Promotion being delayed due to reasonable adjustments.

DmRitchie

I'm a civil servant, and despite my ADHD and Autism have progressed very well in my career. February 16 I was made a provisional offer of a role following an interview. The new role is at a higher grade, and a different area of my department and so I expected the things to progress quickly. Once I passed the right to work checks (when normally a formal offer is made and start date agreed), I was asked about any disability and any workplace reasonable adjustments(RAs). I have an existing RA passport which sets out contact, travel, workspace etc. My current role is as a Data Analyst and the new role is similar but on a larger scale. Once I informed the recruitment team of my disability and RA's, I was asked by the new manager to have an occupational health(OH) assessment to ensure that my RAs would cover everything for the new role. The OH appointment was changed 3 times, finally taking place last week ( 2 months after the provisional offer). From the report, the new manager has now said he needs to arrange a review of my RAs with the Lexxic (who do that type of work for my department. I expect that this will mean at least another month before I get offered a start date. I have tried every avenue at work to find support to challenge the delay, and even approached my union. Ignoring the financial implications of further delays, it is taking it's toll on my mental state, as I am anxious that they may withdraw the role (under restructuring). It is also very hard to focus on my current work as for each small thing I do I need to full document and train someone as hopefully I'll be moving on. 

I could really use some advice on how to challenge this without upsetting my new manager? 

Albus_Scope

Hey there @DmRitchie sorry to hear they appear to really be dragging their heels over this. I'm guessing there's a lot of red tape that needs to be cut through?  Have you spoken to anyone from ACAS as they tend to be a good port of call for work law related advice? 

DmRitchie

So I thought I'd follow up on this.

I have successfully been in my new role since the start of June. The role was modified a little from the original advert so it lets me focus more on data and insight development (which is one of my passions) and less on stakeholder engagement. My line manager was being guided by HR, and in the end asked if my RA's were sufficient rather than wait for another assessment. My team are great and completely understand my RAs, including not using telephones or public transport. It has actually helped them understand the adjustments that might help them better (all my people have disabilities or caring requirements). My manager has recently changed again, my new manager has a ND child and checked in the first week that I needed nothing added to my RAs!

I am continuing to pursue the issue that delayed my appointment as I would hate to think that someone else might face the same challenge. What has become apparent is the recruitment policy and guidance is ambiguous about when and if an OH assessment should be considered. The prevailing opinion from HR and our own RA team is to error on the side of caution. I am currently waiting a response from our equality, diversity and inclusion team to see if an equality impact assessment has been done on the recruiting policy. Well all employers in the UK have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments, too often line managers and/HR make do not have sufficient knowledge to make a decision and refuse RAs rather than seek support. I am now actively engaging with questions on RA's in my departments disability support network.