Workplace adjustments for managers

Getting the basics right and using a consistent approach across the Queensland public sector is critical to ensure:

• adjustments are portable and adaptable alongside the employee and their career
• every sector workplace meets its obligations under law and controls risk
• managers and colleagues understand, embrace and normalise their use
• our work environments enable everyone to perform, thrive and belong.

Managers and leaders are key to success, when they:

• openly and frequently encourage all employees and job candidates to consider if they may benefit from an adjustment at work or in a recruitment process—this avoids assumptions about people’s needs, disability or circumstances for example
• welcome existing adjustment plans, particularly if they were assessed and developed for a Queensland public sector employee moving to a similar role—this directly boosts sector-wide career mobility
• keep up separate routine conversations about what an employee needs to do their job well and thrive
• avoid discrimination by making assumptions about someone’s ability based on their raising a query, request or concern and instead, taking a person-centred approach and respecting the person’s position as authority on their needs
• with the employee’s consent, seek assistance from other sources as needed (e.g. an advisor from the workplace inclusion and diversity team, a JobAccess advisor, the IT team, a HR or safety advisor with expertise in disability inclusion, etc).

Your workplace may have a local adjustments policy, process and plan template you can circulate to your team members. A plan template and decision-making table are available in Workplace adjustment resources.

Considering the adjustment needs of employees can start with the development of employee value propositions and ensuring people with lived experience are actively involved in the design and communications materials.

Messaging on entity websites about the availability of adjustments or the presence of employees from diversity groups in imagery can also contribute to attraction efforts and building an inclusive workplace that embraces difference and provides the conditions where people can thrive.

Recruitment and selection policy

It is a requirement of the directive on recruitment and selection that equity, diversity, respect and inclusion principles are integrated into recruitment and selection processes, supporting the consideration of adjustments for potential employees. In consultation with the potential employee, changes to a recruitment process can be made, enabling the person to do their best and compete equitably for an opportunity.

Accessible and inclusive recruitment process design

For broader information and ideas about inclusive recruitment, see Recruit for diversity. The below suggestions are focussed on success for workplace adjustments, or preventing the need for them.

Entities and managers can consider embedding the following so people don’t have to ask for them.

• Train panel members using the free online Queensland Government disability awareness module
• Have at least one panel member with lived experience of disability
• Make all recruitment materials accessible and available in alternative formats
• If the person has shared in the application they have a disability, do not ask personal questions relating to the disability or condition and keep the information private and confidential.
• Base interview questions on the essential requirements of the role, with behavioural questioning
• Give candidates enough time to think about the questions—such as by providing them the day before
• Choose an accessible venue and meeting room to host the interview if it is face to face
• Ensure reserved accessible parking is available where possible
• If online, practice accessible digital meeting rules (e.g., one person speaks at once, keep cameras on, set up auto-captions).

Offer adjustments to every candidate

Proactively offer adjustments in the advertisement.

For example, We are able to cater for the below adjustments to help candidates who may live with disability, a physical or mental health condition or neurodivergence to bring their best self. Let us know how we can make adjustments to support you, for example:

• alternatives or removal of written tests or psychometric tests
• bringing your support person to the interview
• longer and/or alternate interview times
• choice of online or in person interview
• submission of examples of past work
• an Auslan interpreter or live caption service.

Note, it is the manager’s responsibility to arrange an interpreter. Ask if they have a preferred interpreter service, if the entity does not already have a preferred service.

Responding to requests

Respond positively to the request. If it is easy to accommodate, let them know. Consult with the candidate if they haven’t suggested a solution.

For example, Thanks for letting me know you’d like an adjustment to participating in the psychometric test. We’ve decided to remove that one for all candidates. Requesting this change won’t negatively impact our assessment of your suitability.

