Adjustments

In addition to our legal duty to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled staff, Warwick's adjustments process covers staff who need support in relation to other personal circumstances, needs, or identities. For example, needs relating to:

• Faith.
• Caring responsibilities (providing unpaid care to a dependant because of a long-term physical or mental health disability or age-related problems).
• Gender identity e.g., trans healthcare.
• Menopause.
• Pregnancy.
• Additional English language needs.
• Foster caring.

Staff and managers should discuss and identify any barriers and consider adjustments that can help to remove or reduce those barriers. The Adjustments Agreement form can support with this conversation and should be used to retain a record.

If you are a staff member who experiences or anticipates barriers at work due to disability or other personal circumstances, needs, or identities you can raise this directly with your manager for discussion. For disability-related adjustments, you can update your personal record on SuccessFactors to share the disability and select the box confirming you are happy for this to be shared with the People team, this will initiate an adjustments discussion.

If you are a manager, remember that you have a responsibility to be pro-active and initiate a discussion with a staff member about potential challenges and adjustments if you spot signs that they may be experiencing barriers.

Once the need for adjustments is identified:

1. The staff member and line manager complete the Adjustments Agreement to identify barriers and consider adjustments that can help to remove or reduce those barriers. There is guidance above to support this, in addition:

• Staff may have assessment reports or previous experience of adjustments in other roles/workplaces which can be used to support requests.
• The People team can offer advice and coordinate the involvement of experts to conduct assessments and/or help identify helpful adjustments.
• Occupational Health can discuss the job requirements and any disability-related barriers with the staff member and suggest possible adjustments.

2. The manager assesses if adjustments are reasonable, in discussion with the staff member and supported by other teams as relevant (such as People, Health and Safety, IT Services, and Estates teams). The guidance includes information on how to assess reasonableness.

• For adjustments that are not considered reasonable, the manager records the reasoning on the Adjustments Agreement form. Managers should also discuss this decision with a senior manager and/or the People Team.
• For disability-related reasonable adjustments, if there are no reasonable adjustments that will enable the employee to continue in their original role, and there are no other reasonable alternatives available, the staff member may be eligible to join the redeployment register in line with the Redeployment Policy and Sickness Management Policy as appropriate.

3. Agreed adjustments are implemented, recorded, and a date set for a review in the Adjustments Agreement form.

• For disability-related reasonable adjustments which necessitate a cost, the manager contacts the People team to request funds from the University’s reasonable adjustments budget – contact HRadjustments@warwick.ac.uk.

Many adjustments do not result in a direct cost – e.g., changing start and finish times or allowing someone to work sitting down – or are inexpensive. The University already has access to a range of assistive software that can support staff.

Where there is a cost for a disability-related adjustment, budget may possibly be obtained from the People team; contact them on HRadjustments@warwick.ac.uk for more information.

In addition, Access to Work is a government scheme which can help pay for some, or all, of the costs of adjustments for disabled staff.

Please note, disability related adjustments should normally be considered in line with Occupational Health or Access to Work advice. Specialist equipment shouldn't be purchased locally without Occupation Health or Access to Work recommendations.

There are sources of help and advice that can be called upon to support discussions of adjustments and assessments of reasonableness, including:

• Your People Team Business Partner can support discussions between staff and managers. The People team also have budget which can be applied to for support of disability-related adjustment costs (see below for more on this).
• Occupational Health can provide an assessment on adjustments for disability needs.
• Disabled staff can apply to the Access to Work scheme for a workplace assessment which will recommend adjustments and, in most cases, contribute to their cost. This should be discussed with your manager first.
• ACAS gives free, impartial advice on workplace rights, rules, and best practice. They also offer training and help to resolve disputes.
• For staff who are a member of one or more trade unions, they will offer advice, support, and representation on workplace issues.
• The Disabled Staff Network is open to all staff members with an interest in making the University a more accessible place for all.

There is a range of assistive software available to all staff.

