The Law: Equality For All

The Equality Act 2010 is the main piece of UK legislation that protects individuals from discrimination, harassment and victimisation. It applies across employment, education, housing, service provision and the exercise of public functions.

The Act identifies nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

Disability is treated differently from other protected characteristics because the Act imposes a positive duty on employers, service providers and public bodies to take steps to remove barriers faced by disabled people.

Section 20 Equality Act 2010 – Reasonable Adjustments

Section 20 sets out the duty to make reasonable adjustments. The duty arises where a disabled person is placed at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with a non-disabled person.

The duty requires reasonable steps to be taken in three main areas.

First, where a provision, criterion or practice puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage, reasonable steps must be taken to change or remove it.

Second, where a physical feature puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage, reasonable steps must be taken to remove the feature, alter it, or provide a reasonable means of avoiding it.

Third, where the absence of an auxiliary aid or service puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage, reasonable steps must be taken to provide that aid or service.

Section 20(7) – Charging for Reasonable Adjustments

Section 20(7) makes clear that a person on whom the duty is imposed must not require a disabled person to pay the cost of any reasonable adjustment.

In practice, this means reasonable adjustments must be provided free of charge. The cost of adjustments cannot be passed on to the disabled person in employment, education, or when accessing services or public functions.

Charging a disabled person for assistive technology, accessible formats, support workers or interpreters would be unlawful. Organisations are expected to absorb these costs as part of their legal obligations, or seek external funding where appropriate, such as Access to Work in employment settings.

Key Points

The duty to make reasonable adjustments is anticipatory for service providers, meaning they must consider barriers in advance rather than waiting for an individual request. What is reasonable depends on factors such as effectiveness, practicality, and the resources of the organisation. Cost alone rarely justifies a failure to comply, particularly for larger organisations. Section 20(7) explicitly prohibits charging disabled people for reasonable adjustments.