Assistance animals – Deciding what’s reasonable

Assistance animals – Deciding what’s reasonable

Can guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals be reasonable adjustments?

Allowing entry to disabled people with guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals (ESAs) is a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act. Organisations must know how to work out what is ‘reasonable’ in their circumstances.

It is generally not lawful to refuse entry to guide dogs and well-trained assistance animals.

The decision-making process is less clear for emotional support animals (ESAs) as they are less common and can be any species of animal.

What to consider

When deciding whether an adjustment is reasonable, organisations must consider the following factors:

• Cost – How much does the adjustment cost? Most guide dogs and assistance animals will leave minimal mess as they have been selected and trained with this in mind, so the cost of cleaning is unlikely to be a reason to refuse the person entry. (This is more complicated with emotional support animals, which may be more likely to leave a mess depending on the type of animal.)
• Practicality – Is it practical to allow assistance animals?
• Effectiveness – Does allowing assistance animals effectively remove the disadvantage the disabled person is facing? This is likely to be a yes for almost all assistance animals.
• Disruption – Does the presence of an assistance animal disrupt the operation of the organisation? As long as the animal is quiet, well-behaved and unobtrusive, this is likely to be ‘no.’ Some people may object on religious or cultural grounds to the presence of certain animals, which may cause disruption in the workplace. The Equality and Human Rights Commission states that “such beliefs are not a defence against non-compliance.” However, organisations should engage with these issues tactfully, and suggest ways to minimise disruption that work for all parties.
• Health and safety – Does the animal present an unacceptable health and safety risk? This could be a consideration if the animal is poorly trained and may bite, or if someone has a severe allergy. However, organisations must explore every possible way of mitigating this risk before saying it is an unacceptable health and safety risk. For example, if someone is severely allergic, there is likely to be a way of allowing the animal in whilst protecting the employee with the allergy.
• External sources of help – Businesses can call on expert organisations for help reducing the impact of an assistance animal. In the case of a trained guide dog or assistance animal, contact the organisation that trained the animal. BDF Members and Partners can contact our Advice Service for guidance.

Businesses must consider all these factors together when deciding what is reasonable.

Further information

Assistance Dogs UK

See Assistance Dogs UK’s range of Quick Guides and Resources for more information.

Business Disability Forum

Contact our Advice Service for guidance about specific situations.

For more advice on making decisions on reasonableness, see our resource ‘What is ‘reasonable’?’

This page is part of a series of resources on guide dogs, assistance animals and ESAs:

• What are guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals?
• Supporting employees with guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals
• Welcoming customers with guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals
• Welcoming guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals to events and meetings.