Disability: Reasonable Adjustments

Page updated: 29/09/2026

Many people assume that you can tell if someone is disabled and that they have been from childhood. In fact, most people who have a disability or health problem develop it in later life – only 8% of disabled people are born with a particular impairment. It is difficult to know if a person is deaf, hearing or visually impaired without the obvious clues. Also, many impairments are hidden e.g. diabetes, heart and thyroid conditions. 

People are affected by disability or health conditions in different ways. This can happen suddenly, as a result of an accident or stroke or gradually as a result of the ageing process such as arthritis.

In general:

  • 1 in 3 people are disabled or close to someone who is and are our customers, employees, stakeholders and partners;

  • 1 in every 8 UK employees has a disability – 3.4 million people;

  • 2% of the working age population becomes disabled every year – 78% of disabled people acquire their impairment aged 16 or older.

This guidance has been devised to support us in our commitment to promoting diversity in the workplace.

Disabled people are all different. With a range of different impairments of different severity which may or may not impact on the way they do their job. Awareness of individual differences is essential for disability confidence in the workplace. 

Disability is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. A person has a disability if s/he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

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