Disabled Workers’ access to flexible working as a reasonable adjustment

There is a significant demand among disabled workers for flexible working.

In terms of location, despite the challenges that some workers experienced during the pandemic, nearly all disabled workers (94 per cent) who had worked from home during the pandemic wanted to continue doing so in some form, either completely remotely or a hybrid working arrangement after the pandemic. Across all disabled workers, including those who had not worked from home during the pandemic, this figure is 75 per cent.

In addition, over two thirds of disabled workers (68 per cent) wanted some form of hours-based flexibility such as flexi-time, compressed hours or part-time working.

Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance on flexible working makes it clear that it may be a reasonable adjustment for employers to allow disabled workers to work flexibly if this removes a barrier they face to being able to do their job.

The employer must make the change from the first point at which the duty to make reasonable adjustments arises. So either when the disabled worker start working for them or (if they are already working for them) when the worker became disabled.

It does not matter whether or not the employer would allow a non-disabled person to work flexibly in the particular job, as:

• the employer is under a duty to make reasonable adjustments, and
• the employer is allowed, under the Equality Act 2010, to treat a disabled person better than a non-disabled person.

An employer must also avoid treating disabled workers unfavourably when making a decision about their working hours or when considering their request to work flexibly if:

• this is because of something connected to their disability, and
• the employer cannot show that what they are doing is objectively justified, and
• the employer knows or could reasonably be expected to know that the worker is disabled.

Read the TUC report here.