonable adjustments for autists in employment. Push for Access to Work as this provides funding for equipment, coaching etc.

If you really need adjustments push to get them.

Good luck

I am afraid that level 3 disability confident thing is just a tickbox exercise  and not worth anything. It makes the employer to look good.

It did not work for me as my employer is now a disability confident leader. I am now very close to my employment tribunal date due to the lack of reasonable adjustments.

I agree with Andy that it is stressful and expensive if you have to pay for a lawyer. You can go it alone but it is tough.

Bakedbean28 said:

Just to clarify, those adjustments are from Occupational health

I understand this but the employer is still only obliged to supply the ones they consder to be reasonable and this is often the contention point for autists in the end.

By keeping a paper trail of everything that is said on the subject I think this is the safest way of keeping evidence if they do step out of line which I see happening a lot. I would do this but you need to decide how you handle it.

This reflects a classis difference between the black and white thinking of autists and the grey thinking of employers in my experience. 

Not currently shared no, I am reviewing it for a few adjustments. Again my business is a level 3 disability confident employer, so I'm hoping the second that the OH report comes back supporting Autism someone in HR will put aim to address this as a support issue not a disciplinary issue to prevent bad press and impact business rep

Good advice Iain! Well said 

Is your OH report automatically shared with your employer/manager? If not, share your report with them and put it in writing than you are requesting the adjustments outlined in the OH report. 
The adjustments mentioned seem entirely reasonable, and there should be no reason that they don’t get agreed. However, an OH report can only make recommendations to the employer and it’s down to the employer to determine what is reasonable. 

An employee can raise an employment tribunal claim if their employer doesn’t make reasonable adjustments. It is the down to the tribunal to then determine if the employer has discriminated for not making reasonable adjustments. I have taken my employer to employment tribunal for issues around reasonable adjustments, and the process is very stressful. Whilst I would encourage people to stand up for their rights, I would warn that you really need to be prepared for a lot of hassle. I hope you won’t find yourself in that situation though and you get the adjustments. 

Just to clarify, those adjustments are from Occupational health health

Bakedbean28 said:

Would an employer get in legal/discrimination territory if these aren't considered or addressed?

They would get into trouble only if they can argue that your specific needs are not reasonable. For example if you needed subdued lighting but that involved changing hundreds of light fixtures or bulbs then this would not be considered reasonable.

The Disability Confident level is something hard to prove on paper and I think many companies claim this just for the credibility it lends them.

I need to be careful how I phrase this as I have had NAS ask me to edit my posts before where they are considered as advice so I will only say what my actions would be if I were in your situation (you need you form your own decisions).

I would work out what I specifically need changed in my workplace to make my ability to work effective. My choices would be to have procedures documented in detail and have a chance to review them before agreeing to them. I have found colleagues make many assumptions in writing procedures so a review means I can spot the areas they gloss over and get them to fill them in.

I would also ask for things around agreed behaviours to be given in writing as I find management often try purposfully to avoid this and then trip me up with what they claimed they said. I keep things in writing and always keep copies sent to my personal email for proof.

This is just my approach of course.

It will be interesting to hear how the team neurodiversity training works - please let us know if you find any significant change.

Lastly I would give some explicit advice as everything so far seems to be coming from your employer - I would recommend getting a psychotherapist who has a track record of helping other autists to run through a number of sessions with you to help you cope in the workplace. The skills you learn here are valuable in other aspects of your life so it is a worthwhile investment and something to show to your manager to demonstrate you are making this a two way process.

Good luck with all this.