The protection
Neurodivergent employees are protected under the Equality Act 2010 when their condition substantially affects daily life, with rights to reasonable adjustments and protection from discrimination - no diagnosis needed. The Act protects a disabled person: someone whose physical or mental impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities Equality Act 2010, s.6. Autism, ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia commonly meet that test. As an employer, these are rights your neurodivergent staff already hold and that you have a legal duty to uphold.
No diagnosis is required
This is the point most guidance buries. Protection turns on the impact of the impairment, not on a label. A worker does not need a formal diagnosis to be considered disabled under the Equality Act, and Acas is clear that you should offer support, including reasonable adjustments, whether or not a diagnosis is in place Acas. Waiting for a diagnosis before you act is not a safe position: failing to make a reasonable adjustment is itself a form of disability discrimination.
The rights you must uphold
Once an employee meets the test, they hold a defined set of rights at work GOV.UK:
- Reasonable adjustments. You must take reasonable steps to remove a substantial disadvantage - changing a working practice, altering a physical feature, or providing an auxiliary aid - and you cannot pass the cost to the employee s.20.
- Protection from direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation - the protections every protected characteristic carries.
- Discrimination arising from disability. Treating someone unfavourably because of something arising from their disability is unlawful unless you can justify it as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
- Failure to make reasonable adjustments - this is a standalone form of unlawful discrimination in its own right.
Why this matters in practice
The duty to adjust is a legal obligation you carry, and it is separate from Access to Work, the government scheme that funds practical support such as specialist equipment, software, a support worker or job coaching. Access to Work will not pay for the reasonable adjustments you must make by law - it tops up beyond them. The grant is capped at £69,260 for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years, and waits have been long, so it is a route to extra support, not a substitute for meeting your own duty. Knowing where one ends and the other begins is what keeps you on the right side of the law.
Where the law comes from
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.