Reasonable Adjustments

Reasonable adjustments are a legal responsibility of employers, under the Equality Act 2010, to make sure Disabled employees are not substantially disadvantaged when doing their job. Once a job offer has been made an employer can ask what adjustments a person needs.

Reflect back on the 5As and remember to ASK everyone who joins your team whether they need adjustments put in place. Reasonable adjustments can be requested at any time during a contract so it’s important to remember to ADJUST when required.

Every Disabled person will have different access requirements, and therefore their adjustments will look different. Let the Disabled person lead this conversation.

Here are some examples of what a reasonable adjustment might look like:

• doing things another way, such as allowing someone with social anxiety disorder to have their own desk instead of hot-desking or communicating with clear instructions via email for a neurodivergent person

• changing their equipment, for instance providing a special keyboard if they have arthritis

• adjusting working hours, such as a later start time or finish for someone with a health condition which has a greater impact in the morning

• Allowing a neurodivergent individual to use noise cancelling headphones in the office to minimise external noise.

• Using the BBC's Easy Read Templates for Productions, which make documents more accessible and easier to understand.
   

FurtherResources

• READ: Gov.uk Reasonable Adjustments for Employers
• READ: DANC Inclusive writing room guidelines
• READ: Film & TV Charity Whole Picture Toolkit
• WATCH: HETV Production Training Videos [TripleC in partnership with ITV Studios]
• DOWNLOAD: Brazen Productions Easy Read Templates

Access & DisabilityPassports

• COMING SOON! TAP Access Passports
• Brazen Productions Access and Adjustments Passport
• Channel 4 Access Rider for contributors

Securing funding for access should not be a barrier to production companies working with Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent cast, crew and contributors. 

Members of TAP are committed to fund access costs not covered by Access to Work, over and above the production budget.

Whilst each individual broadcaster or streamer will have their own processes, the below information is an agreed approach by all TAP members to fund access, inclusion and adjustments on both scripted and unscripted productions via an Access Funding Request.
 

Access FundingContact (AFC)

Each broadcaster and streamer who is a member of TAP will nominate an Access Funding Contact (AFC) for each production, a single point of contact with whom productions can liaise regarding funding for access costs. This may be the same person across all productions or this could be someone associated with the relevant production such as either the relevant Commissioning Editor/Executive Producer or an individual working alongside them. We will ensure that producers are made aware of who is their AFC when a project is commissioned. If the production is a co-commission, the commissioning partners will agree at the start which of them leads on this.
 

Mandatory, MeaningfulConversation

We will have a mandatory, meaningful conversation with each production company at the time of budgeting (either for funded development or production) to scope the likely funding and support for access and adjustments on each production. We will monitor whether this conversation has taken place. If there are no access costs anticipated, the production company should supply clear reasons to the broadcaster and streamers as to why.
 

CommissioningResources

Where UK commissioners have commissioning documentation and/or a UK commissioning website, they will include a dedicated section explaining that funding for access adjustments is available and how to apply for it.

Applying for and receiving funding for access costs on a production will follow these steps for every broadcaster and streamer who is a TAP member. Specifics for each broadcaster will be provided as soon as possible in development/pre-green-light/commission.

All additional costs related to access and adjustments that cannot be accommodated in the general budget – whether they can be anticipated at the start or arise at a later stage – will be requested by the production company via an Access Funding Request (AFR) form detailing these costs. 

The first AFR may be submitted alongside the main production budget and forecast as many anticipated access costs as applicable, effectively being regarded as an additional budget.

• The AFR will be to be submitted to the AFC, who may then pass it on internally to an appropriate deputy.
• We will aim to turn around approval of AFRs at the same time as the initial budget approval or, when submitted after that, within 2 weeks. It is proposed that payment will be made as soon as possible and in line with standard payment terms on commissioned content (which may be upon delivery), however this is subject to the Pact consultation.
• There will be no cap or time limit on the submission of AFRs, because we recognise that unexpected access costs can arise at any time on a production.
• The production fee will not be applied to this additional funding.
• Any overheads connected to access and adjustments should be first discussed with the commissioner/AFC before being added to an AFR
• Where a co-funding arrangement is in place and we are the majority funder, an agreement should be reached over who takes the lead approving and paying AFR form requests and where the funding is coming from. However, where a production is co-funded with non-TAP members or overseas partners, whilst every effort will be made to come to an agreement over funding access, it is recognised that this may not be possible.
• We will expect productions to account for expenditure on access and adjustments and pay back any unspent funding at the end. This may be done by deducting the unspent access funding from the final production payment. Funding is made available to producers on a non-recoupable basis from sales and other production underages.

