A recent Employment Tribunal (ET) ruling has made clear that mishandling neurodiversity training can amount to discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.
Employers who fail to provide appropriate training and support around neurodiversity risk legal challenges and miss an opportunity to build a more inclusive workplace.
Background
An employee disclosed to her employer that she had ADHD and explained how it affected her work. Her employer obtained occupational health (OH) advice, which recommended neurodiversity training for colleagues and managers, as well as support with time management and target-setting.
The training, however, was only offered to a few staff. The employee herself was expected to attend each session while her line manager was not. She was ultimately dismissed for poor performance and claimed unfair dismissal. The ET found that the failure to implement the organisation-wide training recommended by OH, the employer discrimination against the employee by breaching their duty to make reasonable adjustments.
Practical takeaways
With one in seven people in the UK now estimated to be neurodivergent, plus a 600% rise in adults seeking support for neurodivergent conditions over the last two and a half years, employers can’t afford to treat neurodiversity awareness as optional. This case highlights the need for proactive, organisation-wide action to meet both legal and cultural expectations.
Raising awareness – roll out neurodiversity training across all teams, not just select groups. Comprehensive awareness helps educate, remove stigma, normalise adjustments, and provides a strong legal defence by showing you’ve taken reasonable steps. We’ve built eLearning to help – chat to us about our neurodiversity eLearning.
Equip managers – ensure managers understand how to recognise neurodivergence, hold supportive conversations, and make practical adjustments that work practically day-to-day. Our Neurodiversity Toolkit helps managers turn their understanding into practice and set their teams up to succeed.
Act on advice – if OH recommends adjustments (including training) follow through fully and promptly. In this case, the employer’s failure to implement recommended training was what tipped the balance of the ET’s decision towards discrimination.
Ongoing inclusion – treat neurodiversity inclusion as a continuous process, not a one-off initiative. Regularly review training, feedback and workplace culture to ensure awareness remains current and embedded across the organisation.
Get in touch with us to chat about how we can support with anything we’ve covered in this update.
How can we help?
Our Neurodiversity eLearning brings awareness to life with straight-talking, interactive modules that make inclusion practical, not theoretical. Combined with our Neurodiversity Toolkit for managers, you’ll have the tools to identify neurodivergence, start supportive conversations, and make adjustments that work.
Ready to create a more confident and compliant culture? Get in touch to chat about how these tools can help.
This update is accurate on the date it was published but may be subject to change which may or may not be notified to you. This update is not to be taken as advice and you should seek advice if anything contained within affects you or your business.
