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When a team member is struggling with their mental health, it’s important to understand your legal responsibilities in supporting them. As a line manager, you’re often the first to notice when something's not right with someone on their team. And the steps you take in those early conversations can make a real difference, both to the person you're supporting and to the business.
This guide covers what reasonable adjustments for mental health are and when you should offer them. Whether you manage a team of three or 30, this type of knowledge makes you a better manager.
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What are reasonable adjustments for mental health?
Mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, and ADHD, can have a substantial and long-term effect on someone's ability to carry out their job day-to-day. When they do, the Equality Act 2010 legally requires employers to make reasonable adjustments to support them.
Reasonable adjustments are changes an employer makes to remove or reduce the disadvantage an employee faces at work because of a mental health condition. What counts as "reasonable" depends on:
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Your business size and availability of resources
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How expensive and practical the adjustment is
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Whether the adjustment would remove or reduce the disadvantage
There's no fixed checklist, and adjustments will look different from person to person and situation to situation. Small businesses aren't exempt, but the support they can offer often depends on what's realistic.
Reasonable adjustments for anxiety at work
There are many different ways that an employee might struggle with anxiety at work. For example, they might feel worried about attending certain meetings or find it hard to manage a heavy workload. Some common and effective adjustments for anxiety include:
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Flexible working hours or remote working. For some people, commuting during rush hour or working fixed hours can cause anxiety. Allowing flexible start and finish times, or working from home some of the time, can reduce the pressure.
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Workload restructuring. Feeling overwhelmed is a common anxiety trigger. Reducing someone's workload (even temporarily) or giving them more lead time on deadlines can make a real difference without permanently changing their role.
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A quieter workspace. Open-plan offices can be difficult for people with anxiety. Providing access to a quieter area, allowing noise-cancelling headphones, or adjusting where someone sits are all low-cost adjustments that can reduce stress and distraction.
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Proper planning and plenty of notice. Unexpected requests or on-the-spot questions can feel overwhelming for someone with anxiety. Where possible, give advance notice of what's coming. For example, you might send an agenda before a meeting so your employee can plan what they might say. You can also try to avoid pulling someone into unplanned discussions without warning them first.
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Regular, structured check-ins. When your employee knows when and where they'll hear from you, this can help them feel supported. Keep check-ins consistent and low-pressure. It’s best to think of them as a chance to listen rather than to manage performance.
Reasonable adjustments for depression
Depression can have a serious impact on anyone’s life. In the workplace, it can affect motivation, concentration, energy levels, and attendance. It can also make tasks that would normally feel manageable feel impossible. Adjustments that can help include:
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Adjusted targets or timelines. Depression can slow someone down, and expecting them to work as productively as their colleagues during a difficult period can deepen their sense of failure. Temporarily adjusting targets or giving more flexible timelines can reduce that pressure.
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A phased return to work. If your employee needs to take time off because of their mental health, returning to a full workload immediately can be too much. A phased return involves starting with reduced hours or lighter duties and building back up gradually. This approach gives someone time to readjust without setting them up to fail.
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Time off for appointments. Therapy, occupational health assessments, and GP appointments are all part of managing a mental health condition. Allowing flexible time off to attend these, without it eating into annual leave where possible, removes a practical barrier to recovery.
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Task prioritisation support. Depression can make it difficult to decide where to start. Having a manager help someone identify the most important tasks for the day, or break larger projects into smaller steps, means the difference between someone engaging with their work and shutting down completely.
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Open, non-judgmental conversations. Someone with depression may already feel like a burden. Creating space for honest conversations, without pressure or judgement, makes it more likely they'll tell you when they're struggling before it becomes a crisis.
Reasonable adjustments for ADHD at work
ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects how the brain processes information. It qualifies as a disability under the Equality Act 2010 and can significantly affect your employees’ executive functioning, which are the mental processes that manage attention, planning, organisation, and time management.
Someone with ADHD might find it hard to sustain focus on a single task, manage competing priorities, keep track of deadlines, or process verbal instructions accurately. They may also be more sensitive to sensory input, like noise and movement, making open-plan environments difficult to work in.
Some people with ADHD may have co-existing conditions like anxiety or depression, which means some of the adjustments above may also be relevant. Reasonable adjustments for ADHD at work include:
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Written instructions and agendas. Relying on verbal briefings makes it easy to miss important details. Providing written instructions or agendas and following up conversations with a brief summary helps someone with ADHD keep track of what's expected.
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Single-task focus. Requiring someone with ADHD to multitask places them at a significant disadvantage. Where possible, structure work so they can complete one thing before moving to the next, and avoid pulling them between tasks unnecessarily.
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Flexible deadlines and sequenced priorities. Strict, stacked deadlines can cause anxiety and decision paralysis. Breaking work into stages with clear, sequenced priorities, rather than a list of things all due at once, makes it easier to plan and follow through.
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A quieter workspace or noise-cancelling headphones. Sensory distraction is a real barrier for many people with ADHD. Access to a quieter area, or permission to use noise-cancelling headphones, can significantly improve focus.
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Assistive technology. Tools like screen readers, speech-to-text software, AI notetakers, and task management apps can support working memory and organisation. These are practical, low-cost adjustments that can make a significant difference.
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Regular short check-ins. A brief daily or weekly check-in to run through priorities and flag any blockers provides structure without being intrusive. It also gives someone with ADHD a natural prompt to re-engage if they've gone off track.
How can line managers discuss reasonable adjustments?
