Ask each neurodivergent employee what helps, then agree individual reasonable adjustments rather than one hybrid default — under the Equality Act 2010 your hybrid policy itself can be a barrier you must adjust. There is no single neurodivergent-friendly pattern: some autistic or ADHD staff need more office structure and a quiet, allocated desk, while others need more home time and fewer fixed days. So the first move is to consult the person, not to impose a scheme you think suits them.
First, ask — before you set the rule
Sit down with the employee and work out what about the current arrangement causes the difficulty: hot-desking, mandated office days, a noisy open-plan floor, or isolating full-remote with no check-ins. Acas advises employers to collaborate with the worker to choose, trial and regularly review adjustments, because the same condition affects two people differently. A short, plain conversation — or a workplace needs assessment if the picture is complex — tells you far more than any policy template.
Then agree and trial individual adjustments
Concrete, hybrid-specific changes that recur in Acas guidance include:
- an allocated desk instead of hot-desking, in a quiet zone or near a private space the person can retreat to;
- predictable days — fixed office or home days, with advance notice of any change rather than rolling surprises;
- structured contact for full-remote staff: regular check-ins, tasks broken down, and clear written follow-ups;
- sensory and focus support such as noise-cancelling headphones, regular breaks, and meeting-free blocks.
Agree the change in writing, try it, and review it — do not treat the first answer as final. You do not need a diagnosis to act: the duty is triggered by your knowing, or reasonably being able to know, that someone has a disability, and most neurodivergent conditions can meet the Equality Act definition. Do not gatekeep support behind a diagnosis or a waiting list.
Where the funding and the request routes sit
Two separate routes back you up. Access to Work can fund support beyond your own legal duty — specialist equipment, software, a support worker or strategy coaching — with a grant cap of £69,260 for 2025-26. It carries a long backlog, though, so make the adjustments you owe now and treat the grant as a top-up, not a quick fix. Separately, every employee has a day-one right to request flexible working (including home or hybrid working) since 6 April 2024; you must decide within two months and can refuse only on set business grounds.
The safeguard: your policy is a barrier you can be made to adjust
The point the top guidance tends to miss is that a hybrid or return-to-office policy is itself a "provision, criterion or practice" under section 20 of the Equality Act 2010. That means a blanket office mandate — or, equally, unstructured full-remote — can be the very disadvantage you are legally required to adjust for an individual. The reasonable-adjustments duty is stronger than the flexible-working request route: it can compel a change, it has no service-length condition, and the worker must not bear the cost. Refuse a request without genuinely weighing it and you risk a discrimination claim.
Where the law comes from
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.