Autism and work: telling an employer, reasonable adjustments and Access to Work

This guide is part of our guide to autism in adults, within the wider section on disability care. If you are not yet diagnosed and wondering whether to seek an assessment, autism diagnosis as an adult explains the route. Work support for someone with a learning disability, including supported internships, is in work and supported employment, which is written with learning disability in mind; some autistic adults also have a learning disability and will find both useful.

Autistic people are in paid work less often than other disabled people. The Office for National Statistics found that 29.0% of disabled people whose main impairment was autism were in employment in the year to June 2021, against 53.5% of all disabled people aged 16 to 64 and 81.6% of non-disabled people. That is from Outcomes for disabled people in the UK: 2021, and it counts only people who named autism as their main impairment. It says nothing about what any one autistic person can do, and the rights on this page exist to remove the barriers behind it.

For everyday working life, the adjustments duty is the most useful part of the Act. An adjustment can be a change to how the job is done, to the place it is done, or to the equipment used, and it has to be reasonable for that employer, which depends on things such as cost and the size of the organisation. The full wording is in section 20 of the Equality Act and section 60 on health questions.

The National Autistic Society lists reasons people give for telling: adjustments that stop them being at a disadvantage, protection from disability discrimination, less pressure to mask, and colleagues who understand. It also lists reasons people give for not telling, including worry about stigma, bullying or assumptions about what they can do. Both are fair, and it is your decision. Its page on deciding whether to tell employers you are autistic goes through each point.

You can also choose who to tell. It might be HR, your manager, or one colleague, and the National Autistic Society says to be clear about who the information can be shared with. You do not have to use the word autism to ask for an adjustment: saying "I work best with written instructions" is a request in its own right. The employer's duty depends on what it knows or could reasonably be expected to know, though, so if you want the protection of the law, being clear is safer than hinting.

If you are a parent or partner reading this, the decision belongs to the person at work. Help them think it through if they ask, and let them choose the moment and the words.

Asking for interview adjustmentsSection titled Asking%20for%20interview%20adjustments

Acas advises employers to let applicants see the questions before the interview where possible, to hold interviews in quiet spaces away from distractions, and to consider a short paid work trial or a practical assessment instead of an interview. Its guide to making your organisation neuroinclusive gives the example of an autistic applicant who asked to see the questions in advance. The employer shared most of them and kept back one that tested how people handle something unexpected, which the applicant agreed to. An adjustment has to be reasonable for the job, and an agreement like this is one way to work that out.

Ask in writing, as soon as you are invited, and say exactly what you need. The National Autistic Society has a template letter for interview adjustments, and Acas has a reasonable adjustment request template.

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Write down what you and your manager agree, and keep a copy. Acas suggests a reasonable adjustments passport, a short record of how your condition affects your work and what has been agreed, so that a new manager can see it without you starting again. The government's Health Adjustment Passport is one version, and Acas explains reviewing adjustments and keeping a record. Acas suggests a review every six months, or whenever something changes. If noise, light or crowds make a workplace hard, sensory needs at home covers the same senses from the home side.

Access to Work is a government grant for people with a disability or health condition who are in paid work or starting within 12 weeks, in England, Scotland or Wales. GOV.UK lists autism among the conditions it covers and says you do not need a diagnosis to apply. It will not pay for adjustments the employer must make by law. It can also pay for communication support at a job interview. Access to Work and care at home covers the application in full, and the GOV.UK Access to Work page is where to apply.

The Mental Health Support Service is part of Access to Work. The provider guidance says it runs for six months, with an optional three more, and is confidential. It does not diagnose and it is not therapy. GOV.UK says you can only have mental health support through Access to Work once. Autism and mental health covers anxiety and depression and where treatment comes from.

Working for yourselfSection titled Working%20for%20yourself

Some autistic people find self-employment lets them control the hours, the setting and how much contact they have with other people. Access to Work covers self-employed people too, as long as the business has an annual turnover of at least £6,500, and it will not pay the costs of setting up a business. The reasonable adjustments duty does not apply when there is no employer, so the support has to come from Access to Work and from the way you set up the work. Benefits for autistic adults covers PIP and Universal Credit, including while working.

Help around the working daySection titled Help%20around%20the%20working%20day

A new job changes the whole day, not only the hours at work. Getting ready on time, a new journey, and an evening with no energy left can be the hardest parts. That is care and support rather than work support, and a council needs assessment can cover it. The council can pay it as a direct payment so you choose who helps, and social care support for autistic adults explains how to ask.

PrimeCarers is an introductory service, not an agency. Carers and support workers on it are self-employed. You choose the person, meet them first, and agree the hours, the routine and how you keep in touch directly with them, and you can keep the same person for as long as it suits you both. For many autistic adults a predictable routine with the same face matters a great deal, and the same carer every visit explains why continuity helps. Carers on PrimeCarers charge £18 to £25 an hour with our fee included, against £28 to £35 an hour at an agency. When you know which mornings, journeys or evenings you want help with, you can search for carers and support workers near you and compare their rates.

1. 1

   Tell your employer early that you are unwell

   Day 1

   Follow the sickness reporting rules in your contract or handbook. GOV.UK says you must give your employer a fit note if you are off for more than 7 days in a row, including days you do not work.
2. 2

   Ask the GP what the fit note can say

   After 7 days

   A fit note can say you may be fit for work with changes: a phased return, altered hours, amended duties or workplace adaptations. The advice is not binding on you or your employer, but it gives you both a starting point.
3. 3

   Ask for adjustments to how absence is counted

   Before you return

   Acas gives examples: not counting disability-related absence towards trigger points, raising the number of absences that triggers a review, and recording disability-related absence separately.
4. 4

   If an adjustment is refused, ask why

   Informally first

   Acas says an employer that turns down an adjustment should talk with you, explain its decision and look for another way to help. Put the conversation in writing afterwards.
5. 5

   Raise a formal grievance

   If that does not work

   Use the employer's grievance procedure. A trade union representative, if you have one, can help. The National Autistic Society suggests Citizens Advice and the Equality Advisory and Support Service too.
6. 6

   Contact Acas before any tribunal claim

   Early conciliation

   You must notify Acas before making a claim to an employment tribunal, and Acas will offer early conciliation. Time limits for claims are short, so ring the Acas helpline as soon as a formal complaint looks likely.

Autistic burnout is the name autistic adults give to exhaustion that follows a long period of coping with more than they can sustain, and work can be part of that load. Autistic burnout covers the signs, recovery and what to change afterwards. If it has happened once, the adjustments above are worth asking for before a return, not after a second one.

A phased return after time off gives you shorter hours or fewer days at first, building back up over an agreed period. Ask for the plan in writing, with a date to review it, and agree what happens if the build-up is too fast. Acas explains disability-related absence and what happens if an employer does not make adjustments, and the fit note guidance for patients explains the four options.