Possible disability discrimination - let it go?

[DarkMoonShine]

I feel like I’ve been discriminated against at work due to my disability:
I’ve been denied most reasonable adjustments (recommended by OH) on the basis that it wouldn’t be fair to other team members.
Another reasonable adjustment that was agreed upon is not consistently stuck to

And now I’ve had unkind remarks made to me about my disability - this is the thing that has upset me the most.
I’m not sure how to move forward, I worry that making a complaint will make everything worse and I can’t afford to lose my job. But not saying anything is causing anxiety as I don’t want to have to face co-workers.
Am I better off just letting this go?

Are you in a union?

Yes, I am in a Union - I wasn’t sure if I should contact them or not.

I think it depends on what adjustments you asked for. But you shouldnt have to put up with unkind remarks from colleagues.

Would your disability be covered by the equality act? And what reasonable adjustments have you requested?

Without knowing what the reasonable adjustments are it’s impossible to comment.

The unkind remarks about your disability sounds like workplace bullying. Your organisation should have a policy on that so I would look at that and report it as per the policy. You should make your own notes on what is happening and gather any evidence.

With regard to denying recommended adjustments, these are called Reasonable Adjustments and an employer can deny them if they would not be reasonable to the business. One of the reasons could be if it would negatively impact other workers as employers have a duty of care to all staff. Often Reasonable adjustments will affect other staff, in terms of their duties changing a bit, but not in a negative way. But if the change means others always have to work a back shift and so childcare would be more expensive or lose their agreed working from home day etc then these could be seen as a negative and unfair impact on others.
I would consult your union to get their view on the adjustments being recommended and how your company are saying they will be unfair to other employees.

I am disabled.

i would complain about the unkind remarks as it’s no expense to anyone to keep their mouth shut.

the reasonable adjustments in my experience is a constant and ongoing fight.

Yeah, I appreciate its tricky to respond without specifics but obviously I can’t go into specifics.
Essentially the reasonable adjustments are two small changes to duties that would have minimal impact on other staff members.

1. Once a month we have to go offsite, if I did not do this it would mean each month a different member of staff would go offsite twice in a month instead of once. This doesn’t increase workload in anyway.
2. I currently do a certain task twice a week, some staff members do it twice, and some do it three times. The change would mean I would switch to doing it three times, so then a staff member currently doing three times would start doing it twice. Again no increase to workload just a slight redistribution of tasks

Personally I don’t think either of these things is unreasonable and has minimal impact on others but could potentially have a big impact on my wellbeing.

Yes, I believe my disabilities are covered by the Equality Act (Autism and MH difficulties)

I think it is tricly if the changes you ask for impact on others.

I think the issue is that your requested adjustments directly impact other team members - if it had zero impact on others then it wouldn’t quite be the same. I’m not too sure it’s “minimal” impact on others if someone is then being expected to double their offsite visits to account for your adjustments. If you view the being offsite as “minimal” impact, then it would perhaps be a question as to why it is an adjustment?

It’s not minimal for the people having to do double the offsite visits

Ahhhh this is a tough one. Because I’m guessing those parts of the job are the most hated parts. And, for management, if they make those adjustments for you then someone else requests the same adjustments it will result in some people not doing the most hated part of the job and others having to do it much more regularly causing upset and friction.

That said if you really can’t do this part of the job and need the adjustments and you also believe your disability is covered equality act then you can raise this.

Maybe informally talk to the union as a first step and take advice?

Are the offsite visits something people generally do not like doing, and the additional task something people do enjoy? If so it may have a bigger impact on people than “just” doing a certain task less frequently and doing an addition offsite visit every now and then.

have you been clear about how doing the site visit/not doing the additional task an extra time impact your disability? A compromise could be reached where the impact is mitigated in other ways.

The comments about your disability aren’t on, what kind of comments are they?

Speak to your union, it’s what you pay them for.

I also think that reasonable adjustments are subjective. And when it impacts others it makes it difficult. So I’m guessing staff don’t want to do off site visits twice, and the thing you want to do three times, is the thing they want to keep.

the business has to have a solid reason to reject, and that’s the key part, not, sadly if you think it’s reasonable, you both need to agree that.

as for the comments, then this is unacceptable, can you give examples?

Perhaps going offsite takes people away from other tasks they would normally be doing and means they have to catch up on stuff meaning they’re stressed. So it does affect them?

