McPhail Watmore Associates Ltd
Disability and Reasonable Adjustments Training
Understand your duty, and go beyond it
If you are responsible for people, whether as an employer or through the service you deliver, you have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. Our training helps you understand that duty and go beyond it, with disability awareness for everyone and practical reasonable adjustments training for managers.
Disability inclusion works best when everyone shares an understanding of the barriers disabled people face, and when the people responsible for decisions know exactly what the law requires of them. That is why we deliver this as two complementary sessions. You can book either on its own, or both as a programme.
For Everyone
Disability Awareness
Nearly one in four people has a disability. This session works from the social model of disability, the principle that most barriers come from how society and workplaces are structured, not from the person. We take a practical look at your context to identify the barriers that exist and what you can do about them, so inclusion is built in for colleagues and for the people you serve. Neurodiversity is a specialism in its own right, and we also offer dedicated neurodiversity and neuroinclusion training.
For managers
Disability and Reasonable Adjustments
If you are responsible for people at work, or for the service you deliver, this session is for you. We start from inclusive design, but even then, individuals may need specific adjustments. This session explores the legal duty to make reasonable adjustments, with practical examples. We cover workplace adjustment passports, so an individual's adjustments are captured in one accessible document, how funding works including where the Access to Work scheme can help, and the expectations on service providers to make goods, services and facilities accessible.
What is the reasonable adjustments duty?
The duty to make reasonable adjustments comes from the Equality Act 2010. It applies when a disabled person is placed at a substantial disadvantage compared with people who are not disabled, whether by a workplace practice, a physical feature, or the absence of an aid. Service providers in the UK have a proactive, legally enforceable duty to anticipate and remove barriers for disabled people before an individual asks for an adjustment. Service providers must plan ahead, identify likely barriers, and put reasonable adjustments in place so disabled people can use their services without being put at a substantial disadvantage. There may still be a need to make additional individual reasonable adjustments to make a service accessible. Whether in employment, or in service provision, employers and providers must take reasonable steps to remove the disadvantage.
This is one of the most significant duties in equality law, and one of the most litigated. Failure to make reasonable adjustments is unlawful discrimination, as is treating someone unfavourably because of something arising from their disability. Both are uncapped claims, and neither requires any qualifying period of service. Getting this right is not only good practice, it is use it’s a real and immediate legal responsibility.
A word on funding
Making reasonable adjustments is an employers' responsibility. We support managers to understand what is meant by 'reasonable' in their context, and provide information on the scope of government funding available through Access to Work.
Who this training is for
Disability Awareness suits everyone, at any level, in any organisation. The reasonable adjustments session is essential for anyone with responsibility for people, HR professionals, line managers, and anyone who designs or delivers a service to the public.
We work with organisations across the UK in the public and private sector, including higher and further education, the NHS, national and local government, finance, legal and professional services, housing and the charity sector.
In education, there is a dual responsibility. For students, reasonable adjustments are anticipatory, so education providers must embed inclusivity, as well as provide additional reasonable adjustments for individual students where this is required.
In addition to the requirement to make individual adjustments for staff, including the requirement not to subject someone with a disability to a detriment as a consequence of a disability, education providers need to consider how they meet the Public Sector Equality Duty in the context of disability. The requirement is to show Due Regard to the three aims:
- eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other unlawful conduct prohibited by the act
- advance equality of opportunity between people who share and people who do not share a relevant protected characteristic
- foster good relations between people who share and people who do not share a relevant protected characteristic
This is a proactive and not a passive requirement, so all aspects of policy, procedure, provision and practice needs to be considered through this lens.
What our clients say
“
I had a great day yesterday, and learnt so much!
I will be meeting with our managers all next week, and I am sure that their learning will influence how we move forward.
Thank you for your energy and commitment.
Chief Officer
Age UK Torbay
“
The training on the day both myself and HR Director, were pleased to find it engaging and practical, with clear and relatable hospitality specific examples aligned to the law.
Assistant Learning & Development Manager, People and Culture
Four Seasons
“
Experience was really good – workshop activities made me think of things that would impact me – all topics were enjoyable
Employee
Redbridge Council
Trusted by organisations across
Higher Education•
NHS•
Government•
Finance•
Legal•
Housing•
Charity
Our approach and credentials
All of our training is bespoke. We take time to understand your organisation, your sector and the barriers your people and your service users actually face, then build the session around examples they will recognise. Sessions can be delivered in person or online.
Our expertise here is independently recognised. Our founder Fiona McPhail is a Disability Confident Level 3 Leader assessor, which means she assesses other organisations against the government's Disability Confident standard. McPhail Watmore Associates was established in 2000, and Fiona is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD with 30 years' experience in HR and equality, diversity and inclusion. You can read more about our team on our About page.
Disability Confident
Level 3 Leader assessor
Chartered FCIPD
Founder led, 30 years' experience
Charter assessors
Investors in Diversity, Disability Confident Level 3
Seven consultants
Public and private sector practitioners
Frequently asked questions
What is the reasonable adjustments duty?
It is a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to remove the disadvantage a disabled person faces at work or as a service user. It applies where a practice, a physical feature, or the lack of an aid places a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage compared with others. The employer or service provider must then take reasonable steps to address it.
What counts as a reasonable adjustment?
It depends on the individual and the barrier, which is why training matters. Examples include changes to working hours, adjustments to duties, assistive equipment, accessible formats, or physical changes to premises. What is reasonable takes account of how effective the adjustment is, its cost, and the resources of the organisation. A workplace adjustment passport helps record what has been agreed.
Who is responsible for making reasonable adjustments?
The employer or service provider. The duty cannot be passed to the individual, and it cannot be avoided on cost grounds alone. The Access to Work scheme may fund additional support beyond the adjustment itself, but the reasonable adjustment remains the organisation's own legal responsibility.
Is disability awareness training different from reasonable adjustments training?
Tribunals can increase uncapped compensation by up to 25 per cent for breach of the sexual harassment preventative duty, and the EHRC can take enforcement action even before an incident occurs.
Talk to our team about preparing for October 2026
Whether you need a single session or a programme across your whole organisation, we will build the right approach for you.