What is a reasonable adjustment?


The duty to make reasonable adjustments is a practical duty. Only “reasonable” adjustments are required. This is very important. The duty should not deter employers from employing disabled workers. For example, it was not reasonable to slot a redundant disabled employee into a role for which she could not meet core selection criteria, even with training (Wade v Sheffield Hallam University [2013] UKEAT/0194/12/LA), or to adjust those core criteria (Lancaster v TBWA Manchester [2011] UKEAT/0460/10), or to “red circle” (i.e. protect) the pay of a disabled worker who was transferred to a new role by agreement to accommodate their disability (British Gas Services v McCaull [2001] IRLR 60). 


Paying sick pay beyond the contractual entitlement is rarely a reasonable adjustment (O’Hanlon v HM Revenue and Customs [2007] EWCA Civ 283, followed in RBS v Ashton [2010] UKEAT/0306/10). Paying extra sick pay might be a reasonable adjustment if the absence results from a failure to make reasonable adjustments that would have enabled the employee to return to work (Nottinghamshire County Court v Meikle [2004] IRLR 70).


In Jennings v Barts and the London NHS Trust [2012] UKEAT 0056/12/0502, it was not reasonable to modify a standard absence management procedure where this would have caused costly disruption. 


If an adjustment is reasonable, an employer must make it. A key question for tribunals to ask when deciding whether an adjustment is reasonable is whether there a good chance that, if implemented, it would help to overcome the disadvantage. An adjustment that is unlikely to help the disabled person to work (or to return to work, if off sick) will not be reasonable. 


Employers can take into account factors such as:


• the extent to which the adjustment is likely to alleviate the disadvantage. A “real prospect” that the adjustment will remove the disadvantage is enough to trigger the duty (Romec v Rudham [2007] UKEAT/0069/07); 


• the impact on the health and safety of others, and whether this can be managed;


• how practical it is;


• financial costs and disruption (see Cordell v Foreign and Commonwealth Office [2011] UKEAT 0016/11/0510);


• the employer’s financial and other resources, the allocated budget and other budgetary demands;


• the availability of outside support, for example, the Access to Work service; and


• the type and size of the employer.


It is not the law that an adjustment is not reasonable if it costs the employer money. For example, in Crofts Vets Limited v Butcher [2013] UKEAT/0430/12/LA, a veterinary practice breached the duty to make reasonable adjustments by failing to pay for a series of private psychiatric sessions to treat ill-health caused by overwork, at a capped cost of £750, where the sessions were recommended by the expert whose advice the employer had sought. There was evidence that the sessions would have helped a successful return to work.


The employer in this case also breached the duty to make reasonable adjustments by failing to discuss the expert’s recommendations with the employee. The duty to consult with disabled workers and their reps is an important part of the duty to make reasonable adjustments. 


An employer cannot pass on the cost of making adjustments to the employee, without an express written agreement allowing this.


Assistance with cost may be available through the Access to Work scheme. Details are available on the Gov.uk web portal.


The duty to make reasonable adjustments does not apply if the employer does not know and could not reasonably be expected to know that the individual is disabled (Schedule 8, para 20(1) EA 10). A careful record should be kept of any notification to the employer.