To feel like some reasonable adjustments are actually unreasonable

[Tiredjusttired]

Fully prepared to get flamed here, but please hear me out.

The small team I work in has an increasingly large proportion of people receiving workplace adjustments for disabilities such as ADHD, stomach issues, MS, depression, heart problems. The adjustments typically involve less workload, more time to complete tasks, less responsibility, less travel, priority for desk based tasks (while being paid the same as those with full responsibility and workload obligations).

My problem is that it means there is no capacity for the rest of us to catch a breath, undertake shadowing for professional development, or do general CPD, since the overall team workload has remained the same. I keep telling myself it is right my employer makes these adjustments, but it just feels so unfair. I’ve had to work so much of today to keep up with the workload. The ones without reasonable adjustments have to pick up the slack.

Does anyone else feel similarly? I guess I can take comfort in the fact my employer will hear me out when or if I have health issues myself, although the policy for menopause/pregnancy is very frugal. Currently, it seems a bit two-tier .

Re assured they got the help they needed

It is reasonable for staff with additional needs to request reasonable adjustments (doesn't always mean they should be approved - it depends).

It is unreasonable for management to put other members of staff in a situation where they are pressured to work overtime or have increased workload (for any reason). If this is your situation, it is entirely reasonable for you to raise the issue of your workload with your manager.

I think I live in a bubble

Where I live, if you cant take the heat, you get out of the kitchen

How are Reasonable adjustments working if the one "able to" person is having to pick up the slack?

Reasonable adjustments are there to remove barriers for disabled people. They aren't there to reduce actual workload so that someone else has to pick it up. It might mean they need to be creative with allocating tasks and responsibilities among the team. It doesn't mean they do less work so someone else has to do more.

I have a couple of reasonable adjustments at work. I'm an incredibly experienced member of staff with excellent knowledge and skills. My reasonable adjustments are that in the first hour of logging on I only take calls and respond to emails from my manager, head of department and Director. I use that hour for planning out my day, ensuring I've picked up any outstanding work from the previous day and then scheduling any phone calls.
My other adjustment is being able to request a more frequent one to one with my manager to go over my targets, caseload and issues with the staff I manage. I manage 6 people and over see a team of 12 of which 4 have their own reasonable adjustments and one probably could do with them but can't or won't discuss her needs as she is (to me and others) very clearly autistic.

But the person in this case isn't disabled, they're just been off for 12 weeks with 'stress'.

I think the problem is a lot of companies are acared to say no to adjustments as gping to an emplpyment tribunal costs money and if the emplpyee wins I've seen payputs as high as 100k!

I work for a very small, consultancy style business. The work is fast paced.

We had a hire a bit like this and we just couldn't keep him. It was adding too much to everyone else's workload.

If this is how it's working, your employer is doing RAs wrong. Because the idea is that the adjustments enable the disabled person to do their full job. Your employer either doesn't understand this or cant be bothered to do it properly, because its absolutely not about simply taking elements of the job away from people who can't do them, but finding a way to make sure they can, adjusting the job itself and the way its done perhaps. If this isn't possible without placing undue strain on others, the adjustment isn't reasonable.
The important thing here is to be very clear where the problem lies, and its not with your disabled colleagues. You need to talk to your manager about your work load, the pressure you're under, the disproportionate times you get allocated challenging tasks etc. You don't need to link this to the RAs, make it about you.

If you look at ACAS etc they give a similar example to this but say it's up to management to look at responsibilities and workload. So for example this employee can't safely/hygienically take out the rubbish but they might deal fantastically with a particular difficult client or they might have a great phone manner so do extra cover on reception - you have to look at what people are good at not just what they would struggle with.

Just to clarify — stress on its own might not always count as a disability, but if it’s linked to conditions like anxiety or depression, and those have a long-term effect on someone’s ability to carry out day-to-day tasks, then it absolutely can be considered a disability under the Equality Act.

You don’t need to be in a wheelchair or have a visible condition to be protected by the law — mental health is just as valid. Dismissing it or making digs based on assumptions is risky, unfair, and frankly not something any decent employer would tolerate.

The issue is that the greedy rich people at the top want maximum profit, so spend as little on staffing as possible. Or government funded employers are majorly lacking in funding and/or structural issues mean work load isn’t shared properly. But people who need reasonable adjustments absolutely should get them.

Yeah it's difficult i agree. I feel like most healthy decent people would have no issue with someone in a wheelchair asking you to get the printed papers etc though but i guess it is complex

Of course the Gov thinks that people who will lose their PIP under its proposals will be able to find work, whereas companies often struggle to make the adjustments needed so don't want to employ these people.

My daughter has epilepsy can't even do volunteering because of health and safety assessments.

It is a problem.

My friend is a nurse and as a reasonable adjustment gets a 5 minute break between patients other staff often complaoj but those are what she needs to work

Why the bold type lol?

See, that type of response is what people are getting really tired of.

Yes, the point being to do their job. Not cause part of their job to be done by someone else. Whilst getting paid the same.

Your daughter shouls get the job then declare it on day one in my opinon. Is this an option?

The important thing here is to be very clear where the problem lies, and its not with your disabled colleagues. You need to talk to your manager about your work load, the pressure you're under, the disproportionate times you get allocated challenging tasks etc. You don't need to link this to the RAs, make it about you.

People keep saying this, that it's about "blaming" the person with the disability, and they have nothing to do with it.

I think that's a misunderstanding, people aren't blaming the person for being disabled, they are blaming the manager for being unfair with the way the work is being managed or paid. But it is clearly in relation to that employee, because that is the ostensible reason for those decisions and expectations.

In some cases people do seem to be taking the piss, in which case people aren't unreasonable to be annoyed, but in general, they are not blaming people for being disabled, they are annoyed at the work situation.

Oh, and if we all did that. Waiting lists get longer. Yippee!

But the law allows aprr of their job to be removed as an adjustment

Yes but the altwrnarive is she doesn't work at all.

Or works reduced hours

I think people saying OP needs to simply challenge the line manager/employer about workload are being a bit naive. Most people in commercial environments don’t want to put their head above the parapet and be seen to be moaning/struggling with workload as they worry they will be seen as not up to the job. Obviously if you have a disability necessitating a reasonable adjustment that’s a different conversation, but assuming that’s not the case, people don’t want to tell their boss they can’t cope as it’s potentially a bit risky! They won’t just say sorry and take work off you or recruit an extra person…..

Reduced hours wouldnt help. She needs a short break after every patient as she has autism and gets overwhelmed. She went to occupational health who suggested it and the trust went along with it.

And her pay is cut accordingly, which would be right. So the nurse gets a wage cut of 5 minutes x (however many patients she sees) x however many days she works per month?