AIBU to think employers aren’t going nearly far enough with adjustments and that ableist attitudes are still totally normalised?

[coffeeandmycats]

I’m honestly so fed up with how “reasonable adjustments” are treated like some kind of special favour or workplace charity. They’re not. They’re a legal duty under the Equality Act, and they exist because without them, disabled people are shut out of employment or slowly squeezed out once they’re in.
Every time someone says “we couldn’t adjust the role” or “it wouldn’t be fair on the team,” what they usually mean is “we didn’t want to deal with it.” And that’s what drives me mad how often laziness, bias or lack of imagination is brushed off as “just being realistic.” That’s not realism. That’s ableism.
Most jobs can be adjusted. If someone can’t do one task but can do everything else why is the answer to push them out, instead of reshuffling the tasks or offering alternatives? We do this all the time in other settings. You wouldn’t chuck a kid out of school because they struggle with stairs. But in work, suddenly job specs are sacred texts.
And now, with the government trying to push more disabled people back into work (often with threats of benefit sanctions), where is the structural support? Employers still get to decide whether something is “reasonable,” even when they’ve shown time and again that they don’t understand or don’t care. That’s not a system that’s a gamble.
We should be encouraging every disabled person denied adjustments to take their employer straight to tribunal. I don’t care if it’s uncomfortable the law needs to be enforced. But also, it shouldn’t have to get that far. There should be an independent ombudsman-style service that employers must subscribe to something that can assess adjustment requests fairly and quickly, without making the disabled person go to war to be heard.
And honestly? If a business can’t afford to make space for disabled people, whether that’s with flexibility, equipment, transport help or task reallocation, then maybe they shouldn’t be in business. If your model only works when everyone is 100% able-bodied, then your model is broken. Shut it down.
AIBU to think we’ve got this totally backwards? That we’re still treating inclusion like a bonus feature instead of a basic requirement? That people who need adjustments are somehow seen as the problem instead of the systems and attitudes around them?
I’m sure this will rub some people the wrong way. Maybe that’s the point.

Tribunal 😂

Don’t be silly. Cats HAVE staff; they wouldn’t work for anyone.

I had a night time wee, and on the way to the loo, stood in cat shit with bare feet. It went up between my toes.

3 cats, and none owned up. Took them all to the vet and had them PTS (am joking, but it was fucking gross and I am still not over it 😅)

Well there’s your problem. He should have recognised it was an unusual situation and that there may have been health and safety issues around him being barefoot in the office. Therefore he should have mentioned it at the interview.
I can’t just turn up to a job topless because I don’t like the feel of clothes on my skin.

We are getting into silly territory here. I’m all for reasonable adjustments for disabilities, but they must be reasonable. What would be reasonable here is that your uncle agree to wear soft slippers and his workplace allow that. If he needs to take them off while sat behind his desk, that’s fine, but moving around the office he should wear slippers.

OMG.. did you take tge cats to a tribunal??

I have stood on a slug before.. not nice 🤢

you not wanting to wear a top is not the same as my uncle not wearing feet due to a disability!

I see your cat shit and raise you a slug. In the kitchen, middle of the night squashed between my toes. I took dh to a tribunal in the dining room, as he hadn't upheld his side of household upkeep. I was awarded 10k which i spent on myself 💅.

No, it IS.

If I have autism, and can’t bare the feeling of clothing on my skin. Any clothing.

Do I get a job that doesn’t require that, or go to the office without clothes.

Think about it.

You’re not real. You can’t be.

Well what if I had a skin condition that made clothes uncomfortable against my skin and in the house I was always naked or just in underwear. Thats a medical condition, so should I be allowed to come to work in my underwear because I have a skin disability?

No, didn’t think so.

How do you know she doesn't have a legit reason for not wanting to wear a top? Perhaps she has a self diagnosed t-shirt allergy?

Self diagnosed 😂😂

Ok what about someone with hand dermatitis working in a place where they have to frequently wash their hands. Such as a nurse on a ward. Washing their hands frequently causes cracks and bleeding. But they are required to wash after every patient.

I think you’re right. The uncle story is so unbelievable that I’ve actually just looked up employment tribunals involving barefoot requests on the government website. There was one man who took the NW Air Ambulance charity to tribunal over this and other things but he failed to get what he wanted. Looks like OP may have used it for inspiration.

I knew a student ODP (theatre staff who scrub in, so lots of handwashing) who developed dermatitis during placement. Her hands were in an awful state. She had to leave the course.
No way could she have done something else in the same role, and her hands were pretty much falling apart. Not washing was not an option.

I tried finding it too!
People are hung up on it Op because it is so utterly ridiculous and so utterly outrageous that a company got taken to court over this (if it's true). It is disgusting behaviour on your family's part. Reasonable adjustments need to be REASONABLE

It didn't go to a tribunal as the previous companies have allowed it. It was me who went to a tribunal for a different issue.

My uncle is currently suspended on full [ay for 5 months now waiting for the company to decide if they want to allow his adjustment or go to court to fight it.

I never said they went to court! I was the one who went to court after being refused short breaks for anxiety.

No, it isn’t.

Well there is the would your rehire question!
I do know that in reality if you were employing someone who worked in the same industry there would be a quiet phone call from one boss to another to get the real picture.
Gaps on CVs don’t go down well either.

he doesn't really have gaps on his CV though does he? he's still employed whilst he has been suspended on full pay for the last 5 plus months...

I’ve asked this already.

If he’s suspended, they’re likely following a disciplinary procedure. Or he’s just on paid leave, gardening leave perhaps. Which is different.

So has he been suspended, and if so - why?

This is a very interesting thread and before we run out of space I’d like to ask @coffeeandmycats a couple of clarifications to help my understanding as you are obviously very knowledgeable and understandably passionate about supporting disabled people.

1. I think you said that a diagnosis is not always required. Could you comment on what evidence would be sufficient to meet the legal definition of a disability in the tribunals eyes?
2. My understanding and perhaps I am wrong is that employment tribunal’s judgement do not create legal precedence because they depend heavily upon the facts of the particular case.
3. My understanding is that a tribunal cannot order an employer to provide reasonable adjustments but can only award financial compensation? If this is true I wonder whether the employer may prefer to take the short term hit of reaching a settlement if the long term costs of continuing to employ someone who in their eyes will continue to ask for‘unreasonable’ adjustments is greater. As I think you have said employers can be caught between agreeing to what might prove to unworkable adjustments leaving to other staff leaving and facing the costs of a tribunal regardless of whether they win or not. A two edged sword maybe?

Tbh walking another barefoot with neuropathy is incredibly risky. People with this condition have reduced feeling and if he injured his feet he'd end uo with infections and maybe amputations. He needs a nice foam sandal.

The uncle is suspended on full pay now (for 5 months apparently). You couldn't make this stuff up......or maybe you could

for attending the office without shoes on as the office state it is a health and safety risk