Supporting the health and wellbeing of employees doesn’t just benefit them, it creates positive working environments where individuals and the organisations they work for can do well. Things like workplace adjustments and flexible working help everyone, especially people with long-term conditions.
This focus on health and wellbeing for all employees is supported by the Equality Act 2010 which protects people with disabilities. Some people with long-term health conditions might not think they are disabled, but the law has a clear definition. A person is considered disabled under the law if their symptoms make daily tasks harder for at least 12 months and this has a big effect on their life. If this applies to an employee, they are protected under the Equality Act, even if they haven’t been diagnosed with a long-term condition.
To help protect people with disabilities, the Equality Act asks employers to make reasonable adjustments to help people at work.
Reasonable adjustments are changes to a job or a workplace task to make work easier. These can be big changes or small changes depending on the employee’s needs. The reasonable adjustments someone needs will depend on their symptoms. It will also depend on where they work and what their job is. See the 'Reasonable adjustments' page for more information.
Employers are expected to make reasonable adjustments when:
- they know someone is living with a disability
- an employee or job applicant living with a disability asks for adjustments
- someone who lives with a disability is finding part of their job difficult
- a person’s sickness, time off or delay in returning into work is because of their disability
What does ‘reasonable’ mean?
It depends on the situation. Employers need to think about whether the change is:
- possible to do
- within the allowed budget
- safe for other employees
- helpful in making the employee’s job easier
Managers can often get extra help or information from their workplace. Some workplaces have their own Occupational Health team, others use an outside service. Occupational Health helps people stay well at work.
A manager might use Occupational Health to help when:
- an employee is having trouble with their physical or mental health
- they need to make reasonable adjustments
- an employee has been off sick or is returning to work
- they want to help employees stay well in work
- they want to stop problems that can harm mental health - this includes things like too much pressure on an employee, bullying or harassment