Reasonable adjustment from day 1?

Plasticman

SarahLu said:

Thanks for all the replies.

I am mostly interested in what the law means by the day 1 thing...whether it means the right to ask from day 1 of employment, or to have adjustments instated in time before starting day 1. Would be grateful if anyone has any concrete knowledge on that.

You should be raising this as early as possible and before day 1. You can request reasonable adjustments for the interview - it doesn't just start when you're employed. 

As somebody else said earlier though, what's "reasonable" is a decision for your employer. 

SarahLu

Plasticman said:

MattMattMattUK said:
They should not be applying for a job that they are unable to do. Reasonable adjustments are almost always used when someone is already employed and their circumstances change, or someone discusses potential changes to their employment contract on offer at the recruitment stage. It seems highly unreasonable to accept a job that has specific requirements, then demand it is changed to something different.

Not specific to this case but most disabled people will be applying for a job that they can do with a reasonable adjustment. That's the point - otherwise many would never get a job. Really important to be transparent about this at the interview stage though.

Exactly. That's the point of the adjustment, to make a job accessible that otherwise wouldn't be. Thank you for saying this.

powerspowers

I think an employer would be more likely to consider an adjustment reasonable if you can address some of the common concerns they may have, e.g attending the office during induction to shadow colleagues or to attend team meetings. Would you be able to do that with support? 

I work with several disabled colleagues and the best outcomes are when management and employees can genuinely discuss what would be achievable and some flexibility on both sides. 

TELLIT01

There is something of a chicken and egg situation here.  It's generally not permitted for a potential employer to ask about an applicant's health until after a job has been offered.  Here the OP requires 'reasonable adjustments' from Day1 so they will have inform the employer at some stage.  Some adjustments may be practical in a short timescale whereas items such as specialist IT kit could take many weeks to arrange.

If the OP simply needs/wants to work full time from home it may be less of an issue.  It will depend on the nature of the job.

PurpleMouse5

I actually have to ask for reasonable adjustments to the interview process sometimes, so you can definitely ask before you get the job.
It's a bit of a trade off depending on how urgent your job hunt is! On the one hand if they refuse it might be useful information that they wouldn't be an sympathetic and accessible place to work. On the other hand sometimes you want to get your foot in the door and then hope they are more willing to make an adjustment once they know you. 
 
You could do it at the job offer stage for this - especially if you are going to be giving up a different job you do want to know whether you can get this adjustment before you hand in your notice, but it's late enough in the process that they have already decided to offer you the job. Or at the interview stage, so that they have met you and had to chance to see the qualities you could bring to the role, and then might be more willing to make an adjustment. 

TheSpiddalKid

Employers cannot ask about medical conditions before making an offer. But many will then make an offer subject to medical clearance. They will then ask you to complete a medical questionnaire, which an Occupational Health Professional assesses. The questionnaire will often ask questions like 'Do you have a disability or medical condition that may be exacerbated/worsened by your role?' It will likely also ask if you have a long-term health condition or disability. If this is in place, it is likely the best route for commencing discussions, once the offer has been made. The employer may be cautious about making any comments or commitments before an interview or offer, as it may not want to risk disability discrimination. However, it is still worth trying to see if they will discuss it infrormally before applying.

There is some good guidance from EHRC on hybrid working. https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/equality-watchdog-publishes-new-guidance-employers-supporting-disabled-staff-hybrid-working

You can and should raise it before you start. My suggestion would be to start that discussion at the offer stage and get the agreement set up and in writing if needed.

LightFlare

as mentioned by other posters:

you have the right to request
adjustments have to be reasonable 

SarahLu

TELLIT01 said:

There is something of a chicken and egg situation here.  It's generally not permitted for a potential employer to ask about an applicant's health until after a job has been offered.  Here the OP requires 'reasonable adjustments' from Day1 so they will have inform the employer at some stage.  Some adjustments may be practical in a short timescale whereas items such as specialist IT kit could take many weeks to arrange.

If the OP simply needs/wants to work full time from home it may be less of an issue.  It will depend on the nature of the job.

True. Just because an employer gets two months to respond to a request, it might not necessarily take that long  (either way), so my question about whether it would be organised in time to start on day 1 could be moot in this case.