Does workplace design have to be accessible?

You should not have to work in pain because your manager will not provide a suitable seat. Nor should stairs shut you out of a job you can do. If you are disabled, your employer must make reasonable adjustments to barriers at work. That can mean changing the building, your workstation or how the job is organised. The bill for meeting that duty is theirs, not yours.

What the law actually requires

There is no blanket employment-law duty to make every workplace fully accessible in advance. The employer’s reasonable-adjustment duty is tied to the disabled person who needs it. This is separate from building regulations for new or altered premises and from accessibility duties a business may owe its customers. We are concerned here with your right to get into work and do your job.

Under sections 20 and 21 of the Equality Act 2010, your employer must take reasonable steps when a rule or practice, a physical feature, or the absence of an auxiliary aid puts you at a substantial disadvantage compared with people who are not disabled. An aid might be a screen reader or hearing loop. Physical changes can include altering a feature, removing it or finding a reasonable way to avoid it. Failing to meet the duty is unlawful discrimination. It protects applicants as well as people already in work.

Physical feature is defined widely. It includes the design and construction of the building, approaches, exits and access, fixtures, fittings, furniture and equipment. Ramps, door widths, accessible toilets, parking bays, lighting, desks and chairs all fall inside it.

Disability means a physical or mental impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities. Substantial means more than minor or trivial. Long-term means the effect has lasted, or is likely to last, at least 12 months, or is likely to last for the rest of your life. You do not have to wait 12 months before asking. Cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis count from diagnosis. You do not need to be registered disabled or use that label yourself.

The employer’s knowledge matters. It must know, or reasonably be expected to know, about the disability and the likely disadvantage. A written request helps establish what you told it and when. It is evidence, not a magic switch. Describe how the condition affects you, rather than relying on a diagnosis alone.

Premises adjustments you can ask for

A change must address the barrier you face. What is reasonable depends on effectiveness, practicality, cost and the employer’s resources. A supermarket chain has different resources from a small independent shop. Small size does not erase the duty, and you do not have an automatic right to your preferred solution if another reasonable change removes the disadvantage.

“We rent the building” is not enough. Schedule 21 provides for a written application to the landlord for consent to alterations. The landlord must not withhold consent unreasonably and may set reasonable conditions. The employer cannot rely on a tenancy restriction without having applied in writing. Ask whether it has done so and what the response was.

An old or listed building may limit structural work, but your employer must still consider reasonable alternatives. It might move the job downstairs or use a safe ramp. Consent and planning restrictions need to be dealt with, not ignored.

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 provide a safety baseline in most Great Britain workplaces. They cover clear floors and traffic routes, safe doors, readily accessible toilets and washing facilities, and rest facilities. The HSE or local authority can enforce them. A breach alone is not an employment tribunal claim under those regulations; reporting unsafe premises is a separate route from claiming disability discrimination.

Workstation needs: chairs, desks, screens

Accessibility is not confined to office desks. Consider a checkout operator who needs to sit, a kitchen porter who cannot reach a shelf safely, or a care coordinator whose spinal condition makes an unsuitable chair painful. These are examples of barriers to assess, not evidence of particular cases.

Regulation 11 of the Workplace Regulations requires a workstation suitable for any person likely to work there. Where work can or must be done sitting, the employer must provide a suitable seat and, where necessary, a footrest. You do not need to meet the Equality Act disability definition to rely on these safety duties.

If you use display screens daily for continuous periods of an hour or more, HSE guidance on display screen equipment explains the additional duties. Your employer must assess the workstation, reduce risks through breaks or changes of activity, pay for an eye test if you request one, and provide training and information. The rules cover qualifying use at fixed desks, on laptops, at home and while hot-desking.

Typical workstation adjustments include an adjustable chair with lumbar support, a height-adjustable desk, a separate keyboard and mouse, a monitor riser or arm, screen-reader or magnification software, an adapted headset, and control over glare and seating position. For a chef with a knee condition it might mean anti-fatigue matting and a perching stool at the pass. For a cleaner with asthma it might mean a change of cleaning chemicals and ventilation.

Who pays: you, the employer or Access to Work

Your employer cannot charge you for complying with the adjustment duty. Section 20(7) says so. Access to Work is separate funding for support beyond what the employer must reasonably provide. The DWP factsheet expressly says it will not pay for the employer’s legally required reasonable adjustments. “Apply for a grant” is not an answer to a change the employer already owes you.

Access to Work covers England, Scotland and Wales, including home working. You must be at least 16, have a disability or health condition affecting your work or work-related costs, and normally live and work in Great Britain. You can apply while in paid work or if you will start within 12 weeks. A diagnosis is not required. Agency and zero-hours work can qualify; self-employed applicants generally need annual turnover of at least £6,500. Eligibility also depends on your circumstances, including benefits and immigration conditions. The Commons Library briefing confirms an annual cap of £69,260 through 2026/27.

