Employer refusing reasonable adjustments due to cost

Hello there. I am Gemma, a legal assistant at Lawyer Destroyer. I would be happy to explain how this works.

The short answer is yes, an employer can sometimes refuse an adjustment if it is too expensive, but they cannot simply use cost as an easy excuse. It all depends on what is considered reasonable for that specific employer.

The legal position:

Under the Equality Act 2010, employers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to help disabled staff do their jobs. The key word here is reasonable. The law does not expect employers to face financial ruin to make an adjustment, so cost is absolutely a factor.

However, whether a cost is considered too high depends heavily on the size and resources of the employer. For example, a small independent shop might be able to argue that spending thousands of pounds on specialist equipment is unreasonable for their budget. On the other hand, a large multinational company or a public sector body would have a very hard time arguing that the exact same cost is unreasonable for them.

When making a decision, an employer must look at the cost of the adjustment, their overall financial resources, how effective the adjustment would actually be, and whether it would disrupt the business.

Importantly, your employer is never allowed to ask you to pay for a reasonable adjustment yourself.

The Access to Work scheme:

Before an employer can refuse an adjustment based purely on cost, they really should consider if outside financial help is available. In England and Wales, there is a government scheme called Access to Work. This scheme gives grants to help pay for practical support or specialist equipment for people with a disability, health condition, or mental health condition. If Access to Work will cover the cost, or a large portion of it, your employer will find it incredibly difficult to argue that the adjustment is too expensive.

Practical next steps:

1. Ask for a meeting with your manager or HR department to discuss the refusal. Keep things friendly at this stage and ask them to clearly explain their concerns about the budget.

2. Bring up the Access to Work scheme. You can apply for this grant yourself online through the official government website. Taking this step often completely solves the standoff over money.

3. Explore alternative adjustments. If your first suggestion genuinely is too expensive for the business, try to work together to see if there is a cheaper way to remove the disadvantage you are facing. There is often more than one way to solve a problem.

4. Ask for an Occupational Health assessment. An independent medical or workplace professional can look at your specific needs and might suggest cost effective solutions that your employer has not thought of yet.

5. Raise a formal grievance. If you work for a large, well funded organisation and they are outright refusing a helpful adjustment just to save a little bit of money, or if they refuse to engage with the Access to Work scheme, you may need to raise a formal written complaint. You can do this by following your company grievance procedure.

I hope this helps you understand where you stand and gives you a practical way forward with your employer.