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

[WhatNext321]

My DH has just had his appraisal at work. He has ASD, though his work doesn't know, as the diagnosis was only formally made in the last few years and at the time DH didn't feel the need to disclose this. His appraisal details what they perceive as his shortfalls in performance in relation to his communication and social interactions. It was all done in a very personal, and in my opinion, harsh, manner. E.g, many examples of "colleague A says this about you" and "colleague B says that about you".

If DH informs work about his diagnosis, can what was written in his appraisal be seen as discriminatory? The tone of the appraisal was very much "we have great concerns regarding your communication, if it doesn't improve, you'll lose your job", but was not explicitly said.

Any thoughts about what DH can do? DH is extremely worried about his job security and is very stressed out. He already works very long hours, seven days a week, most weeks.

What has changed since his last appraisal?

Work can’t adjust/ make exceptions due to a condition if they don’t know about it. Therefore if he wants asd to be taken into account for assessing his performance then he needs to disclose it.

you might change their mind on his appraisal but you can’t say they acted in a discriminatory manner if they didn’t know.

No, of course it can't be seen as discrimination retrospectively.

If he now wants to divulge his ASD, he should ask for a meeting with his line manager and talk it out from there.

Concerns about his communication will still exist, he needs to work with his team on how to overcome this and find ways (taking in to account his asd) to improve.

they need to support him to do his job but ultimately he needs to be able to do the job

It can’t be discrimation if they don’t know op and it can’t be classed as discrimatory in retrospect.

Your DH also needs to stop working 7; days a week, Op. He will burn out.

He should have told them as soon as he found out. You are at risk if you don't disclose something that can affect your work. They will want to know why he didn't say anything.

As others have said it’s not discriminatory if they don’t know about it. If he tells them it may affect how they move forward with any performance management so they can make reasonable adjustments.

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!

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

How can it be if they don't know?

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.

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!!

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

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.

This , and both @LiquoriceAllsorts2 's posts.

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.

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?

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

The appraisal system was changed to include other colleagues' contributions.

I didn't think what was said could be seen as discriminatory either, but wondered if others thought the same.

DH doesn't want to work that much, but has a very high workload. Work has said he shouldn't "complain" about workload.

@C152
Thank you for your thoughts and for letting me know about the Access to Work grant, which I didn't know about and will definitely look into. Have you got any experience of one, either from an employee or employer's perspective?

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

Have a word with ACAS about that last sentence

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.

@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.