Please also refer to the following policies, as relevant:

• Flexible Working Guidelines – all employees can request flexible working; this is the formal process used to request a working pattern resulting in contractual changes. If a staff member has a flexible working agreement through this process, they do not need to also record this through this adjustments process.
• Hybrid Working Policy – hybrid working means the ability to spend some time working on-campus and some time working remotely.
• Carers Leave Policy - the University offers paid carer’s leave to help people who struggle to balance their working responsibilities with caring commitments, by offering them flexibility to provide care and continue to work.
• Sickness Management Policy – the University acknowledges that sickness absence may result from disability and that disabled staff may need time off for medical appointments and/or treatment. To support recognition of this, staff can report sickness absences as “disability related”.
• Health and Safety Policy – in line with the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, this policy outlines the duties of staff at the University to take reasonable care of their own and others’ health and safety, follow any health and safety training received, co-operate with the University on health and safety, and tell their manager, supervisor, or health and safety representative about anything putting anyone’s health and safety at serious risk.
• Fostering Guidelines – this guidance is designed to ensure that staff who provide foster care for children understand the support available to them.
• Time Off For Fertility Treatment Guidelines – staff undergoing any fertility treatment, and their partners, will be entitled to up to 5 days paid leave per cycle of treatment.

In addition, you can find guidance relating to specific areas where adjustments may be requested at the links below:

• Disability Guidance.
• Religion and Belief: Guidance for Colleagues Managing or Supporting Staff and Students.
• Menopause Guidelines and Menopause Support Resources.
• Guidance for Supporting Colleagues with English Language Needs.

… I don’t know whether staff need adjustments or not?

Staff may often not have shared with you that they are disabled, have caring responsibilities, are a foster carer, etc. But you can help encourage these conversations by:

• Sharing the Adjustments Policy with your team.
• Asking at one-to-one meetings about any barriers or challenges staff experience, or anything that might help them to do their role to their best ability.
• Considering adjustments in any performance issues i.e., could any adjustments help with aspects of their job where staff are having difficulties.

 

… someone I manage has requested an adjustment that clashes with another staff member’s adjustments?

There may be times when conflicting rights arise where a staff member requests an adjustment which clashes with a team member’s adjustment in a way which causes a problem e.g., if two staff members wanted to have Fridays off and this meant that no one was in the office on Friday.

The legal position is that when someone asks for an adjustment, they are asking now i.e., with circumstances as they currently are. So, if a staff member requests an adjustment which clashes with another staff member’s existing adjustment, it can be reasonable to say no to the new request. But the best thing to do is consider it together to see if there is a way to meet the organisational needs and get suitable adjustments for both staff members.

In these situations, it should be noted that adjustments relating to disability must take priority over adjustments for other personal circumstances, needs, and identities, because the University has a legal duty to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled staff.

 

… someone I manage has requested that the barriers they experience, and the adjustments agreed not be shared with the team, but this negatively impacts the adjustments that can be made?

In considering adjustments, it is important to talk about confidentiality. A staff member has a right to request that the existence or nature of a disability or other personal circumstances, needs, or identities be treated as confidential.

However, in some instances, ensuring confidentiality might mean that adjustments must be provided in an alternative way, that it is only possible to provide a less satisfactory adjustment, or that no adjustment can be provided.

This should be discussed between the staff member and manager to ensure this is understood and agreed upon.

 

… the adjustments put in place for a staff member don’t work?

If you have any concerns about your staff’s performance or feel the adjustments put in place aren’t working – for the individual, you, the team, or the University – you should let the staff member know of any concerns.

If you find that there are still challenges which have not addressed once adjustments have been agreed, we encourage you to:

• Check the adjustments have been completely and correctly implemented.
• Discuss any further or alternative adjustments that may help – it may take a little trial and error to find the approach which works best for everyone.
• Refer staff to Occupational Health (for disability-related barriers), who can discuss the job requirements and any barriers with the staff member and suggest possible adjustments.
• Speak to the People team, who can offer advice and coordinate the involvement of experts to conduct assessments and/or help identify helpful adjustments.

The Adjustments Agreement form should be reviewed and amended as necessary, with the agreement of both staff and manager.

