Tailored Adjustments Plans, Passports and Agreements for Businesses

What is a ‘Tailored Adjustments Plan’, ‘Passport’ or ‘Agreement’ ?

A ‘Tailored Adjustments Plan’ is a living record of adjustments agreed between an employee and their line manager. Some organisations refer to these as ‘Passports’ or ‘Agreements’.

These essentially guarantee that an employee can take their adjustments with them if they move to a new role within the organisation or if their manager changes (either permanently or if working on a new project, for example). However, they are not fixed – adjustments should be reviewed regularly and changed if necessary.

The purpose of this living record is to:

• Ensure that the employee and line manager have a record of what has been agreed;
• Provide employees and their line managers with a structure to use when regularly reviewing and updating information about workplace adjustments.
• Act as a starting point for discussion when an employee changes jobs, is relocated, or assigned a new manager within the organisation.
• Plan for when an employee is unwell and needs additional support because of their disability or condition. This particularly applies to employees with fluctuating or progressive conditions.

You should check your organisation’s policy or process on how best to record adjustments and whether there is a formal template to do this. If not, you could use Business Disability Forum’s Tailored Adjustments Plan as a starting point. 

Download our Tailored Adjustments Plan template below for more information.

Passports, Plans or Agreements – Does the title matter?

In this resource we will be referring to the living record as a Tailored Adjustments Plan as we believe that this title most accurately reflects the intended purpose of the record. While terms such as ‘Passport’ and ‘Agreement’ are widely used, evidence from BDF Members suggests that many employers find such terms unhelpful and confusing when discussing adjustments.

The term ‘Passport’ suggests that all adjustments are portable and are automatically transferred across to an employee’s new role without the need for discussion. In reality, not every team in an organisation works in the same way and an employee may require different adjustments to carry out a new role. It may also be beneficial for a new manager to discuss the adjustment plan with the employee, to help them gain a better understanding of how they can best support the individual.

The language of ‘Agreement’ comes from a time when disability inclusion was regarded solely as a ‘legal duty’. As organisations have moved towards wanting to engage and recruit more diversely, terms such as ‘agreement’ feel at odds with the practice of adopting collaborative and supportive discussions.

Using a title that accurately reflects the purpose of your plan will help to ensure plans are used effectively and deliver the adjustments needed.

A living record

The key purpose of a Tailored Adjustments Plan is to be a living record. This means that the plan should be reviewed and updated regularly as appropriate and with the agreement of the employee and the line manager:

• At any regular one-to-one meeting;
• At a return-to-work meeting following a period of sickness absence;
• At an appraisal or performance review meeting;
• Before a change of job or duties or introduction of new technology or ways of working;
• Before or after any change in circumstances for either the organisation or the employee e.g. a change to working location or after a period of time in a new role or working with a new manager.

Tailored Adjustments Plans and the Workplace Adjustments Process

A Tailored Adjustments Plan is just one feature of an effective workplace adjustments process. It can be a very useful tool when used correctly but on its own does not fulfil the duty on employers to make adjustments.

To be most effective, a Tailored Adjustments Plan should be:

• Introduced into the discussion about adjustments early on.
• Supported by a robust and responsive workplace adjustments process.
• Owned by the employee and shared only with their consent.
• Supported by the line manager.
• Viewed as a living document, which is regularly reviewed and updated.
• Seen as a tool to support positive discussion around adjustments.

Notes for managers

A Tailored Adjustments Plan allows managers to:

• Understand how a particular employee’s disability or condition affects them at work;
• Explain the needs of the business or organisation;
• Explain the organisation’s attendance and workplace adjustments policy;
• Recognise signs that an employee might be unwell and know what the employee wants you to do in these circumstances – including who to contact for help;
• Know how and when to stay in touch if the employee is off sick;
• Consider whether the employee needs to be referred for an assessment by an occupational health or another adviser to help both parties understand what adjustments could be effective;
• Review the effectiveness of the adjustments already agreed;
• Explain any change in the employer’s circumstances.

The plan should be regularly reviewed and updated. Remember, however, that expert advice from third parties (such as occupational health advisers, Access to Work, or IT specialists) may be needed before changes can be agreed and implemented.

Managers who need help in deciding whether an adjustment is ‘reasonable’ will find it helpful to use the ‘Reasonable adjustment decision process and form’ or contact the Advice Service at Business Disability Forum or call us at 020 7403 3020.

Notes for employees

A Tailored Adjustments Plan allows employees to:

• Explain the impact of a disability or condition at work;
• Suggest adjustments that will make it easier for the employee to do their job;
• Offer further information from the employee’s doctor, specialist, or other expert (where relevant);
• Request an assessment by occupational health, Access to Work, or another expert;
• Review the effectiveness of the adjustments agreed;
• Explain any change in the employee’s circumstances;
• Be reassured that the manager knows what to do if the employee becomes unwell at work and who to contact if necessary;
• Know how and when the manager will keep in touch if the employee is absent from work because of illness or a disability-related reason.

How to review whether an adjustment is working

Changes may be needed if:

• An adjustment that has been agreed is not quite right for the individual or not working effectively at removing or reducing the barrier the person is experiencing. Remember that different solutions work for different people. An employee may not necessarily know what is right for them or all the options available at the outset, and so expert advice may well be needed.
• Another additional adjustment is needed. Many disabled employees need two or more adjustments, not just one.
• The employee’s condition fluctuates or has developed or changed in another way.
• The employee’s other personal circumstances have changed for example, they have acquired caring responsibilities.
• The needs of the business or the role has changed.

