The following frequently asked questions relate to reasonable adjustment:
- What is reasonable adjustment?
- What is unjustifiable hardship?
- Should I discuss reasonable adjustments with an employee with disability?
- Is there help available for making reasonable adjustments?
- How does reasonable adjustment apply to learning and development opportunities?
What is reasonable adjustment?
If you employ a person with disability or are looking to employ a person with disability, it is important that you take into account the person’s disability and make any appropriate or reasonable adjustments to the work environment to accommodate them.
Reasonable adjustments enable an employee with disability to:
- perform the inherent or essential requirements of their job safely in the workplace
- have equal employment opportunities such as recruitment processes, promotion and training opportunities
- enjoy equal terms and conditions of employment.
There are many ways that you can make modifications to a workplace for your employees with disability. Adjustments in the workplace can include:
- adjustments to work arrangements to accommodate an employee who needs breaks because of pain or fatigue issues
- provision of an adjustable height desk for a person using a wheelchair
- arranging access to a telephone typewriter (TTY) for an employee who is Deaf, has hearing loss or has difficulty with speech
- screen reading software for employees with vision impairment.
What is unjustifiable hardship?
As an employer, you are obligated to make reasonable adjustments unless that adjustment will result in ‘unjustifiable hardship’ to you.
More information about the concept of ‘unjustifiable hardship’ can be found on the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission web site (see Related Links).
Should I discuss reasonable adjustments with an employee with disability?
In many cases, your employee will be the expert regarding the adjustments they will require, so asking them about their requirements and preferences for adjustments is the best approach.
For example, when the requirements of a job are discussed at a job interview, many people with disability can identify simple adjustments or accommodations to enable them to perform these requirements, or point to sources of expert advice on adjustments.
Is there help available for reasonable adjustments?
If you need to make reasonable adjustments and modifications for an employee with disability, then there is support and assistance available to you.
Assistance with workplace adjustments and modifications
While the majority of workers with disability won’t require any workplace modifications, the Employment Assistance Fund aims to make accommodating employees with disability in your workplace easier.
The Employment Assistance Fund provides financial assistance for Employers of people with disability, participants, workers and individuals to modify physical work environments and purchase assistive technology, Auslan interpreting services and other services. For more information, visit:
Workplace assessments
If your employee’s disability is significant, or if their disability requires significant modifications or adjustments to the workplace, then professional assistance may be required. A workplace assessment could be undertaken to:
- evaluate your employee’s access to the workplace
- identify and remove barriers in the workplace for people with disability
- assist in determining what adjustments can be made to help your employee return to work.
The JobAccess Advisers are available to assist you with arranging a free workplace assessment as part of the Employment Assistance Fund. You can phone the JobAccess Advisers on 1800 464 800 or contact them online:
Workplace Adjustment Tool
The Workplace Adjustment Tool contains practical ideas and solutions aimed at supporting people with disability as they complete a vast array of activities and tasks in the workplace. The tool links you to suppliers of products and solutions in your state.
How does reasonable adjustment apply to learning and development opportunities?
Employees with disability need the same opportunities for learning and development as other employees and all training and learning methods need to accommodate your employee’s specific disability.
The capacity to provide reasonable adjustment during the learning process should be considered when selecting external training providers, especially for online training.
Reasonable adjustments during training may include:
- provision of additional breaks
- providing access to an Auslan interpreter
- providing course material beforehand
- providing course material into alternative formats such large print, audio tape, Braille or Easy English.
Providing an electronic version of all training material with minimal formatting and no graphics ahead of time is good practice. This not only allows employees to read and digest the material ahead of time, it also allows people who own or have access to assistive technologies to convert the material into the format that best meets their needs. For example, a Word document (text only) can be printed to a Braille embosser.
Other examples of things to consider for the learning environment include:
- a person who is deaf or hard of hearing who lip reads will need to sit in full view of the presenter in a room that has no excessive background noise
- a person who uses screen reading software will need to have the software installed on the computer being used for training
- a person who is Deaf may require Auslan interpreters or access to a web based Auslan interpreting service.