Reasonable Adjustment Passport

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LU Reasonable Adjustment Passport for Staff

Lancaster University recognises the importance of providing reasonable adjustments to employees with visible and invisible disabilities. These reasonable adjustments can take many forms and should be tailored to the individual's needs.

Our Reasonable Adjustment Passport is a formal, living document of these adjustments that ensures staff feel supported from across their team, and wider.

For ease of reading, the acronym 'RAP' will be used throughout this page.

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About the Reasonable Adjustment Passport

Tab Content: What is a Disability?

The Equality Act (2010) defines disability as:

“a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities”.

‘Substantial’ here means that the effect of the impairment or disability is more than trivial. For example, it may take someone who is disabled much longer than a non-disabled individual to get dressed, or it may be that they have specific access needs e.g. transcripts of meetings, as without those it may be impossible or take much longer than it would a non-disabled individual to understand the information.

‘Long term’ is ordinarily understood to mean that the effects of the impairment are expected to last 12 months or more. There are notable exceptions to this – individuals who are diagnosed with conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS), HIV/AIDS, and cancer, are legally considered disabled immediately upon receiving their diagnosis, irrespective of how long their symptoms or illness have been going on.

Tab Content: Reasonable Adjustments

The Equality Act (2010) states that employers must make reasonable adjustments for disabled individuals which remove any substantial disadvantage or difficulties that they may face in the workplace, as a result of their disability, insofar as possible.

Lancaster University recognises that individuals with both visible and invisible disabilities might require changes to their working practices to remove such substantial disadvantages.

Reasonable adjustments can take many forms, and it is often the case that the disabled individual is the best source of information regarding what adjustments or changes to their working practices would best remove any barriers they face and would ensure they feel supported at work and able to carry out their role without negative effects or impacts on their health.

Tab Content: Reasonable Adjustment Passport

Lancaster University supports employees with disabilities by providing tools such as the Reasonable Adjustment Passport, which formally documents existing adjustments for individuals.

Disabled individuals are often the best source of information regarding supportive measures that would remove barriers they face and allow them to perform their role without negative impacts on health. There is no exhaustive list of potential adjustments available, however reasonable adjustments should be agreed with the individual to have a positive impact on their health and wellbeing at work.

Critically, the creation of an employee's Reasonable Adjustment Passport is led by the employee, in partnership with their line manager. By empowering our staff to have open and honest conversations with their leadership, we aim to begin breaking down barriers and removing worries that many of our disabled colleagues may experience.

Tab Content: Who is the RAP for?

Any new or existing member of staff at the University can request a Reasonable Adjustment Passport, if they are disabled, become disabled, or have a long-term health condition which requires adjustments to their working practices in order to allow them to safely and comfortably carry out their role.

The RAP asks employees for information regarding their disability/health condition(s), including details of formal diagnoses and specialist assessments that they may have. Any information provided here, along with the contents of the RAP are strictly confidential, unless you, as the employee, give written consent to share that information with HR Teams or Occupational Health providers.

If you wish to complete an RAP, let your line manager know and you can begin the process.

Andy Schofield on Inclusion at Work

"Lancaster University is wholeheartedly committed to creating workplaces that allow everyone to participate in full without fear of repercussion or discrimination.

Inclusion in the workplace can often be difficult to discuss, particularly for those long-term members of staff who are now realising what adjustments may benefit them.

As a university we need to open up the floor to conversations about inclusion for all of our staff in everything that we do."

Professor Andy Schofield, Vice-Chancellor

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More information and resources

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Our EDI Team

Lancaster University's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team work to promote inclusion and equity for all our staff, student and visitors at the university.

As part of our roles, we support the university's Staff Networks, including the Disabled Employees Network and their associated Allies Network.

We also facilitate Faculty EDI initiatives, as well as supporting on university policy and guidance development.

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