Accessible and inclusive job offers

What to consider:

• If first extending an offer via telephone, check that the preferred method of communication of the candidate is by phone.
• Ensure all documents (such as Letters of Offer or Contracts) are formatted as accessible and use correct tagging in PDF—most have built-in Accessibility Checkers.
• When sending out the documents, ask if the candidate requires any support or adjustments to complete the contract or if the candidate requires an alternative format of the documents.
• Consider advising new hires that adjustments previously supported by other sector entities may be portable to their new role.
• After a recruitment process, seek direct feedback on the experience and around adjustment requests, their effectiveness, and the implementation process itself.

Everyone needs clarity, structure, a sense of direction and empathy from their workplace while starting a new role and joining a new team. Managers can directly welcome adjustment and job design discussions, or integrate them into a strength-based discussion with new starters:

• When and where do they feel energised, can play to their strengths and feel like they make an impact? What unique contributions could they add to existing or future team objectives?
• What doesn’t work for them? Which environments and type of work may be challenging or cause exhaustion or over-compensating in their performance?
• What are their needs from work within the context of their general wellbeing, non-work responsibilities, sensory profile, work styles and communication preferences?
• Determining how to communicate these differences to others so they can understand and work better as a team.
• Make changes to reduce or remove the barriers to doing their role and doing well.

Other things to consider at induction:

• Ensure onboarding paperwork iterates that adjustments can be sought at any stage of employment.
• Explicitly ask new employees if they need any adjustments for general performance or to perform the requirements of their role, and provide information to help them consider it.
• Supply all employees a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP), a blank adjustment plan and a flexible work arrangement plan to consider for themselves.
• Ensure mandatory eLearning programs have been reviewed for accessibility (including compatibility for vision software). Where they haven’t, offer facilitated or alternate versions of the training.
• Ensure that any presentations or meetings conducted during the induction consider access and inclusion. For example, make sure that any PowerPoint presentations are accessible and digital meetings consider accessible digital meeting rules.

Considering flexible work

Flexible work arrangements may be one type of adjustment that would benefit an employee to help them manage the impacts of their condition on their work and vice versa—visit FlexConnect to learn more.

Where a person needs flexible work to support accessibility, disability, a condition or neurodivergence, it may be better to use an adjustment plan if documentation is needed, instead of a flexible work arrangement.

This may provide employees with:

• greater confidence or feeling of safety, noting the broad framework of legislation and protection for adjustments and the possible portability of adjustments within an entity and across the sector
• a plan that better meets or caters for the full set of adjustments they may need, beyond just flexible work.

Independent Medical Examinations

Early communication and management efforts, including trialling adjustments, may be successful in addressing performance issues. In some instances, they may not and performance concerns may continue.

There are legal obligations which entities must meet in response to situations where:

• an employee is absent from duty or the employee’s chief executive is reasonably satisfied the employee is not performing the employee’s duties satisfactorily, and
• they believe the employee’s absence or unsatisfactory performance may be caused by mental or physical illness or disability.

For more information, refer to the Public Sector Act 2022 (Chapter 3, Part 8, Division 5, mental or physical incapacity), the independent medical examinations directive and any local policy or procedures.

Injury and Illness Management

Disability, or physical or mental health conditions may presently be managed by entities using both or either an adjustments approach or through injury and illness management policies and procedures. Any approach must meet the requirements of legislation, primarily the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. There is no Public Sector Commission directive governing the practice of adjustments or illness or injury management.

In some entities, injury and illness management policies are coupled with support from specialist health and safety teams that focus on rehabilitation to the workplace. Such policies meet the needs of employees who have been injured or experienced illness and are recovering. However, some conditions and differences are by nature ongoing, recovery is not possible and people may not consider themselves ill or sick. In these cases, these frameworks are not appropriate unless the person has also experienced illness or injury.

The performance review process is about having an open conversation and exploring if there is anything getting in the way of the employee’s ability to perform, and supporting their overall career development.

Before commencing a routine performance development plan, review any workplace adjustments to make sure these have been working.

To apply a strength-based approach to discussions about what helps people thrive at work, see the suggested questions for new starters set out under Induct and onboard [link].