Remote workers and hybrid workers

The way in which most people – if not everyone – in the organisation works may have changed since March 2020. For example, more people may be working from home permanently or for a few days a week in a hybrid fashion. The adjustments and ways of working implemented during the pandemic will need to be reviewed regularly to ensure they still work for the individual, team and organisation.

Employers and managers should, however, avoid issuing blanket directives stating that everyone must return to the workplace for all or some of the week. If working from home is a reasonable adjustment, disabled employees should be allowed to continue to work this way. If the person was a productive and effective worker from home during the pandemic, it might be difficult to argue that the adjustment of working from home is unreasonable. See ‘What is ‘reasonable’?’ above to help you decide what is reasonable.

What to do if an adjustment needs to change

You should discuss with the employee what changes might be needed and why and make sure these are recorded once agreed.

Remember that most adjustments are likely to be simple, effective and low or no-cost. Adjustments should be seen as an investment. It can be unhelpful to think of workplace adjustments in terms of average cost, as costs vary too widely and depend on what an organisation is willing to invest and how. Many adjustments are not expensive, and many have no direct cost.

However, sometimes the circumstances are such that the suggested adjustments are not practical or effective. In these cases, this should be recorded, with evidence as to why, and other solutions identified, up to and including redeployment as an adjustment. You can use the reasons set out earlier – cost, practicality, effectiveness, Access to Work – to evaluate whether a revised adjustment is reasonable or not.

If you are not sure, you should escalate the decision to a senior manager or HR adviser, as the law says that organisations cannot justify a ‘failure to make reasonable adjustments’. That means your organisation needs to be certain that the adjustments are ‘unreasonable’ before rejecting them. You can use Business Disability Forum’s decision form or your own organisation’s form to record this.

Carry on the conversation

Tailored Adjustments Plans are sometimes viewed as a way of removing the need to “have the conversation again” about adjustments. However, precisely the opposite is true.

A Tailored Adjustments Plan should be used as a starting point for regular conversations about adjustments to ensure that they are still effective for both parties. If everything is going well, the conversations might be very short – but they still need to happen regularly.

Remember that adjustments are not set in stone. Although adjustments can often move with an employee between teams, sometimes an adjustment that is reasonable in one context or team will not be reasonable in another.

Adjustments – how well they are working, whether any more are needed – should be a regular part of catch-ups between employees and their manager.

What managers should do while adjustments are being implemented

One of the biggest issues around implementing workplace adjustments is the time taken for them to be put in place once agreed.

As a people manager, you may have limited ability to influence this. Therefore, it’s important to plan for adjustments as early as possible. This makes this review process a vital part of the process.

Remember, that even though you might not be able to implement some adjustments yourself, you must keep checking that others who need to act are doing so in a timely fashion and keep updating the individual on progress regularly.

The responsibility to ensure adjustments are implemented still sits with you. You cannot delegate that to anyone else or assume that the disabled person is being kept updated by anyone else.

Scenario – Travel to work

The context

Raj works for a large firm of accountants as an accounting employee. He has always been a quiet but conscientious member of John’s team.

Earlier this year plans were announced for the firm to move to a more central location with very limited parking, but the new office has good public transport connections. The firm want to promote more sustainable and greener living, and so want to encourage everyone to drive less.  John has heard a number of grumbles from staff unhappy about not being able to drive to work anymore but no one has made any serious complaints.

John is therefore surprised that Raj, of all people, should have asked to see him about the loss of his parking space.

Raj’s concerns

At the meeting Raj says he needs to drive to work and have a parking space at the new office. Raj reluctantly tells John he has colitis, a medical condition that means he must be able to access toilet facilities at short notice.

Raj has worked out where he can stop to use a toilet if he drives from his home to the new office. Using buses, local trains and trams is impossible as it will take him longer to get to work, and they do not have toilets.

Raj reveals he has had the condition for some time but has been too embarrassed to talk about it and has never needed to before.

John’s response

John decides that Raj doesn’t need to see an occupational health advisor as he already has a good understanding of the barriers he is facing and adjustments that might help.

John and Raj meet to agree:

• Raj will be allowed to continue to drive to the office and will have a parking space reserved for him on days when he cannot work from home. John agrees this with Facilities Management.
• John will ensure Raj is assigned only to clients who can offer parking at their offices so he can drive there.

No one else on the team will be told about Raj’s medical condition.

Handling a team reaction

When Raj’s colleagues learn that Raj will be allowed to drive to the new offices, John receives complaints about the unfairness of this. The clients who can offer parking facilities also tend to have better offices and this too causes resentment as Raj’s colleagues often have to work in cramped, uncomfortable client offices.

Raj becomes increasingly uncomfortable around his colleagues’ resentment and so he and John agree they should be told Raj needs a parking space as an adjustment for a disability but that they will not be given any details about its nature.

A wider view of adjustments

John decides to speak to each member of his team individually and to ask them if they too have any particular needs the firm should take into consideration. He makes it clear to everyone that he will treat them all fairly and will be as flexible and accommodating as is reasonable.

• One member of the team asks if he can work compressed hours so that he can take Fridays off to prepare to collect his children, whom he has at weekends.
• Another asks if she can start and finish work a little later so she can still drop her elderly father at his day centre before catching the bus into work.

John is able to accommodate both of these requests and the rest of the team appreciate this flexibility.