Line managers can work through the steps below to learn more about how they can support their employees’ mental health conditions at work.
Start by talking to the employee
Conversations should already be part of a natural part of the relationship with your employees. In the context of mental health, these conversations might happen as part of a return-to-work meeting after a period of absence, or during a welfare meeting while someone is still off sick. It can also happen proactively during a regular check-in, or if you've noticed a pattern in someone's attendance or performance that suggests they might be struggling.
The focus of that conversation should be on understanding the nature of the issue:
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how it affects them
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how it affects their work
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how long they're likely to be absent (if relevant)
You're not there to diagnose or to judge. You're there to listen and to understand what support might help.
Ask what they think would help
The employee often knows their own needs better than anyone else. Although the onus is always on the employer to decide what adjustments are reasonable, it’s always worth asking, "What do you think would make things easier?,” which shows respect and gives you useful information.
Don't make assumptions about their health. Line managers aren't usually medically qualified, and it's not your job to assess the truthfulness or severity of what someone tells you about their condition. Take what they tell you seriously, and seek medical input where it's needed.
Consider an occupational health referral
Where an employee's needs are unclear, or their condition is complex, an occupational health assessment can be invaluable. This gives you independent medical guidance on what adjustments would be appropriate, and it demonstrates that the employer took the issue seriously. Always seek the employee's consent before making a referral.
Set a review date
Reasonable adjustments aren't a one-time fix. Agree with the employee when you'll follow up to discuss whether the adjustments are working – this could be a weekly, fortnightly, or monthly review, depending on the situation.
Document everything
You should keep a written record of every conversation or review about someone's health and every adjustment you agree to. This protects both the employee and the business. If the situation escalates, a clear paper trail shows that the employer took their obligations seriously and acted in good faith.
Know when to escalate
If the situation is complex, such as if absence is becoming long-term, or if you're simply unsure whether a particular adjustment is reasonable, involve HR or seek legal advice before doing anything else. Acting early is almost always better than waiting until the situation has become unmanageable.
What happens if you don’t make reasonable adjustments?
Failing to make reasonable adjustments is disability discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, and employees can bring a tribunal claim as a result.
In Khorram v Capgemini UK Plc (2024/25), an employee with ADHD agreed reasonable adjustments with her employer, but these were never introduced. She was later dismissed for performance issues directly linked to her ADHD. The tribunal upheld five reasonable adjustment complaints and awarded over £24,000 in compensation, for adjustments the tribunal noted were neither expensive nor difficult to arrange.
On top of any financial award, the real cost to businesses includes:
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Legal fees and management time defending a claim
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Reputational damage
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Losing an employee who could have been supported to stay
Support your team's mental health with Breathe
Managing reasonable adjustments well means keeping clear records of conversations, agreed adjustments, review dates, and any documentation from occupational health or a GP. Breathe's HR software helps line managers and HR teams store and manage that documentation securely in one place, so nothing gets missed.
Want to build your knowledge of employment law as a line manager? The free Employment Law Essentials for Line Managers course on the Breathe Growth Academy covers reasonable adjustments, sickness absence, and more.
This article is intended as general guidance only. Employment law can be complex and circumstances vary. If you're unsure about your obligations, always seek advice from a qualified HR professional or employment lawyer.
FAQs about reasonable adjustments
Do I need a formal diagnosis to get reasonable adjustments at work?
No. Under the Equality Act 2010, what matters is the impact of a condition on your ability to carry out day-to-day activities, not whether you've received a formal diagnosis. Many people with anxiety, depression, or ADHD are on waiting lists or have not yet sought a diagnosis. If the impact is clear, the duty to consider adjustments applies.
Are reasonable adjustments a legal requirement in the UK?
Yes. Under the Equality Act 2010, employers have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for employees who are disabled, which includes those with long-term mental health conditions. Failing to do so is disability discrimination. Employees are protected from the first day of their probationary period under these laws.
What are examples of reasonable adjustments for mental health?
Common examples include flexible working hours, remote working options, a quieter workspace, noise-cancelling headphones, a phased return to work after absence, adjusted workloads or deadlines, written communication in place of verbal briefings, time off for medical appointments, and regular structured check-ins. The right adjustments will depend on the individual and their specific condition.
What reasonable adjustments can be made for ADHD at work?
Adjustments for ADHD often focus on reducing sensory distraction, adding structure, and supporting working memory. This can include access to a quiet workspace or noise-cancelling headphones, written instructions and agendas, single-task focus rather than multitasking, sequenced priorities and flexible deadlines, assistive technology such as AI notetakers or task management tools, and brief daily or weekly check-ins to review priorities.
Can a line manager make reasonable adjustments without HR?
Yes, a line manager can sometimes make reasonable adjustments without HR. This is particularly true for smaller, low-cost adjustments like flexible start times, adjusted workloads, or written communication. Line managers often have more day-to-day influence over how someone's work is structured than HR does. But for complex situations, long-term sickness, or adjustments that require a formal process, it's always worth involving HR or seeking guidance before you act.
What's the difference between a reasonable adjustment and a general wellbeing measure?
A reasonable adjustment is a specific change made to remove a disadvantage a disabled employee faces. It's legally required under the Equality Act when the threshold is met. A wellbeing measure is a broader initiative offered to the whole workforce, like an Employee Assistance Programme or mental health awareness training. Both have value, but they're not interchangeable. A wellbeing measure doesn't fulfil the legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for an individual employee.
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