Neurodiversity Celebration Week - Monday 17^th to Sunday 23^rd March

Looking at Neurodiversity in the workplace

Following on from our successful March Breakfast Briefing where Hayley Titchner, Senior Legal Advisor of Legal Connect, HR Connect’s very own internal legal division, spoke to delegates around disability discrimination, and specifically the duty to make reasonable adjustments, we have taken the opportunity to continue with that theme in light of Neurodiversity Celebration Week.

Understanding neurodiversity is important for both employers and employees as part of creating a diverse, inclusive and supportive workplace. It is also important as part of ensuring an employer meets its legal obligations, for example to make reasonable adjustments for disabled job applicants and employees. Neurodiversity refers to the different ways the brain can work and interpret information. Most people are neurotypical, meaning that their brain functions in the way that it functions for the majority of people. However, it is estimated that around 15% of people are neurodivergent which means that their brains function in a different way. Employers should therefore expect to encounter and be ready to understand and accommodate neurodivergent job applicants and employees.

Neurodivergent individuals are often referred to as having an ‘invisible disability’ because their condition is not visibly apparent. Conditions generally considered as falling within the concept of neurodiversity include:

• attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD
• autism
• dyscalculia
• dyslexia
• dyspraxia
• Tourette Syndrome

These conditions are becoming increasingly diagnosed in adults, as well as in children. Employers should note that the effects of such conditions vary from person to person and may also vary over time.

It is important to understand the legal framework which also underpins an employer’s obligations in respect of the employment of neurodivergent individuals, such as the requirements under the Equality Act 2010 (e.g. not to discriminate against a disabled person and to make reasonable adjustments), contractual considerations when changing terms and conditions of employment and obligations in respect of health and safety at work.