Work very critical of DH, but did not know he has ASD - discriminatory?

If it would be reasonable to suspect he has ASD given the behaviours listed and observed it can be construed as discriminatory. Can you imagine if it were an employee with a sight impairment that was obvious but they hadn't declared anything to employer and is then pulled up for not reading a notice or something similar.

Best thing is to let them know asap with official paperwork and see how things pan out - what has he got to lose. Once they know they shouldn't dismiss him because of the issues associated with his disability whether they noticed them before or not as that would be discriminatory once they do know even if behaviours observed before they new. They do sound a little off key in terms of how specific they have been in feedback - talk about land all colleagues in it which the he said she said crap

It was a while ago now but I started at a new employer and Acces to Work came out and assessed what physical items I required ie IT bits and pieces, whether I needed the doors to be easier to open etc. I think they also wrote a report, I think. The Access to Work side of thinks was fine, my employer completely didn’t have any systems in place for dealing with Access to Work, as I don’t think they’d had to deal with them before, and so there was a staggering lack of communication between departments and inter-department conflict.

My understanding is that an employer cannot be found to be discriminating against someone because of their disability if they did not know about it.

There are pros and cons to disclosing, your DH is not obliged to and should definitely have a think about it before he does. If he does decide to disclose it could just be on a need to know basis so that only HR and his line manager know for example. That might be enough to get sufficient support and accommodations in place. Alternatively he could be more open to his whole team. Only he can judge what he feels comfortable doing and what he thinks would benefit him the most. There are many good points in here about disclosing:

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/employment/support-at-work/autistic-adults

To those who are criticising him for not disclosing earlier I think he possibly are not appreciating the mental gymnastics involved in getting a diagnosis, especially a late one. A lifetime of (often negative) experiences may need to be re-evaluated and it takes time, for some people, to feel able to open up.

This. Hiw can they discriminate against a condition they know nothing about? At best, they can review the appraisal in light of the new information.

What are his contracted hours?

I wonder if due to his ASD his workload is not higher than everyoen else's, it's just taking him longer? I have seen this before where one person is working significantly longer hours, gets resentful etc, but where managers are very clear the workload is similar. So that might be something to consider sa part of his conversation with his boss when disclosing the ASD.

@WhatNext321 Yes, part of my salary is funded by my employer's Access to Work grant. They have a diagnosed condition which makes it very hard for them to focus, manage time/keep to deadlines etc. They are incredibly bright and excellent at their job, but need someone else to do what I suggested above - scan docs for deadlines, highlight them and cross-check whether they clash with any other deadlines, manage their diary, remind them of upcoming events and get them to double-check they have all the documents needed, set alarms on their phone/calendar. They also can't both actively participate in meetings (which they need to do, as they are the expert giving advice) and take notes/action points, so we looked at technology they could use that would automatically translate spoken word into written minutes etc. They also take advantage of coaching (I think 6 sessions were funded by the Government, in addition to the grant), which focuses on techniques to help them focus in the office, like colour coding different activities/clients.

The grant needs to be reapplied for every 12 months and is worth looking into.

That sounds like a terrible workplace for someone with ASD. To say he shouldn't complain about the workload seems ridiculous. I know everyone is different, but certainly my ASD DD needs more downtime and rest than the average person to cope so working 7 days a week must surely be putting him at risk of burnout.

So while yes, he can certainly let them know about his diagnosis and look to get support in place, they don't sound like the kind of employer that will be willing to make much effort - I'd be on the lookout for a new job if I were him.

Have a word with ACAS about that last sentence

What sort of job does he do that needs such long hours, what does his contract say

I would suggest your DH tell his employer that he was officially diagnosed with ASD in [month/year] and he didn't disclose it at the time, because he was worried what the reaction at work would be. However, having carefully listened to all the feedback, it seems that his ASD is affecting his communication with colleagues more than he thought, and he would like to work with his manager to put in place/agree support techniques to help him improve and become a more effective member of the team. It would help if your DH already had some suggestions as to how to improve things. Like, for instance, is he aware he can apply for an Access to Work grant, which could help him pay for practical support in the workplace? (His employer does not pay anything for this, but may need to faciliate support. e.g. if the grant pays for an assistant, the employer would need to agree that the assistant can attend your DH's place of work with him/attend meetings to take notes etc.)

Has your DH done any research about what type of things may help alleviate the issues that work have raised? Is it missing key details/time management? The Access to Work grant and be used to pay for things like an administrator to review all documentation, highlight deadlines, put them in his calendar and set alarms etc; or technology that may help; or coaching to find the right techniques to help him manage his workload/communications more effectively.

He can't just carry on and hope not to be fired. He needs to take some responsibility and work out, practically, what he can do to improve and, better yet, show his work he is improving. (It goes without saying that he shouldn't be working 7 days a week - he'll burn out and whatever his ASD symptoms are will become worse.)

https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work

What exactly was said about his communication and interactions op? It reads like colleagues have been complaining about him? Are these complaints directly linked to autism? And why has it only started happening?

They’re not discriminating against anything. They have someone with communication issues and no explanation why. They are treating him as NT because that’s what he’s led them to believe he is.

He needs to let work know about the diagnosis and work with management and the team to develop strategies and understanding.

This , and both @LiquoriceAllsorts2 's posts.

Everything everyone else has said. What he needs to do now is have a conversation with his manager and disclose the ASD. he also needs to provide some insight into why he didn't disclose it before and proactively ask for support to manage things he finds difficult due to his ASD.

Unfortunately, he made a mistake by not disclosing this. I assume that his issues with social and communication styles have always been there, so it would have been better to disclose promptly. If he has an otherwise good relationship with his manager and the company, hopeflly he can come back from this. But it could be frustrating for the firm if they feel they could have helped him to ensure things didn't get this bad in the first place.

How can they have discriminated against him because of a disability that they weren’t aware of?

This is really important! Disclose to the employer and get reasonable adjustments put in place. Then put proper boundaries up to improve his work/life balance. Over working will be adding to his stress and communication problems!!

Were you there with him? You're going by their tone not what was said, have you seen a copy of his appraisal. He needs to tell them he has asd, how can they discriminate if they don't know. Why is he working long hours 7 days a week, he should look at cutting down his hours, whose choice and decision is it to work those hours, that will be adding to his stress.

How can it be if they don't know?

Does he have an appraisal every year?
what was his appraisal like last year?
if it was okay then it must be something else that has changed - do you know what that is

No of course it can't be retrospectively discriminatory. If he 'didn't feel the need' to disclose it, he can hardly blame them for not making reasonable adjustments for something they didn't know about. They aren't psychic!