How to support an employee when they inform you that they have ADHD
Employers have a legal obligation under the Equality Act 2010 to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ in the workplace for employees who have a disability or long-term health condition. Under the Act, a disability is defined as a ‘physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’.
If an employee informs you that they have ADHD, then you must handle the situation with care and consider how you can support them. Of course, not everyone with ADHD needs extra support in the workplace, but those that do will need ‘reasonable adjustments’ to assist them to do their job.
How to support your employee
You should support your employee by finding out more about ADHD and showing understanding as well as flexibility with regards to the difficulties it can cause them. Talking to them needs to be more than just a one-off conversation. It is important to build a relationship whereby your employee feels that they can trust you and you can both openly talk about any concerns.
It is good practice to diarise regular meetings and document any discussions regarding reasonable adjustments that were agreed and to check that they are working for them and for your organisation.
Ideally you should refer the employee to Occupational Health, and you must ensure that any information your employee shares with you remains confidential.
Considerations for Reasonable Adjustments
There can be many options to help an employee, and, in most cases, the best solution comes from a discussion with the individual. Employers can also work with Occupational Health and consider some of these options to support an employee:
- Adapting the recruitment process – making adjustments to the recruitment process to allow job applicants with disabilities to take part in a different way, such as using a different format for interviews or providing additional time to complete assessments
- Support with meetings – reminder systems and calendar management which helps build detailed strategies to help the employee
- Support with deadlines – clarity on work, regular check ins, blocking out time in the diary for specific tasks to ensure the employee is on track
Access to Work
Access to Work is a government grant scheme that offers financial assistance where costs for adjustments could fall outside of reasonable costs for your organisation. It can sometimes be used to fund regular sessions with a work coach who can help your employee develop their organisation and time management skills as well as strategies.
Click on the link below for further information.
Discrimination
You must be careful of potential discrimination, due to the employee’s diagnosis. Ensure they are not passed over for promotions, pay increases, or other opportunities due to their condition. You must also protect the employee from harassment or bullying from co-workers.
Support for the small employer
For a small employer this can be daunting, by following these guidelines, you can create a supportive work environment while also meeting your legal obligations. Guildford HR can assist you, we can offer training or work as your part time HR Manager to support your business and the individual.
Guildford HR support local companies. If you need guidance, then contact one of our experts today for a free of charge discovery call on 01483 362732 or hello@guildford-hr.co.uk
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Other sources available
ADHD UK have created a welfare pack for employers to learn about ADHD and to help support employees. Click on the link below for further information.
