A neurodiversity ERG is a voluntary, employee-led workplace group for neurodivergent staff and allies. It builds community and influences policy, but doesn't replace the employer's duty to make reasonable adjustments. ERG stands for employee resource group: a staff-run network that gives people with a shared experience a place to connect and a collective voice into how the organisation works.
What a neurodiversity ERG actually does
In practice the group tends to do three things. It builds community, so neurodivergent colleagues are not each working out the workplace alone. It runs awareness and education, such as lunch sessions, manager briefings and signposting, so neurodiversity is understood rather than guessed at. And it acts as an advisory voice, feeding the lived experience of autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, dyspraxic and other neurodivergent staff into recruitment, policy and the working environment.
Membership is open and self-defined. People self-identify; no one has to show a diagnosis to join, and allies who are not neurodivergent themselves are welcome. That mirrors the law: a worker does not need a formal diagnosis to be protected under the Equality Act 2010, so a group that gatekeeps on paperwork would be out of step with the people it exists to support.
The boundary employers miss
An ERG is a culture and engagement mechanism, not a legal compliance one. It does not discharge your duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled workers, and many neurodivergent people meet the Act's definition of disability. That duty sits with the employer whether or not an ERG exists. As Acas puts it, being neurodivergent will often amount to a disability, and failing to make reasonable adjustments can itself be disability discrimination. Two things follow:
- Keep adjustments on a named, owned process. A worker who needs a change at work should reach a manager or HR through a clear route, not have to ask a volunteer network. See what the duty to make reasonable adjustments involves.
- Don't offload unpaid work onto volunteers. The ERG should advise and influence, not absorb individual casework, compliance or training delivery the organisation owes anyway. Neurodivergent staff giving their time should not end up carrying the employer's legal load for free.
Why this matters now
Neurodiversity ERGs are a recognised UK practice, but uptake is uneven. The CIPD's Neuroinclusion at work report in 2024 found that 60% of employers say neuroinclusion is a focus for their business, yet only 33% have it written into their equality, diversity and inclusion plan, with neurodiversity ERGs growing mainly in larger organisations. A group with no policy and no senior backing behind it tends to run on goodwill and then stall. The fix is to pair it with the structures that give it weight.
Where the law comes from
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.