As a general rule, the production should pay for the costs of providing access for more than one person, not costs covered by Access to Work. This could include:

• Making casting callouts accessible (e.g. a BSL version of a flyer).
• Paying for a more expensive hotel for the whole cast/crew that is more accessible.
• Redesigning an established set to make it more accessible (e.g. costs incurred by Saturday Night Takeaway to make the stage accessible).
• Supporting the crew to make a more accessible production (e.g. Deaf Awareness training, a Deaf consultant or training for working with Learning Disabled people).
• Hiring accessible facilities for the production to enable access for Disabled cast or crew (e.g. wheelchair accessible trailers or honeywagons).
• Paying for access and adjustments for Disabled gameshow contestants, reality TV participants, interviewees, audience members and other people participating in the production who are not employed by the production company.
• Paying the employer’s contribution towards an individual’s Access to Work claim when requested by Access to Work (in some cases Access to Work require an employer’s contribution, however this is likely to be rare in production as it does not apply to self-employed people)
• Paying for adjustments or support that Access to Work won’t cover but are needed by an individual to do their job (must have evidence of applying to Access to Work first). 

Where these costs cannot be accommodated by the existing production budget, production companies are expected to submit an AFR form to the broadcaster / streamer to obtain the necessary funding.

Access to Work is a Government grant which covers the costs incurred providing accessibility and adjustments to a disabled worker on one contract. An application to Access to Work is submitted by the individual, and can be submitted promptly once a contract of work is agreed and often takes a long time to process.

An individual can also apply to Access to Work if they become disabled in the middle of a work contract and require adjustments and / or support. Although the application can only be made by the disabled person, the employer is still notified. Access to Work covers costs including, but not limited to:

• Additional travel costs (e.g. paying for taxis when taking public transport isn’t accessible)
• Paying for support workers during working hours (e.g. BSL interpreters)
• Personal Assistants
• Equipment needed to make the workplace more accessible (e.g specialist chair in the office, Braille equipment etc.)
• Software to provide access (e.g. screen reading software, dictation software etc.)
• A contribution towards equipment needed during working hours (e.g. Access to Work may pay for 5/7ths towards a wheelchair as it’s only needed for 5 working days a week)
• Coaching support in work.
   

Access to WorkProcess

1. Application
   Apply to Access to Work. Evidence may be requested  to support a claim.
2. Assessment
   If Access to Work decide an individual meets the eligibility criteria they will authorise an assessment, which may take place on the phone or within the workplace, depending on what has been requested.
3. Recommendations
   The individual and employer will receive a letter which states what funding will be awarded and recommendations for what support someone may need in the workplace.
4. Claim
   If you have requested equipment, the employer will purchase this and claim back the costs with Access to Work. Any ongoing costs, such as taxis or BSL interpreters are claimed back with Access to Work.
5. Renewal
   If your Access to Work grant pays towards ongoing costs, such as a support worker or BSL interpreter, you will have to renew it.
    

Employer

An employer may have to share the cost with Access to Work if the person has been working for you for more than 6 weeks when they apply to Access to Work. You will only have to share the cost for:

• Special aids and equipment
• Adaptions to premises or equipment

When cost sharing applies, Access to Work will refund up to 80% of the approved costs between a threshold and £10,000. More information can be found on Access to Work's Employers Factsheet.

Social & DomesticContribution

If a grant is offered through the Access to Work programme, it may require a personal contribution from the applicant if the equipment can also provide benefit outside of work. This is known as the Social and Domestic Contribution. Access to Work funding is calculated pro rata to the number of days worked. So, if a person works three days a week, they can offer a grant of 3/7 of the equipment cost. The person is then responsible for the remainder of the cost, which is the Social and Domestic Contribution.

A Motability Access to Work Grant can reimburse the total Social and Domestic Contribution for the following items of equipment:

• Manual wheelchairs;
• Powered wheelchairs;
• Scooters;
• Vehicle adaptations.

Anyone who has received an offer from the DWP of an Access to Work grant for equipment can apply to Motability for a grant towards the full cost of any Social and Domestic Contribution for the equipment listed above. They do not need to be a Motability Scheme customer.
 

FurtherResources

• READ: Disability Arts Online Access to Work guide for the Arts and Cultural Sector
• ACCESS SUPORT: Film & TV Charity Coaching with work and wellbeing
• READ: Access to Work Employers Guide