For approved special aids, equipment or premises adaptations, an employer may have to share the cost if you have worked there for more than six weeks when you apply. DWP lists a nil threshold for employers with 0 to 49 employees, £500 for 50 to 249, and £1,000 for over 250. The employer pays the threshold, then Access to Work refunds up to 80% of approved costs between it and £10,000. The scheme normally meets the balance above £10,000. A general business benefit can require an extra employer contribution. If the employer has exactly 250 staff, ask DWP to confirm the threshold; its published table leaves that boundary unclear.

DWP will consider up to 100% funding for people who apply before they have worked there for six weeks, as well as for support workers and certain other support. Cost-sharing does not apply to self-employed applicants or the Mental Health Support Service. Funding is assessed case by case. Applying early does not guarantee an award or excuse the employer from doing what is reasonable.

Agency, zero-hours and job applicants

A zero-hours contract does not remove disability discrimination protection. It covers employees, apprentices and people contracted to do work personally, including many people described as workers or self-employed. Applicants are protected too. An employer generally cannot ask health questions before offering work, although limited exceptions include arranging recruitment adjustments and checking an intrinsic job function with adjustments taken into account.

For agency placements, section 41 places an adjustment duty on the hirer as well as the contract worker’s employer. Send your request to both the agency and the workplace manager. Name the barrier and who controls it. You should not be left carrying messages between them while neither acts.

If your shifts are cut or you are dismissed because of disability-related needs, there may be a discrimination claim. The reason for the treatment matters; asking for an adjustment does not make every later management decision unlawful. Keep the request, rotas before and after it, and messages explaining any change. Disability discrimination protection has no minimum service requirement, including during probation.

What to do when you are refused

1. Put the request in writing. Describe the condition’s effects, the barrier and the change you need. Attach any relevant GP, physiotherapy or occupational health evidence you already have, but do not delay the request while you wait for a letter. Keep a copy somewhere you can access outside work.
2. Ask for a decision and interim help. Request an assessment, written reasons for any refusal and a date for action. Explain if you cannot safely manage another shift with the current set-up. Suggest an interim change, such as a suitable seat or different work location, while equipment is arranged.
3. Get your union involved. Speak to your rep and ask for help with meetings and evidence. If you are not a member, look at Usdaw in retail, GMB in logistics, UNISON in care and NHS work, or Unite in hospitality and warehouses. Check whether a union will support an existing dispute before assuming legal representation is included.
4. Apply for extra support in parallel. Use the Access to Work application route if you need support beyond the employer’s duty. Tell the employer you have applied. Keep asking it to make the reasonable changes it owes you now.
5. Raise a grievance, without losing time. Set out what you requested, when, the response and the disadvantage that remains. Ask your rep, Acas, Citizens Advice or a law centre for help. A grievance or appeal does not stop the tribunal clock.
6. Use the right enforcement route. For unsafe premises or equipment, report the concern to the HSE or the relevant local authority. For disability discrimination in Great Britain, notify Acas for early conciliation before the limitation period expires, then submit a tribunal claim in time if you do not settle. These routes can run alongside each other.

Do not let the deadline expire

For disability discrimination in Great Britain, the usual tribunal limit is now six months less a day where the legally relevant act, conduct or failure dates from 1 October 2026. Section 123 sets the limit; the transitional regulations keep the shorter limit for earlier relevant dates. It is not enough that you file the claim after 1 October.

Notify Acas for early conciliation before your time limit runs out. The conciliation rules affect the final deadline for submitting your tribunal claim. Get that date calculated from your certificate and the facts of your case. Do not treat the date for notifying Acas as permission to wait indefinitely before filing.

A failure to adjust is not automatically treated as continuing for as long as you remain without the adjustment. Time can run from the decision not to act, an act inconsistent with making the adjustment, or the end of the period in which the employer could reasonably have been expected to act. A repeated request does not necessarily restart it. If you were refused months ago, get advice now. A tribunal can extend the discrimination deadline where it is just and equitable, but you cannot rely on that.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

The same Equality Act employment duty applies in England, Scotland and Wales. A Scottish worker bringing a failure-to-adjust claim uses the same disability discrimination test and limitation rules described above.

Northern Ireland uses the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, not the Equality Act employment provisions. It requires reasonable adjustments to premises and working arrangements. Claims go to an industrial tribunal, and early conciliation is through the Labour Relations Agency rather than Acas.

The ordinary NI disability discrimination limit remains three months less a day, subject to the conciliation rules. Schedule 3 sets that period and allows a just-and-equitable extension. Contact the Labour Relations Agency and the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland promptly. Access to Work (NI) is a separate Department for Communities scheme; the GB grant cap and cost-sharing figures above are not its rules.