Letter confirming reasonable adjustments

Where you’ve agreed to implement reasonable adjustments for an employee’s disability or health condition, it’s advisable to confirm the details of those agreed adjustments in writing.

Reasonable adjustments

Reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 are changes you make to remove or reduce a substantial disadvantage related to an employee’s (or worker’s) disability. This could mean making changes to the workplace, changing the employee’s working arrangements or providing equipment or support. Reasonable adjustments need to be specific to the individual employee. However, you don’t have to make adjustments that are unreasonable. Where an employee has specifically asked for reasonable adjustments, our Meeting to Discuss Reasonable Adjustments letter enables you to arrange a meeting with them to discuss their request. At the meeting, if you believe an adjustment suggested by the employee isn’t reasonable, you should explain your decision to them and try to find another way to support them, for example by making alternative adjustments that are reasonable.

Confirmation of adjustments

Once you’ve held the meeting, and assuming you’ve reached an agreement with the employee (whether that’s to implement their original requested adjustments or some alternative ones), it’s advisable to confirm the position in writing, which you can do using our Letter Confirming Reasonable Adjustments. Our letter sets out details of the reasonable adjustments that have been agreed, the date for implementation and when they’ll then be reviewed. If they’re only to be temporary, we’ve also set out an anticipated end date for them. Where the reasonable adjustments mean changes need to be made to the employee’s employment contract, for example if they’re to be paid a reduced salary because they’ll be working fewer hours or carrying out lesser job duties, our letter allows you to confirm that too, and asks the employee to sign and date a copy of it to confirm their consent in writing both to the adjustments and to any contractual changes. Not only do you need the employee’s express consent to contractual changes but also s.4 Employment Rights Act 1996 states that if any of the mandatory terms contained in a written statement of employment particulars are amended, you must give the employee a written statement containing particulars of the change at the earliest opportunity and, in any event, no later than one month after the change in question. So, provided you give sufficient specific detail of the contractual changes, our letter fulfils those requirements. If you wish, you can also use our Disability Agreed Adjustments Record alongside our letter.

Reviewing adjustments

A disabled employee’s reasonable adjustments might need to change over time, as their health improves or deteriorates, or when there’s a change to their job role. So, once adjustments have been agreed, it’s important to review them regularly, i.e. at least annually or sooner if there’s any change to their health or job, and then keep a record.