Supporting Autistic Employees at Work - Practical Guidance for HR Professionals & Managers

Introduction

Autism and neurodiversity are increasingly important issues for employers, not only because of the legal risks under the Equality Act 2010, but because they affect recruitment, performance management, workplace design, employee relations and retention.

For HR professionals and senior managers, the difficult questions are rarely theoretical. What should you do when an employee may be struggling but has not disclosed a diagnosis? How should you approach performance or conduct concerns where autism may be relevant? What adjustments are reasonable in a busy workplace? How should managers respond without stereotyping, over-medicalising the issue or ignoring genuine business needs?

This live and interactive session will take a practical, scenario-led approach to supporting autistic employees and managing legal risk. It will look at the employment relationship from recruitment through to performance, absence, conflict, adjustments and termination risk.

By the end of the session, delegates will be better able to:

• Spot situations where autism or another neurodivergent condition may be legally relevant
• Ask appropriate questions without making assumptions or appearing intrusive
• Assess when the duty to make reasonable adjustments may arise
• Identify practical, proportionate adjustments in real workplace scenarios
• Support managers dealing with performance, conduct or communication concerns
• Reduce the risk of disability discrimination, discrimination arising from disability, harassment and unfair dismissal claims
• Improve recruitment, onboarding and employee relations processes for neurodivergent employees

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive course will cover the following:

• What autism and neurodiversity mean in a workplace context
• The legal definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010
• When autism is likely to amount to a disability
• Why a formal diagnosis is not always the starting point for legal or practical support
• What employers are expected to know, and when constructive knowledge becomes an issue
• How to handle disclosure, non-disclosure and uncertain medical information
• Reasonable adjustments in practice, including recruitment, interviews, onboarding, communication, working patterns, office environments, hybrid working and performance processes
• How to manage performance, conduct or absence concerns where autism may be relevant
• The interaction between autism, mental health, stress and workplace conflict
• Common mistakes by managers, HR teams and occupational health processes
• How tribunals approach hidden disability, constructive knowledge and reasonable adjustments
• Practical steps employers can take to build more neuroinclusive systems
• Practical case studies, learning points from recent cases and discussion of current guidance, including Acas guidance on neurodiversity and reasonable adjustments

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.