Withdrawing from internal interview after my reasonable adjustments were ignored

[Workquery1]

Internal interview with my public sector employer who are ‘disability confident’ on paper, and tells people to ask for any reasonable adjustments they require for interviews.

I followed usual process and HR sent my reasonable adjustments but the interviewer has ignored them, then HR sent a chaser but still nothing back. HR then advised me to try messaging the interviewer too (also no reply).

Other interviewers at my company have been very willing to offer reasonable adjustments, never had others decline. I have a diagnosis of my disability too.

I’ve woken up very stressed to have to do this interview without any adjustments or even explanation of why they are unhappy to offer them (not even a compromise). Now I’m thinking to simply cancel because going through a very challenging interview will only knock my confidence for next time

They should acknowledge. They don’t need to grant them, I’d ask for acknowledgement or move timing.

whay were the adjustments please.

Firstly you don't need a diagnosis for reasonable adjustments
Secondly what have you asked for - I would CC an email in with HR/Interviewer and ask whether the interview needs to be rescheduled as you havent recieved any information regarding the reasonable adjustments you've asked for.

Unless we know what the adjustments were, we'll have to take your word that they are 'reasonable'.

They might not be.

Regardless, OP should have had a response advising that they would or wouldn't provide them and why or why not.

Bad form on the part of the employer which might be a good indication of the culture.

I agree in regards to whethere they're reasonable or not, but surely the interviewer could at least tell the employee if they will get them or not/

What are the adjustments? Are they relatively simple? Have they definitely said they are not doing them or have they just not replied. I am very good at doing stuff but not always so good at telling people I’ve done it.

Unless you need something provided to you in advance in order to be able to attend, I would present myself for interview, with a copy of communication with HR, ask verbally about the RAs and only withdraw if they are unavailable. HR has already agreed to them, so I would then start a grievance procedure against the interviewer. Hopefully it's just miscommunication and the interviewer is unaware that you require confirmation in advance.

It isn't up to MN to decide whether the adjustments are reasonable or not. HR have agreed to them.

She doesn’t say that, she’s says hr sent tnem to the interviewer, the fact rhe interviewer needs to respond indicates strongly this isn’t an hr decision. Most reasonable adjustments are not. They are often down to the business.

if it was just an hr decision all that would be required is yes fhey are informed. Nothing more required.

Internal interview with my public sector employer who are ‘disability confident’ on paper,

I think most people forget that having that is the point. And the less you can do to achieve it (what exactly does it mean ????) the better for all concerned.

This doesn't negate the need for a response or explanation from the interviewer though.

Well? What did you ask for? I think that is really pertinent in this situation?

But to ask on a public message board is different to asking HR or the interview team….reasonable adjustment could mean anything from a foot rest to a sign language interpreter to a later appointment because the interviewee isn’t very good at morning starts. Advice on here could vary greatly.

The fact op has always had them accommodated before is a very strong case for them being reasonable, unless this is a very materially different job.

There's very little accountability with Disability Confident. What's their level?

If you're not attending the interview due to your reasonable adjustments not being met or even discussed and compromised on, you definitely need to be very clear with the interviewing panel with HR copied in that they've not engaged in a way that removes any barriers faced by you at interview.

I don't blame you for not going for the interview if this is their approach as I'd have very little confidence that they would embed any accessibility or anti-ableism approaches in the role.

You'll no doubt be aware of the processes you can use to complain about your treatment, especially as they're Disability Confident on paper: Raise an issue with a Disability Confident employer - GOV.UK

But it's unfair for you to have to do that additional labour.

I disagree with all the posts saying you need to tell us what the reasonable adjustments were. That's none of our business and doesn't make any difference here as they've not even communicated with you about it. If they'd said "we're not able to guarantee that non one in the building will have used deodorant or soap that day" (e.g. if you had a severe allergy) or "unfortunately we don't have step free access to the meeting room where the interviews are taking place" or "our budget doesn't cover the cost of BSL interpreters for the interview" - then you could have had a conversation or email exchange about things that can be put in place to address those barriers (e.g. interview via Teams/Zoom or remote BSL support (not ideal but cheaper).

It's poor form if they're not already asking what you need in place before the interview.

We've made adjustments in the past which actually made the interview process better for all the applicants. e.g. sending questions in advance so people can prepare and not have as much anxiety coming in.

Have they actually declined them or just not acknowledged them?

Obviously it’s hard to say without knowing what they are and how reasonable they are but if they give you these adjustments already in the workplace then it seems odd they would decline them.

I would absolutely withdraw from the interview.
I’m assuming you will be highly disadvantaged by not having the adjustments and I’d be concerned about the role.

If it something like the interview being on the top floor or having to stand for a long period and you disabled then you are likely going to be unsuccessful anyway because you’re at a disadvantage.

If the interviewer hasn't acknowledged them, it maybe due to them being busy, not malice.

I do a lot of interviewing in the civil service. I’d bet they have just missed where you ticked the box and not got around to answering the email from HR. When is the interview? So many applicants for every job these days and it’s a lot of work managing the admin.
In the last batch of interviewing I did we had a note of the adjustments and then also asked the question during the intro. In fact the successful candidate was someone who had been given RA so hope that gives you some comfort.

Are you sure they have just not acknowledged the request ? It is hard to say without knowing what they are but if it was eg to allow extra time then the interviewer may have simply forgotten to acknowledge this.
I would definitely have chased up HR saying that youve not heard back and are your adjustments going to be accommodated?

I’d prefer not to derail the thread about the specific reasonable adjustments I’d requested. These RA’s are recommended by large charities for my disability. I can’t be certain if it’s reasonable (they’ll always be a contrarian poster who will find a way to claim request is unreasonable) but HR and other interviewers at my company have accepted it

Even if this interviewer doesn’t think it’s reasonable I just wish they could have explained why, concerns and potentially a compromise if possible.

I understand people get busy but I hoped HR having sent a chaser would have prompted them to respond

I will likely have to withdraw now and save them the hassle anyway

You are right that they should have replied. We had a candidate request reasonable adjustments, which we didn't feel were completely reasonable, but we responded with what we could and couldn't offer.

Please be clear with them and yourself that you're withdrawing not to save hassle but because they've failed to communicate in a way that gives you any confidence that your access needs would be met in post and that it's been clear that the recruitment team have no interest in employing a disabled candidate from your experience.

Appreciate that it is a hassle but don't let them get away with this kind of behaviour. Yes, maybe it comes from a place of business or carelessness but the result is building barriers for disabled applicants which makes their staff team less diverse and reflective of their community and in this situation is a potential extra barrier to disabled current members of staff from having the same opportunity to develop their career, earn more etc.

Do you have any allies in the organisation who can support you with this? Or HR? Because it shouldn't be up to you to use more energy on this.

I wouldn't withdraw yet.

Send an email to HR asking whether they are going to provide these or do you need to withdraw and take further advice.

This.

You definitely should have feedback and that's out of order by them.

But you started off saying the adjustments were reasonable, and now you're saying they might not be, and whether they are reasonable or not is the crux of the issue.