The Role of Reasonable Adjustments within Organisations in Wales: Neurodivergent Employee Perceptions

This empirical study explores the effectiveness of the reasonable adjustments’ duty, in ensuring that the needs of Neurodivergent employees in Wales are met, adopting a constructivist perspective, and utilising a concurrent nested mixed methods design. This study responds to recognition that Neurodivergent employees may face barriers in the workplace, as well as recognition of the vagueness of how ‘reasonable’ is interpreted in the Equality Act (2010) (DWP, 2024; Lawson & Orchard, 2021; NatCen, 2024). The research combined two data sets of unequal weight, with a Freedom of Information request playing a less dominant role, than the semi-structured participant interviews (Adu & Miles, 2024). The Freedom of Information request aimed to quantify the scale of Neurodivergent employees seeking justice at an employment tribunal for perceived reasonable adjustments failures. In contrast, the more prominent qualitative semi-structured participant interviews with Neurodivergent employees allowed for an in-depth exploration of experiences and perceptions of reasonable adjustments in a large organisation in Wales. Thematic analysis was employed to process and interpret the data and produced three overarching themes that explored the Neurodivergent experiences of reasonable adjustments within their organisation in Wales (Braun and Clarke, 2022). These themes highlighted the importance of seeking Neurodivergent views on reasonable adjustments, as well as the importance of social actors and the impacts they could have on a person’s experience. Findings from the interviews emphasise inconsistent knowledge, confidence and practical application of the reasonable adjustments duty. Limitations of the legal framework were interpreted with participants suggesting ways to strengthen it. This empirical study concludes by making three core recommendations, including, review of the term reasonable adjustments by Government to add clarity, reasonable adjustments training and the requirement for robust data collection. These recommendations aim to improve the experiences of Neurodivergent employees in organisations in Wales by placing a greater onus on law makers and workplaces to improve, to provide better protections for their Neurodivergent employees and meet their needs. Overall, this empirical study contributes to research exploring the Neurodivergent nuanced experiences in the workplace by critically exploring lived experiences of Neurodivergent employees in Wales. It demonstrates the value of the constructivist approach and the true importance of seeking the very viewpoints that our legislation, policies and practices affect.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

ma

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Giles, Krystina

• HD Diwydiannau. Defnydd tir. Llafur

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:4151