Do Small Businesses Need to Provide Reasonable Adjustments?
Yes. Small businesses do need to provide reasonable adjustments.
The legal duty to make reasonable adjustments applies regardless of organisation size. There is no minimum headcount, no exemption for start-ups, and no carve-out for “we’re only a small team”.
That duty comes from the Equality Act 2010, which applies to all employers in Great Britain:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/20
Where size does matter is not whether the duty exists, but what is considered reasonable in context.
That distinction is where most confusion, and most risk, sits for small employers.
The duty applies to all employers
If you employ people, the duty applies to you.
That includes:
micro-businesses
start-ups
charities
family-run firms
growing companies without HR teams
ACAS is explicit that reasonable adjustments apply across organisations of all sizes:
https://www.acas.org.uk/reasonable-adjustments
Being small does not remove the obligation. It only affects how far you can reasonably be expected to go.
What does change for small businesses?
What changes is proportionality.
Reasonableness is judged in context, and that context includes:
your financial resources
how your business operates
how practical a change would be
whether external funding or support is available
A small business is not expected to absorb the same costs as a large employer. But it is expected to think, explore options, and act where it can.
In practice, many effective adjustments cost little or nothing.
Common low-cost adjustments small businesses can make
Most reasonable adjustments in small organisations are about how work is organised, not buying specialist equipment.
Common examples include:
flexible start and finish times
adjusted break patterns
written instructions instead of verbal-only communication
clearer priorities and fewer last-minute changes
quiet working arrangements or agreed focus time
temporary workload changes during flare-ups or recovery
home or hybrid working where the role allows
ACAS regularly notes that many adjustments simply involve changing how work is done, rather than spending money:
https://www.acas.org.uk/reasonable-adjustments
Cost is rarely the whole story
Cost often comes up early in small businesses, sometimes as a reflex.
But cost alone is rarely enough to justify refusal. Employers are expected to consider whether:
a cheaper alternative would reduce the disadvantage
the adjustment could be trialled
the cost could be phased
external funding could help
One option small employers often overlook is Access to Work, a government scheme that can fund equipment, software, or support for disabled employees:
https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work
Failing to consider alternatives before saying no is where small businesses get exposed.
“We don’t have HR” is not a shield
Many small employers handle adjustments informally. That feels human. It also creates risk.
Informal handling usually means:
decisions live in inboxes or memory
similar requests are handled differently
nothing is written down
reviews don’t happen
continuity is lost when someone leaves or changes role
None of that removes the legal duty. It just makes it harder to show that decisions were reasonable if challenged.
The real risk for small businesses
The biggest risk for small employers is not deliberate refusal. It’s inconsistency.
One manager agrees something verbally. Another later refuses it. An adjustment works for months, then quietly disappears. An employee moves role and has to start again.
From the outside, that looks arbitrary. Arbitrary decisions are the hardest to defend.
Why this is exactly where Mosaic helps
This is where Mosaic is particularly valuable for small businesses.
Mosaic supports small employers not just to record adjustments, but to identify them properly in the first place. Employees can say their impacts are and the system will provide a list of adjustments to try out. It also includes adjustments tailored to industry and role. What is reasonable in a cafe is different to what’s reasonable in an office.
It also gives small employers:
a clear route for requesting adjustments
a consistent way to discuss barriers and solutions
a simple written record of what was agreed and why
clarity for managers who are not HR specialists
continuity when roles, teams, or managers change
You don’t need an HR department to do this well.
You need a system that helps you make reasonable decisions and show your working.
That’s what Mosaic provides.
Next steps
