Workplace adjustments for employees
Employees and job candidates considering workplace adjustments should discuss their options with their manager, HR team or the key contact for an advertised position.
It is important for all parties involved in the conversation to engage respectfully, with empathy and to participate proactively in good faith.
The employee or job candidate is responsible for:
- requesting adjustments including identifying, where possible, the types of adjustments they consider appropriate
- assisting with implementation
- supplying documentation if required and in a timely manner
- participating in conversations around options or additional adjustments
- maintaining ongoing communication with the manager about how adjustments are going
- telling their manager or a trusted person if:
- there is a risk to their own or others’ safety
- a risk to the ability to perform their role’s inherent requirements or
- if the adjustment is not working or isn’t enough for evolving needs.
Employees would need to be mindful their original request may not be available or possible to implement.
Adjustments can be requested by all employees or prospective employees and managers should work collaboratively to make necessary adjustments to enable their team members to achieve their full potential at work.
For people who are neurodivergent, have a disability or a physical or mental health condition, or those who are a carer, assistant or associate for someone who does, workplace adjustments are captured by anti-discrimination legislation.
The definition of an associate is very broad and would likely cover the situation where a person has responsibilities under a family kinship model or adult children who care for their parents with a disability.
This includes employees and contractors in full-time, part-time, casual, short-term contract and ongoing positions, as well as those who are job candidates and people who have been offered employment.
Adjustments can be considered across any stage of employment, and can include the below examples.
Non-physical adjustments
Non-physical adjustments are adjustments that do not require a change to the physical environment in which the employee works. These are adjustments to the way in which the employee works and can include:
- flexible ways of working (i.e. flexible start and finish times), compressed hours, working from home, working part-time, etc)
- accessible content and communications
- using a person’s preferred way to communicate, such as an Auslan interpreter, the National Relay Service (NRS), live captions or a larger font size.
Different ways of working may look like:
- inclusive meetings, such as having an agenda and sending accessible materials in advance
- changes to ways of working or how tasks are done
- alternate methods of communication (e.g. written instead of verbal)
- using headphones to cancel noise
- more time for certain tasks
- working in a quiet room when needed
- additional or frequent breaks
- restricted manual tasks.
Physical adjustments
Physical adjustments include a change to the physical environment in which the employee works. This may be physical changes to the workstation or work area, or the work environment. This could include:
- a specific chair
- larger monitors and keyboards
- braille keyboard
- vision impaired phone
- ergonomic mouse and keyboard
- interpreter
- sit to stand desk
- lighting changes
- work area re-configuration
- assistive technology, such as voice-activated software, an amplified phone, or a digital recorder
- car parking or travel arrangements for any work-related travel where possible
- equipment or furniture that lets the employee work in a safe manner
- using a person’s preferred communication device, such as a communication board, tablet or mobile phone
Software adjustments
Software adjustments are changes or upgrades to the device employees use when working, such as:
- Fusion: program for vision impaired providing ZoomText and JAWS
- Screen reading software such as JAWS
- NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) software: open access software which allows blind people and people with low vision to access and interact with the Windows operating system
- Screen magnification software
- Text readers
- Speech input software
- Text writing help software or subscriptions.
In some instances, a verbal discussion about adjustments may be enough to support and implement a change or purchase any equipment needed.
In other situations, a workplace adjustment plan may be useful. This document can communicate an employee’s accessibility needs at work with their current or future manager and be co-signed if necessary.
Your local workplace may have an adjustments policy, process and plan template you can use to request an adjustment. Generally, the process looks like:
Step 1: Manager invites job candidates and employees to consider their adjustments needs
Step 2: Employee considers and submits request
Step 3: Manager responds
Step 4: Monitor and review.
Download the workplace adjustments plan template 1.3 MB) which features detail on the process.
Someone who asks for adjustments can have another person support them in the process. For example, the support person could be:
- a colleague, friend, family member or a carer
- their manager
- a union representative
- someone from a disability support service such as a case manager
- someone from a diversity and inclusion, cultural capability or a human resources team.
The support person can do things like go to meetings with them or help fill out forms. A support person must comply with the entity’s privacy obligations.
Deciding whether to talk to others at work about a change in circumstances, the onset of a condition, your disability or neurodivergence (as examples) is a personal decision. You should decide based on your own situation.
You can choose if, when and how much to share. However, your manager may raise concerns with you if they notice that something is impacting your ability to work.
You should talk to your employer about your experience if your disability, condition, neurodivergence or caring responsibility:
- affects how you might do your job
- affects you or someone else working safely.
There are some benefits to talking about your experience, if you choose to. For example, it can:
- build trust between you and your employer and colleagues
- let you talk to how you could do your tasks in a better way, with changes to the workplace, the task or arrangements to support you
- show how you may have been impacted in relation to work.
Visit privacy and confidentiality to determine the level of documentary evidence of need required in relation to requesting an adjustment.
Your manager or colleagues can’t ask:
- for personal details—for example, about how you live
- general questions about your health—for example, how you got your disability.
Note that the Queensland Public Service Code of Conduct 161.9 KB) requires managers and employees to treat co-workers with courtesy and respect. It is against the law for you to be treated less favourably in the workplace as a result of your disability (except in the instances of exclusions under the anti-discrimination legislation). If you are worried about how people act around you at work, talk to your manager. You can also raise it with someone in your human resources team.
To learn about managing workplace conflict, bullying and the steps managers can take to respond to poor performance, see Employee management, conduct and performance.
For information and resources on discrimination visit, visit the Queensland Human Rights Commission website.
Your privacy
There are laws that protect your privacy. That means if you mention your condition or disability—for example, to someone at work—they must comply with Information Privacy requirements.
For more information about the Information Privacy Act 2009 and how personal information should be managed more broadly, visit Recordkeeping and information management.
If an employee is dissatisfied with the outcome of their request for an adjustment, they can lodge an employee grievance. Employees should refer to their internal intranet and entity policies for further information about the grievance process.
After following the grievance process, if an employee is still dissatisfied with the outcome, they may be able to lodge a fair treatment appeal with the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC).
Further information, including timeframes for starting appeals, can be found in the Public Sector Appeals Guide and Directive 04/23: Appeals. For information about the process for lodging an appeal, refer to the QIRC website or contact the QIRC registry on 1300 592 987.
If an employee believes they have been discriminated against or there has been a breach of their human rights, there may be external review avenues available through:
Employees who are a member of a registered industrial organisation may wish to consider contacting their union representative who will be able to provide guidance and support throughout the grievance or appeal process. Union representatives will also be best placed to advise the employee on their external review avenues.