Employment Tribunal Claims for Failure to Make Reasonable Adjustments

The Equality Act 2010 places a duty on employers to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled employees to remove the disadvantage faced by a disabled person. Examples of adjustments include modifying premises, altering equipment, or changing work patterns or absence procedures. The reasonable adjustment duty was revolutionary when introduced, but its implementation is problematic as evidenced by the high numbers of Employment Tribunal cases where a failure to make a reasonable adjustment is claimed. This chapter, therefore, outlines the legal position, HR literature and case law, and delves into the features of reasonable adjustment claims to find out how they fare inside the Employment Tribunal and what factors affect their success. We find that they are the most common form of disability discrimination claimed at the Employment Tribunal and are often claimed in combination with unfair dismissal. There was no statistically significant difference in the number of men and women bringing claims for a failure to make a reasonable adjustment, but reasonable adjustment claims were more common in the public sector than the private sector. In line with the findings in other chapters, legal representation increased the likelihood of success at a full hearing for reasonable adjustment claims.