Offering and implementing adjustments is aligned with the Public Sector Commission’s directive on positive performance management principles. Some Queensland public sector workplaces have their own policy on positive performance management.

Career progression and training

Everyone should have equitable access to opportunities, even if adjustments need to be made to facilitate this. What to consider:

• Integrate career development into performance planning to encourage better retention and keep valuable skills and experience.
• Regularly assess adjustments in place and whether these require modification.
• Ensure training opportunities and e-learning are accessible and inclusive. Work with appropriate suppliers to conduct an accessibility review and make improvements.
• Plan and discuss promotional opportunities at regular intervals and ensure they’re equitably shared across the team.

Performance concerns

Where a manager has concerns about employee performance, a proactive open conversation with the employee about their wellbeing and factors influencing their work is required. Adjustments, flexible work or other supports would usually be offered and trialled, often mitigating the need for performance improvement plans and independent medical examinations.

For information on independent medical examinations, see Recover and return to work.

Recognising that workplace adjustments can be requested by current or potential employees at any stage of their employment, requires that managers and leaders are familiar with how the process should be implemented.

The ‘how’—a process for implementing adjustments

Workplaces that develop a local adjustments policy and plan templates create an authorising environment for workplace adjustments—which normalises their use and helps lessen or prevent barriers to access.

Step 1: Manager invites job candidates and employees to consider their adjustments needs

Step 2: Employee considers and submits request

Step 3: Manager/s respond

Step 4: Monitor and review.

The workplace adjustments plan template (DOCX, 565.1 KB) features the suggested process and all components (like a privacy statement and a file note section to document consideration of human rights) that are required.

Using the same process across the Queensland public sector and welcoming an employee’s existing arrangements or plans reduces the burden on sector employees to repeatedly negotiate for adjustments when their role, manager or work environment changes.

What level of documentation is required?

In some workplaces where there are high levels of respect and knowledge about disability, accessibility and inclusive ways of working, a verbal agreement about adjustments may be enough to support and implement a change or purchase any equipment needed.

In other situations, a workplace adjustment plan may be useful. This document can communicate an employee’s accessibility needs at work with their current or future manager and be co-signed if necessary.

If such documentation is created or filed, it needs to include a privacy information collection notice and if it is rejected in part or in full, it also needs a section to file note the manager’s consideration of the person’s human rights.

See the workplace adjustments plan template (DOCX, 565.1 KB) for all components that are required.

What evidence of need is necessary?

Visit privacy and confidentiality to determine if any documentary evidence of need is required. It promotes a trust-based, ‘tiered’ approach that encourages managers to respect and protect a person’s dignity and privacy by preferencing low to no formal evidence.

Sourcing assessments to find adjustment options

To source new assessments and practical information from an appropriate professional, a panel of external supports is available to Queensland public sector entities through the Workplace Health Service Standing Offer Arrangement (SOA). This can be particularly helpful in instances when the employee may have no diagnosis, be going through diagnosis or was diagnosed late in life and is unsure what options could be useful.

Directing an employee to undertake a medical assessment would only occur where there is a performance concern after adjustments have been trialled or someone’s safety is at risk. See Legislative requirements and considerations for information on independent medical examinations.

Decision making

When undertaking an assessment of an adjustment request, the manager or other decision maker:

• must make decisions in consultation with the person making the request and with genuine consideration of their input
• may require a collaborative approach with specialist teams, such as IT, to find suitable options—especially if there are constraints (eg security restrictions).

Factors to be considered by managers would include:

• determining if the solution requested will be effective and improve accessibility or inclusion
• understanding what the impacts may be
• considering the costs, if any
• valuing all benefits.

For a deeper exploration of the factors, consult the workplace adjustments decision-making table (PDF, 148 KB) . There is also a workplace adjustments plan template (DOCX, 565.1 KB) which sets out all the parts managers and employees may need.

To review a summary of the legislation and to understand key terms like unjustifiable hardship, see Legislative requirements and considerations.