A recent employment tribunal ruling (Tait v Holiday Extras) found that forcing an employee with anxiety, ADHD and autism to keep her camera on, and refusing to give her more chat/email-based work - amounted to a failure to make reasonable adjustments.
It's a useful prompt to think about what "reasonable adjustments" actually look like in practice when someone is managing a mental health condition, whether they're returning to work after leave or working through it day to day. A few examples that come up often:
Flexibility on cameras and calls - the option to keep a camera off, or to swap a call for chat/email, without having to justify it every time•
Permanent, not just temporary, changes - a phased return is a start, but if someone's condition is long-term, the adjustment needs to be too
Workload shape, not just workload volume - changing how work is done (channel, pacing, structure) can matter as much as how much
Predictability - fixed days off, consistent shift patterns, less last-minute change
A genuine review process - adjustments that get revisited, not set once and forgotten
The tribunal was clear that this isn't a blanket ban on camera-on policies — it's about employers being willing to flex when there's a genuine disability and a genuine need. Blanket rules, applied without exception, are where the risk sits.
What adjustments have made the biggest difference for your team?
