(The Truth About) Reasonable Adjustments At Work
Strategy + You Need To Get Political…
Imagine, for a moment, arriving at work and being noticed. Not for what you get done, not for how quietly you suffer—but really seen. Imagine requesting help, and being provided with it in a timely fashion, without asking, without it costing you dignity or energy. You wouldn't be forced to hunt down forms, translate policy, or withstand an avalanche of meetings.
You'd just say it: this isn't working for me—and someone would listen. Change. Act.
That’s where well-being comes from, because…
…any therapist will tell you to notice abusive relationships, get out of them, don’t get into them in the first place, have agency, find equality in relationships. Still, for vulnerable people, that’s not always an option or their fault.
That's simply not where we're at. Not yet.
In reality, most workers who disclose an illness or disability are introduced to a new kind of stress—the stress of being an advocate. You explain to them, this is what I must do to do my job, and the process that follows can feel more like testing and less like support and an assessment of how long you will continue before you quit (Williams et al., 2018).
And here's the thing that most don't tell you: your boss does not necessarily have to agree.
The law, under the Equality Act 2010, mandates "reasonable" adjustments—but what is reasonable is uncertain, slippery, stretching to encompass profit margins, levels of staff, and ease of operation (Equality Act 2010; EHRC, 2023). It is a woolly requirement, and far too often it does not stretch quite far enough.
It's not that your needs don't exist. It's that the systems were never designed for them.
Many workers, already balancing physical or mental exhaustion, have to navigate the debilitating bureaucracies just to get what might make work… tolerable. The system can make it appear that honesty doesn't pay, silence does. Compliance does, above authenticity (Fevre et al., 2013). But wait a minute here. Because what if there was another way?
Not the easier way—that is uncommon—but a way whereby you save up your strength and expend it purposively. Imagine if you cease to expect that the system work in your favour, and construct subtle buffers for yourself instead.
That's not capitulation. That is strategy.
What to do now…
Step 1
You experiment with tools that assist, and when you must pay for them, you ask whether work can reimburse you. But you don't wait. You act. You keep records. You modify your surroundings—your light, your breaks, your process—to respect what your body and mind are requiring (TUC, 2021). You hear yourself out more than you hear policy.
Step 2
And when you seize the cutting edge of fury—and you will—use it. Not in shame or resignation, but in action. Send off a quick email to your MP on access at work. Share your experience in an online forum. Sign and circulate a petition. These micro-movements matter. And they accumulate.
Step 3
And yes—unionise. Not because they're perfect, but because they magnify you. When your voice falls on deaf ears, a union's voice can boom out stronger, backed by legal know-how and collective experience (Bach & Kessler, 2012). They aren't an end to injustice, but they are a line of defence.
You might not be able to get the system to do what it should. But you can learn how it does work—and how to work around it. And in that subtle shift—from expecting to be saved, to taking back your space gently, daily—you'll start to feel something new.
A sense of power. Actual power. The kind that takes time to build, but endures.
And perhaps, just perhaps… that's where actual change starts.
References
Equality Act 2010. Legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents
- EHRC (2023). Your rights to reasonable adjustments at work. Equality and Human Rights Commission. https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en
- Williams, J., Fossey, E., & Harvey, C. (2018). Understanding reasonable adjustments in the workplace for people with psychosocial disabilities. Work, 61(3), 421–434.
- Fevre, R., Robinson, A., Jones, T., & Lewis, D. (2013). The ill-treatment of employees with disabilities in British workplaces. Work, Employment and Society, 27(2), 288–307.
- TUC (2021). Disability and reasonable adjustments: A TUC guide for reps. https://www.tuc.org.uk
- Bach, S., & Kessler, I. (2012). The Modernisation of the Public Services and Employee Relations: Targeted Change. Palgrave Macmillan.
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