ADHD, migraine, anxiety

Adjustments agreed: Noise cancelling headphones. Desk canopy. Home printer. Working to reduce number of communication channels used. Working to streamline channels through which work tasks are allocated.

Autism

Barrier experienced: Anxiety, very low energy, trouble focusing, sensory overwhelm. This all leads to other physical problems for example heart palpitations, fatigue, headaches, stomach problems.

Adjustments agreed: 100% working from home. I would like to add that although adjustments are crucial and can help - it won't stop someone feeling unwell all of the time. What it will do is level the playing field where that person can have good days, rather than constantly having bad days due to factors that impact them and are outside of their control.

Autism

Barrier experienced: The bright, harsh lighting reduces my ability to concentrate and makes me feel unwell. Some lighting is physically painful for me.

Adjustments agreed: The Estates team put filters in the lights in my office between the bulbs and the reflective grid. In other rooms, I have to make a point of adjusting the light settings at the start of the meeting/seminar otherwise I won't be able to last more than around 20 minutes. Around the corridors I wear a hat to shade my eyes. Many of my colleagues work with their lights off too.

Autism and ADHD

Access to Work recommended after holistic workplace assessment.

Adjustments agreed: Noise cancelling headphones, a light supervisor, a physical Pomodoro timer, a fixed desk rather than hotdesking. Comfort breaks during meetings over 90 minutes.

Autism/ADHD

Adjustments agreed: Later arrival onto campus and earlier departure on days on-site to avoid traffic stresses. Use of noise cancelling headphones in the office. Meeting agendas provided ahead of meetings.

ASD/ADHD

Barrier experienced: Episodic difficulties with communication and resulting stress.

Adjustments agreed: Allocation of an ASD/ADHD mentor.

Long-term condition

Barrier experienced: One of the symptoms/side effects of my conditions is chronic insomnia - I only sleep 0-3 hours a night, when I sleep and can go without sleep for multiple days. I have delayed sleep phase which means my body clock operates on a much later cycle than "normal" so don't get to sleep before 1am at the earliest, and sometimes don't fall asleep until much later, making the mornings quite challenging.

Adjustments agreed: Occupational Health recommended that I have a later start time put in place and some flexibility with my hours if/when needed. I can start work later on 09:30-10:00 if needed, and finish at a later time.

Physical disability - congenital bilateral hip dislocation

Barrier experienced: Walking distances. Pain in both legs and stiffness. Steps without handrails are impossible. Access to lift is preferred. Slopes - depending on how steep. Time getting from one area to another. Chair with appropriate support. Access to disabled parking.

Adjustments agreed: Two specific chairs - one for main office and another for Reception area which we cover daily. Disabled parking. Additional time to get to and from meetings.

My wife and I became Foster Carers in 2023.

Barrier experienced: The Social Care system is complex and every child who comes into care has their own unique story, support needs, and family circumstances. When a new child has been placed with us, there have been lots of visits and appointments along with a huge adjustment for our family. Added to this, the role calls for a fair amount of mandatory training and frequent CPD. Particularly during the first month of a placement, I have needed flexibility, understanding, and emotional support from my line manager and wider team.

Adjustments agreed: Flexible working to accommodate visits from Social Workers, Family time and Child in Care reviews. Time to complete mandatory training, particularly when it is related to my role. Carers leave to look after a foster child when my wife has been unavailable due to training or appointments. Check ins and support during one to one meetings with my manager.

Symptoms of menopause, i.e. - low mood - headaches - lack of energy.

Barrier experienced: Low mood was interpreted as non-collegiate behaviour that was contrary to Warwick Values, and this interpretation was later used to inform performance-related assessments. Extended sedentary periods at my desk, particularly in front of a screen contributed to these symptoms.

Adjustments agreed: Adjustments requested included regular screen/movement breaks, and empathy from management regarding low mood. Sadly, the latter aspect was not honoured by my original line manager, which prompted a move into a new team. Thankfully, my needs have been accounted for by my new managers, and so the transferable nature of the passport has been very successful