We have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people under the Equality Act (2010). As a large employer, ECC is expected to consider seriously all opportunities to make reasonable adjustments. Any failure to do so, even if unintentional, can be considered direct or indirect discrimination.
When a Workplace Adjustment Passport can be used
If someone’s overall health, wellbeing and productivity could be enhanced through adjustments, wherever possible, the use of the passport should be supported. It can also help to reduce sickness absences and increase work performance.
The Equality Act covers many conditions that employees and managers may not automatically associate with the term ‘disability’.
The act covers many mental health conditions, and a wide range of other conditions that can cause symptoms such as:
- pain
- fatigue
- stiffness
- distress
- anxiety
This can include significant symptoms associated with the menopause and conditions such as endometriosis.
Neurodiversity
Neurodiversity refers to the diversity of human brains and minds.
Some diagnoses associated with neurodivergence (for example, autism, ADHD, dyslexia, bipolarity) are divergences from typical functioning that may mean environments and workplaces, designed for those who are neurotypical, may create barriers for individuals with these characteristics.
There may be accommodations and adjustments that can enable people to be productive and comfortable in their working lives.
Aims of the Workplace Adjustment Passport
The passport supports you and your manager to discuss, agree and record adjustments. It is an optional tool that acts as a live record of what is agreed between you and your manager.
A passport can:
- make sure everyone has a clear record of the agreed adjustments
- reduce the need to re-assess adjustments, because of changes to an employee’s job or line manager.
- act as a useful template for conversations about current and future adjustments
You can meet with your manager to explore the adjustments required from the beginning of and during employment.
Filling in the passport together is an opportunity for you and your manager to begin, or to build on, a relationship of mutual trust and respect.
We want you to feel valued and have the opportunity to speak frankly about your situation and how this impacts you.
Your manager the chance to ask questions and gain an understanding of your disability, health condition or neurodivergence and how they can support you.
Examples of adjustments
Everyone has different experiences and the extent to which day-to-day life is affected will vary.
Disabilities can be invisible so we should all avoid making assumptions based on what we can or can’t see.
If you acquire a disability, you may be less likely to understand your long-term requirements and it may take some time to come to terms with what’s happening to you. In these circumstances you may want to review what’s needed more regularly.
Adjustments can include things like:
- flexible working hours
- equipment
- work practices
- working environment
- assistive software
If you are not sure what adjustment may be helpful you can find examples in the ACAS Reasonable Adjustment Guidance and SCOPE Examples of Reasonable Adjustments.
You can request a meeting with your manager and share this guidance with them.
Discussing your Workplace Passport with your manager
Arranging the meeting
If your manager has arranged to meet this is a good sign as the workplace adjustment passport aims to help you thrive at work.
You should download or print off a copy of the Workplace passport form (DOC,645KB) so that you and your manager can fill it in.
Think ahead about what you want to say. Make some notes to bring those with you if it helps.
We also have a conversation map (DOC, 48KB) and a checklist (DOC, 59KB) which will help you to work through all the things you might like to discuss. These conversations can be difficult and these materials are designed to help you and your manager.
Talking about your circumstances
We all have different ways of referring to our circumstances. For example, you may or may not consider yourself to be disabled. Your manager will check how you prefer to talk about your situation and how you describe your particular needs.
You may need to educate your manager about your situation to get the best outcome. Your manager will ask simple non-judgemental questions to understand the impact for you and how they can support you as you are the expert in this situation.
You should have the opportunity to say if anything is worrying you about the meeting and what might make you feel better about that.
If there is anything you want to keep private or are worried that it may upset you, let your manager know. You could say 'I get quite upset talking about that. Can we avoid that please?’ and if it becomes relevant ‘I would rather arrange another meeting, so I have time to prepare’.
What to talk about during the meeting
The aim of the meeting is to develop a joint understanding and reach an agreement that benefits everyone. Managers are not expected to know all about a condition or disability and each person will be affected differently.
The meeting is about your work life, but you may touch on other areas.
It is helpful to share how your disability, health condition or neurodivergence affects you at work.
Think about:
- the requirements of the job
- which parts of the job you find easy
- which parts of the job are more challenging
- what would help you do your best work
You may want to consider:
- what individual strengths you bring to your role and the team
- what support or adjustments would help, how feasible these are and what might need to happen to put this in place
- what helps or hinders you in the workplace
- if you need any further advice through occupational health (OH) or an Access to Work assessment to access funding
- whether you would like to use the passport to record this
- what you would like the team to know (if anything)
You should detail any occupational health or Access to Work recommendations. If you are having difficulty identifying the adjustments that would help it may be useful to adjourn the meeting at this stage and seek further guidance through an occupational health or Access to Work review.
Agree who will take which actions, and by when, in order to put any adjustments in place.
Once you have agreed the adjustments the passport will be signed by you and your manager, confirming what has been agreed and that those agreements will be actioned.
Sharing your passport
You own the passport and can share this if you get a new manager or move roles so that you do not have to explain everything again.
If you remain in the same role and your health condition, disability or neurodivergence remains the same your new manager will accept the adjustments outlined in the passport unless there is a significant operational reason for not doing so.
Discussions are confidential and you may or may not want to share details with the wider team. You should make sure you are clear with your manager what you do or do not want people to know. It’s not always necessary to disclose the reason for the adjustment to the rest of the team but it can be helpful so they can understand and support.
Reviewing your passport
The passport should be reviewed at agreed intervals to check that adjustments remain appropriate and can be adjusted if your needs or role changes.
Agree how often you would like to check in with your manager to discuss support and adjustments at work, and what form you would like these discussions to take.
A follow-up meeting will probably be needed before the adjustments are in place and to check how things are progressing.
You may also need more regular reviews if you have a progressive condition, are undergoing treatment or returning to work after a long-term sickness absence or are new to the council or your role.
You can’t always be certain that an adjustment will be effective, and you may want to try out some suggestions where practicable to see how they work. There is no harm in doing this, and building in review dates makes sure that, where these aren’t effective, other options can be considered.
Changing your passport
The agreement in your passport may need to be reviewed and amended at a later date, but this shouldn’t happen until you and your manager have worked together for a reasonable amount of time.
If things have changed, or you move to a very different role or have a change in location, the adjustments may no longer be appropriate, and these should be reviewed straight away.
Storage and access to the passport
You are responsible for storing your passport in a secure location.
The passport belongs to you and will only be visible to you and your manager unless you choose to share it more widely.
If you have access to a computer you are advised to keep a copy of the passport in a secure location and provide your line manager with a link.
Alternatively, you may wish to upload your Workplace Adjustments passport onto your records on My Oracle. Select 'document records' and then add your passport as an attachment.
If you do not have access to a computer and have completed the form by hand, you should keep the form in a safe location and give your manager a printed hard copy.
Getting further help
The People Services team can help you resolve any problems.
There are a range of Employee Support Networks that can also support employees with a range of issues.