EAT adds clarity to “Reasonable Adjustments”

Under the Equality Act 2010, employers must make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees. These changes are meant to remove or reduce any disadvantage the employee faces due to their disability. Adjustments might include things like flexible working, special equipment, or changes to how tasks are done. But there’s a limit. Employers only have to make changes that will actually help. If a change won’t reduce the disadvantage, it might not count as a reasonable adjustment.

When should employers make adjustments?

Employers should think about making adjustments when:

• They know (or should know) that an employee is disabled.
• An employee is struggling at work because of their disability.
• An employee asks for support.
• A delay in returning to work or long sickness absence seems linked to a disability.

Hindmarch v North East Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust

In the case of Hindmarch v North East Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust, Mr Hindmarch, a non-emergency ambulance driver, had severe anxiety and was too anxious to attend work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Emergency staff got higher-grade masks (FFP3), while he and other non-emergency drivers were given a lower-grade one (FFP2). He argued that if he’d been given an FFP3 mask, he might have returned to work. He was later dismissed and claimed that the Trust failed to make a reasonable adjustment.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal disagreed. They said that giving him an FFP3 mask would not have changed the situation – he still wouldn’t have returned to work. So, it wasn’t reasonable to expect the Trust to make that change.

What does this mean for HR?

Reasonable adjustments must be practical, realistic, and helpful. If a change won’t remove or reduce the disadvantage a disabled employee faces, then the employer isn’t required to make it.

Further reading

• Tribunal suggests redeployment in lieu of dismissal
• Case highlights nuances in discrimination for a disability