The Work Couch: Disability at work (Part 1): "Right to try work" and the law on reasonable adjustments

Welcome to The Work Couch, the podcast where we discuss all things employment.

Host Ellie Gelder is joined by consultant employment lawyer Victoria Othen to explore the government's proposed changes to welfare and disability benefits and how this may impact the duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments. In part one, they discuss:

• The background to the proposed "Right to try work" scheme;
• A reminder of the legal definition of disability as set out in the Equality Act 2010;
• Factors that employment tribunals take into account when assessing if a claimant is disabled within the meaning of the Act;
• The legal components of the duty to make reasonable adjustments; and
• Whether or not employers require knowledge of a disability to trigger their duty to make reasonable adjustments.

Join us for part 2, when we will discuss what reasonable adjustments look like at each stage of the employment life cycle.

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Please note: All information is correct at the time of recording. However, please note that this episode was recorded before the recent cabinet reshuffle and consequential changes in ministerial responsibilities, which took place on 5 September 2025.

References

1. Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper (Government consultation opened on 18 March 2025 and closed on 30 June 2025)

2. Employers: Influencing disabled people’s employment through responses to reasonable adjustments, Disability & Society (Research by Disability Research Specialists, 19 July 2022)

3. Work Couch episode: Addiction at work: Disciplinary or wellbeing issue? With Charlotte Reid and Eleena Misra, KC

4. Work Couch episode: Narratives, reasonable adjustments, and the business case for accessibility, with Samantha Renke