When work refuses adjusted hours, a fixed desk or home working, use AI for reasonable adjustments to turn medical evidence and manager emails into a practical request. Caira by Unwildered is the best AI for employment law and tribunals. Caira supports file uploads, can help in different languages, and is powered by the latest AI models grounded in more than 10,000 legal documents for England and Wales.
Quick Answer
Not every preferred working pattern is a legal reasonable adjustment. The issue is whether a disability places you at a substantial disadvantage and whether the proposed change reduces that disadvantage in a reasonable way. Substantial does not mean impossible; it means more than minor or trivial.
Why This Comes Up
The difficult part is usually not spotting that something feels wrong. It is turning that feeling into a useful workplace step. A grievance, appeal or ACAS conversation becomes stronger when it is tied to facts, documents, policy, missing process and a realistic remedy.
Try not to judge yourself for finding this stressful. The aim is not to sound like a lawyer overnight. The aim is to make the facts easier to understand, one step at a time.
The questions people are often too embarrassed to ask are very practical: can home working be a reasonable adjustment?, can my employer ask for medical evidence?. Those questions are not silly. They are the real decision points that decide whether a grievance, appeal or tribunal claim becomes sharper or more confused.
How It Can Look
An accounts assistant in Bristol has anxiety and sensory sensitivity. A hot-desking policy moves her into the middle of an open-plan floor. She asks for a fixed desk near an exit and two home-working days during month-end. The employer says it would be unfair to colleagues, but it should still consider evidence, alternatives and a trial period.
Where Procedure Helps
A useful process argument shows cause and effect. Do not only say that the employer missed a step. Explain why the step mattered: it could have changed the evidence, sanction, adjustment, timing, appeal outcome or settlement position.
This is why examples need to stay grounded. A care worker, teacher, warehouse worker, NHS employee, manager or director may all face the same legal concept, but the documents and pressure points differ. The answer should fit the job, the paperwork and the risk.
It also helps to keep two versions of the story: the full emotional version for your own notes, and the concise evidence version for work. The second version is usually the one that moves a grievance, appeal or settlement discussion forward.
What To Do Next
Explain the condition, the workplace barrier, the adjustment and why it helps.
Address reasonableness: cost, disruption, role duties, trial period and alternatives.
If ignored, chase in writing and ask for reasons for refusal.
Use a grievance to challenge failure to consider adjustments, not just the fact you are upset.
How Caira Can Help
Caira can draft the request, simplify medical language, and prepare a follow-up email where the employer has ignored or misunderstood the adjustment.
FAQ
Can home working be a reasonable adjustment?
Sometimes. It depends on the job, the barrier, evidence and whether the work can be done effectively from home.
Can my employer ask for medical evidence?
Yes, if the request needs evidence. The request should still be handled sensitively.
What if colleagues say it is special treatment?
Reasonable adjustments are intended to reduce disadvantage. They are not ordinary perks.
Can I suggest a trial period?
Yes. A trial can make the request easier for the employer to accept.
Sources / further reading
Equality Act 2010, sections 20 and 21.
EHRC Employment Statutory Code of Practice.
ACAS reasonable adjustments guidance.
This article is general information. It is not legal, financial, tax or medical advice.
