Reasonable Accommodations and Workplace Accessibility: What UK and Irish Employers Must Know

A finance director with dyslexia asks for report templates in a different font and colour contrast. A trainee accountant returning from cancer treatment needs a phased return with flexible start times. A client-facing manager who is deaf requests a live captioning tool for video calls. Each of these is a request for a reasonable accommodation — and for employers across the UK and Ireland, responding to them isn't just good practice, it's a legal duty.

What "Reasonable Accommodation" Actually Means

In the UK, the relevant law is the Equality Act 2010, which places a duty on employers to make "reasonable adjustments" where a disabled employee or job applicant is placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, because of the workplace, a provision, criterion or practice, or a physical feature of the premises. In Ireland, the equivalent framework sits in the Employment Equality Acts 1998–2015, which similarly require employers to take "appropriate measures" to enable a person with a disability to have access to employment, unless doing so would impose a disproportionate burden. The language differs slightly between the two jurisdictions, but the underlying obligation is the same: identify the barrier, and take reasonable steps to remove it.

Disability under both frameworks is defined broadly — it covers physical, sensory, cognitive and mental health conditions, including many that aren't visible or immediately obvious, such as chronic illness, neurodivergence (autism, ADHD, dyslexia) and mental health conditions like anxiety or depression where they have a substantial, long-term effect on someone's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

What Counts as a "Reasonable" Adjustment

Reasonableness is assessed case by case, weighing factors including the cost and practicality of the adjustment, the size and resources of the employer, and how effectively it would remove the disadvantage. Adjustments that come up regularly in finance and professional-services workplaces include:

• Flexible or adjusted working hours, including phased returns after illness or leave
• Assistive technology — screen readers, speech-to-text software, captioning on calls and training
• Adjusted physical workspace — desk height, lighting, noise-reducing arrangements, accessible meeting rooms
• Modified recruitment and assessment processes, such as extra time or alternative formats for technical tests
• Changes to how information is presented — larger fonts, plain-language summaries, alternatives to dense spreadsheets for someone with a visual processing difference

A Practical Process for Handling Requests

1. Make it easy to ask. Employees are far more likely to raise a need early — before it becomes a performance issue — if there's a clear, low-friction way to do so, rather than having to frame it as a formal grievance.
2. Have a real conversation, not a form. The most effective adjustments come from asking the employee what would actually help, rather than assuming based on a diagnosis or a generic policy.
3. Document the reasoning, not just the outcome. If an adjustment is agreed — or declined as disproportionate — record why, referencing the specific factors considered. This matters both for consistency and for defensibility if the decision is later challenged.
4. Review it. Needs change. A phased return plan or an assistive-technology setup that worked at three months may need revisiting at twelve.

Worked Example: A Phased Return

A senior associate returns to a busy audit team after a period of medical leave. Rather than defaulting to a generic "reduced hours for six weeks" policy, the manager has a direct conversation about which parts of the role are most demanding — client-facing meetings, tight deadline weeks — and agrees a plan that front-loads lower-pressure file review work in the first month, with a fixed check-in at week four to reassess. The plan is written down, including the reasoning, and revisited rather than left to expire silently. This kind of individualised, documented approach tends to hold up far better — both for the employee's actual return to full productivity and for the employer if the arrangement is ever questioned — than a one-size-fits-all policy.

Common Pitfalls

The most frequent mistake is treating "reasonable adjustments" as something HR handles once and then forgets, rather than an ongoing conversation. A close second is assuming a need based on a diagnosis rather than asking the individual — two people with the same condition can need very different accommodations. Employers also sometimes wait for a written, formal request before acting, even when a manager clearly ought to have recognised a need from an earlier conversation; both UK and Irish tribunals have found employers liable for failing to make adjustments they reasonably should have identified, not just ones formally requested.

Building This Into Team Practice

Firms that handle this well tend to normalise the conversation well before a request arises — making clear in onboarding and manager training that adjustments are a routine part of people management, not an exceptional process reserved for a formal HR case.

Why This Belongs in a Structured CPD Programme

People-management competence, including how to handle accommodation requests fairly and lawfully, sits alongside technical accounting knowledge as a core professional skill — and structured CPD gives managers a verifiable record that they've kept that competence current, rather than relying on whatever training happened to be available when they were first promoted.

How This Fits Into a Broader Compliance Programme

Failure to make reasonable adjustments is one of the more common grounds for disability discrimination claims at employment tribunals in both the UK and Ireland, and unlike many workplace disputes, there is no cap on compensation for discrimination claims in either jurisdiction. Beyond the direct legal exposure, professional bodies increasingly expect member firms to demonstrate genuine accessibility as part of their broader conduct and governance standards, particularly for firms bidding on public-sector or larger corporate client work where inclusive employment practice is now routinely part of due diligence.

FAQ

Does an employee need a formal diagnosis to request an adjustment?
No — while medical evidence can help establish that the Equality Act or Employment Equality Acts definition of disability is met, an employer's duty can arise as soon as they know or reasonably ought to know an employee is likely to be substantially disadvantaged.

Can an employer refuse an adjustment on cost grounds?
Cost is one factor in assessing reasonableness, weighed against the size of the organisation and the effectiveness of the adjustment — a small cost that removes a significant disadvantage will rarely be considered unreasonable to refuse.

Is the obligation different for job applicants versus existing employees?
The duty applies at every stage — recruitment, employment and dismissal — so adjustments to an assessment or interview process for a candidate carry the same legal weight as adjustments for an existing employee.

For related reading on building fair, well-governed teams, see our guide to ethics training and firm risk and creating a diverse and inclusive finance team. Keep your team's people-management skills current with Learnsignal's CPD courses.