If you’re disabled and struggling to meet a deadline your employer has set for a formal process, you may be entitled to more time.

The situation

A manager at a charity supporting refugees and asylum seekers went on long-term sick leave with depression and anxiety, which his employer accepted was a disability. While he was off sick, the organisation repeatedly gave him very tight deadlines to respond in writing to a grievanceA formal complaint raised by an employee against their employer, triggering a legal obligation to investigate and respond. appeal and, later, a medical capabilityOne of the potentially fair reasons an employer can use to dismiss someone, covering situations where you are unable to do your job to the required standard, including through ill health. A fair capab... process, at one point just 72 hours to answer 18 detailed questions. His solicitor wrote explaining the pressure was making his condition worse and asked for more time. The employer refused. He resigned soon afterwards.

What the tribunal found

Once it knew, or ought reasonably to have known, that a disabled employee was struggling to meet a deadline because of that disability, the employer had to consider giving him more time. It never did, and that failure to make a reasonable adjustment is what the tribunal upheld against it. The tribunal thought at least a week, and ideally two to three, would have been reasonable for the medical capability response. Separately, giving him only three hours' notice of a disciplinary meeting on the same day as an already-difficult grievance appeal meeting was found to be harassment related to disability. The employer hadn't meant to cause harm by it, but the effect on him, given his fragile state at the time, was enough for the tribunal to find it unlawful. And because the refusal to extend the 72-hour deadline was found to have seriously damaged the trust between him and his employer, his resignation counted as constructive dismissal. His whistleblowingMaking a disclosure about wrongdoing in your workplace, such as a health and safety risk, a criminal act, or a miscarriage of justice. If the disclosure qualifies as protected, the law gives you signi... claims and some other discrimination allegations were dismissed.

Reasonable adjustments cover deadlines, not just physical changes to your job. If a disability is making it hard for you to meet one your employer has set, whether for a grievance, a disciplinary process, or a capability process, you can ask for more time. Put it in writing, and explain the connection to your condition if you're able to. If you have medical evidence that supports the request, share that too. Your employer doesn't have an unlimited amount of time to give you, but a blanket refusal to budge, especially once they've been told why the deadline is a problem, can be unlawful.

We also want to be honest about the limits of what a win like this gets you. The tribunal accepted this employee's resignation counted as constructive dismissal, but it also found that even without any wrongdoing, he would very likely have been fairly dismissed on health grounds within a matter of weeks anyway. That meant he wasn't compensated for the income he lost afterwards, only for the injury to his feelings and a basic awardA fixed element of an unfair dismissal award, calculated by reference to your age, length of service, and weekly pay. Unlike the compensatory award, it is less affected by Polkey reductions.. Winning your case is not always the same as being made whole financially. If your health means a return to work looks unlikely in the near future regardless of how your employer has treated you, get advice before you resign, so you understand what a claim can and can't realistically achieve for you.