Glossary: Reasonable Adjustments & Neurodiversity Terms
Plain-English definitions of the words that come up in every reasonable adjustments conversation. Legal terms included, jargon not.
Reasonable adjustments
Changes an employer makes to the workplace, to working arrangements, or to how things are done, so that a disabled person is not put at a substantial disadvantage at work. Under the Equality Act 2010, making reasonable adjustments is a legal duty for all UK employers, and failing to make them is a form of disability discrimination.
Equality Act 2010
The UK law (covering England, Wales, and Scotland) that protects people from discrimination, including disability discrimination at work. Sections 20–22 create the duty to make reasonable adjustments, requiring employers to take steps to prevent disabled people being placed at a substantial disadvantage.
Disability (Equality Act definition)
A physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. "Long-term" means it has lasted, or is likely to last, at least 12 months. No formal diagnosis is required to meet this definition.
Substantial disadvantage
The legal threshold that triggers the duty to make reasonable adjustments. "Substantial" means more than minor or trivial. The disadvantage a disabled person faces compared with non-disabled colleagues must be real, but the bar is deliberately low.
Access to Work
A UK government scheme that funds workplace support beyond what is reasonable for an employer to provide alone, such as specialist equipment, support workers, travel assistance, and job coaching. Employees apply directly, and grants supplement (never replace) the employer's own duty to make adjustments.
Workplace Passport (adjustment passport)
A living record of an employee's agreed adjustments and working preferences that moves with them through the organisation, so support carries over when managers or teams change, without the employee re-explaining their needs. In TryMosaic, Passports are employee-controlled and shared securely.
Neurodiversity
The natural variation in how human brains work, including differences in thinking, learning, processing, and communicating. In the workplace, neurodiversity refers to recognising and supporting this variation rather than treating one cognitive style as the default.
Neurodivergent
Describes a person whose cognitive style differs from the predominant one, including people with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and related profiles. Many neurodivergent people meet the Equality Act 2010 definition of disability and are entitled to reasonable adjustments at work.
Provision, criterion or practice (PCP)
The legal term for any workplace rule, policy, arrangement, or way of doing things, from fixed start times to open-plan seating. When a PCP puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage, the duty to make reasonable adjustments is triggered.
Auxiliary aids
Equipment or services provided as a reasonable adjustment, such as screen readers, ergonomic equipment, noise-cancelling headphones, or a support worker. Providing auxiliary aids is one of the three limbs of the reasonable adjustments duty in the Equality Act 2010.
Occupational health (OH)
A medical advisory service that assesses how work affects an employee's health and what support they may need. Occupational health advises; it does not manage the adjustments process itself. TryMosaic complements OH by turning its recommendations into tracked, auditable actions.
Employment tribunal
The UK court that hears workplace disputes, including claims that an employer failed to make reasonable adjustments. Tribunals judge whether an employer acted reasonably based on evidence: what was requested, what was considered, and how promptly the employer engaged. The average award in disability discrimination cases is around £45,000.
Audit trail
A timestamped record of what was requested, considered, agreed, refused (and why), and actioned. In adjustments management, the audit trail is what stands up if a decision is challenged, and what scattered emails and spreadsheets fail to provide.
Disability Confident
A UK government scheme that helps employers recruit, retain, and develop disabled people. It has three levels: Committed, Employer, and Leader. Membership signals intent, but delivering on it requires a working adjustments process.