The doing three tasks meaning other people are only doing that task twice sounds okay to me - but maybe it depends on what kind of task it is TBF. Eg, meeting clients and forming better relationships that way?

I think there's a middle ground between meekly accepting what's happening and going full on nuclear potentially-job-ending complaint mode - I don't know what conversations you've already had about the OH advice and adjustments and how formal a process you're in but is there scope to approach your manager (or the next most senior manager) and ask whether it would be possible to have a further conversation about whether there is any scope for flexibility, even to consider your adjustments on a trial period basis or perhaps a modified version e.g. with the task you want to do more of could that be 3 times one week 2 times next or something, or even to understand if they're saying an absolute no forever or a just not right now, and if the latter what would mean it could change from a no to a yes. You can add some fluff about how much you enjoy the job and are keen to ensure you are as productive as possible and you understand this has to be balanced against the needs of others blah blah - make it non-confrontational basically. I can't see how with a remotely reasonable employer that would have serious negative consequences for you (and tbh if you're thinking you can't do the job without the adjustments what have you got to lose) - it might not get you the adjustments mind you but I think it's at least worth trying so you know for sure where you stand. I think it's definitely a good idea to ask your union for advice as well, that won't commit you to doing anything you're not comfortable with.

And with the unkind comments, again I think there's subtle things you can do to take ownership and control of the situation without having to escalate into a big conflict if that's not what you are up for. Look up the 5 Ds of active bystander model, I know you're not a bystander per se but I find it a really helpful way of thinking about how small interventions, even just noting down what was said and when, or changing the subject can in fact make a difference - you don't necessarily have to call out the behaviour publicly or in a confrontational way to make the point that it is unwanted and needs to stop.

Are you currently doing the offsite visit and doing the tasks twice a week? These sorts of Reasonable adjustments can be tricky for a manager to implement without complaints from others if they see the person doing these at the moment but don’t see the toll it’s taking.
Its easier if someone is off sick and cannot return unless the adjustments are implemented.

Sorry to say but you are always going to get a lack of understanding over the impact of MH and autism issues, particularly now there’s so many more people struggling in the workplace

Task two must be somehow preferable or beneficial for everyone? So you getting to do it more and someone else having it removed would be seen as a disadvantage?

Off-site visits are not fun and why should someone suddenly have to do double the amount? That's clearly unfair on whoever that person is.

The nasty remarks are definitely not on though. You should complain to HR about that.

It sounds like you've asked for a colleague to double the amount of time they go offsite every month because of autism?

It's very tricky this.

No-one should put up with unkind words at work - but it's not fair on your colleague to have to go offsite every two weeks instead of every month.

Agree with others. The comments are unacceptable and should be raised with your manager. The adjustments are another matter as they directly impact others in a negative way. One site visit a month doesn't seem much on the face of it - what makes that impossible for you? Rather than saying you can't do them at all, are there any adjustments that could be made to support you during the visit?
Occ Health takes guidance from the staff member - it's not usually their role to overrule a request, so if someone says they can't do something because it will make their condition or illness worse they will work with the information they're being given and make recommendations based on that - which often then creates problems elsewhere in the team. It can be tricky to manage competing requirements.

Please contact your union.

they are best placed to give you correct advice.

and that’s what you pay your money for.

You have to bear in mind that you don’t know what is happening with other employees too. Your employer has to balance the needs and rights of everyone.

The comments are not justifiable though.

I’m struggling to do the offsite visits because I’m agoraphobic, I work from home most of the time, I go into the office once a week but other than that I never leave the house alone. I haven’t actually been offsite since last summer. I had a period of long-term leave which anxiety around the offsite visits fed into. And subsequently have arranged AL or taken the day off sick if an offsite visit is coming up to avoid it.

I don’t know how everyone else feels about the offsite visits but it’s not known to be a disliked part of the job. Some activity enjoy it. I felt the impact was minimal because my visits could be spread across a team of six so it would only be once in a 6 month period that someone would go twice. If that makes sense. And it doesn’t increase anyone’s workload in anyway - the visit is done instead of routine tasks not in addition to

It’s hard to give example of the comment made without being too specific

You don’t the impact that will have on others though. My husband, who has autism, would really struggle with this. That’s what I mean about how difficult it is to balance competing needs.
Your employer has to consider reasonable adjustments, I’m not sure what you are asking for is reasonable.