New advice and guidance on neurodiversity issued

The Acas advisory, conciliation and arbitration service has published new advice and guidance on neurodiversity and the workplace.

The guidance aims to help employers create inclusive organisations and raise awareness of neurodiversity at work.

Neurodiverse employees may be protected against discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 and be entitled to reasonable adjustments at work to remove or reduce a disadvantage related to their disability.

The Acas guidance sets out different types of neurodiversity and their common traits, including how the Act applies to neurodiverse employees and how to support people.

It includes tips for employers on raising awareness of neurodiversity at work to help normalise neurodiversity and to make their organisations more inclusive.

Acas emphasises that inclusivity helps improve staff wellbeing, reduces absence levels and employee turnover, attracts employees with a wider range of skills and experience and reduces the risk of disputes and legal claims of discrimination.

Prior to publishing its advice, Acas carried out a poll with 1,650 line managers which asked about the barriers to making reasonable adjustments for neurodiverse employees.

Almost three-quarters (72%) said a key barrier was employees not disclosing the need for a reasonable adjustment, while a lack of organisational knowledge about neurodiversity was reported by almost half (45%).

Meanwhile, around two-fifths (39%) attributed barriers to line managers finding it difficult to have the conversation.