Workplace Adjustments Passport: Implementation Guide for Employers

What Is a Workplace Adjustments Passport?

A Workplace Adjustments Passport (also called a "Reasonable Adjustments Passport", "Health Passport" or "Disability Passport") is a voluntary, employee-owned document that records:

• How the employee's condition or impairment affects their work
• The adjustments and support that have been agreed
• The date those adjustments were agreed and by whom
• Any planned reviews and possible future adjustments

It is not a medical record and does not need clinical detail. The focus is on what the employee needs at work and what has been agreed.

Why Passports Work

A common point at which reasonable adjustments break down is a change of manager. When a line manager moves on, the new manager may:

• Be unaware of existing adjustments
• Question whether they are still needed
• Inadvertently apply policies that conflict with the adjustments (e.g., rigid attendance management)

A passport solves this by creating a portable, transferable record. As Acas puts it, when a manager changes, the employee can show their new manager what has been agreed, which saves them having to go through the same process again.

Who Uses Them

• UK Civil Service: Runs a unified Civil Service Workplace Adjustment Passport across departments, so that employees with a disability or health condition can move jobs within the Civil Service more easily. Civil servants moving between departments are advised to share their current passport with their new line manager.
• NHS: NHS Employers suggests that NHS organisations may want to consider introducing an NHS health passport, which lets individuals record the barriers they face and any workplace adjustments already in place, and can be used with new line managers.
• Other models: The TUC publishes a model disability passport policy, and Acas points to the Health Adjustment Passport on GOV.UK.

What a Passport Contains

A good passport template covers six sections:

Section 1: Employee Details

• Name, job title, team
• Contact preferences (useful for neurodivergent employees who prefer written communication)

Section 2: My Needs

A plain-language description of workplace needs — not diagnosis, not medical language. Examples:

• "I need written rather than verbal instructions for complex tasks"
• "I need to work from home on high-concentration days"
• "I need a quiet workspace away from the main office floor"
• "I need regular check-ins to manage anxiety around deadlines"

Section 3: Agreed Adjustments

A specific list of what has been agreed, e.g.:

• Flexible start time instead of a fixed start
• Remote work 3 days/week
• Written meeting agendas sent in advance
• Noise-cancelling headphones (employer-funded)

Section 4: Equipment and Technology

List of any specialist equipment or software in use (important for IT onboarding when the employee changes roles).

Section 5: Agreed Review Date

Adjustments should be reviewed (not removed — reviewed) regularly. Acas suggests talking regularly — for example every 6 months — and whenever something changes, such as a move to a new role, a new way of working, or a change in the person's condition.

Section 6: Signatures

Employee and manager sign to confirm agreement. This creates accountability without being onerous.

How to Implement a Passport Scheme

Step 1: Design Your Template

Keep it short. Avoid medical jargon. Make it employee-led — the employee fills it in, the manager countersigns.

Use an existing model such as the Civil Service Workplace Adjustment Passport, the NHS health passport, the TUC model disability passport or the Health Adjustment Passport on GOV.UK as a starting point. Adapt language to your organisation.

Step 2: Train Line Managers

A short briefing covering:

• What a passport is (and what it isn't — it's not a performance management tool)
• How to handle a request to complete one
• What to do when inheriting a direct report with a passport

Step 3: Communicate to Employees

Frame it positively: "This is your document, and it travels with you." Avoid framing it as a bureaucratic requirement.

Channels: intranet, onboarding materials, disability ERG, line manager briefings.

Step 4: Store It Securely

The passport is a personal document. It should be:

• Stored securely (accessible to HR and the employee only — not in a shared team drive)
• Not disclosed to new managers without employee consent (the employee should share it with their new manager themselves)

Step 5: Monitor Take-Up

Track the number of passports in use (anonymised, aggregate). If take-up is low, awareness is likely the bottleneck; if passports are created but adjustments still break down, manager training needs refreshing.

Template: Workplace Adjustments Passport (Summary)

WORKPLACE ADJUSTMENTS PASSPORT

Employee name: ________________________
Job title: _____________________________
Date completed: _______________________

MY NEEDS (in my own words):
[Employee completes — plain language, no medical detail required]

AGREED ADJUSTMENTS:
1. ___________________________________
2. ___________________________________
3. ___________________________________

EQUIPMENT / SOFTWARE IN USE:
___________________________________

AGREED REVIEW DATE: _______________

Employee signature: ___________________
Line manager signature: ________________
HR reference: _________________________

Legal Context

In Great Britain, employers must make reasonable adjustments by law under the Equality Act 2010. A Workplace Adjustments Passport itself is a good practice tool, not a legal requirement. However, it provides a written record that:

• The employer considered and agreed adjustments
• The employee agreed with what was put in place
• A review process is in place

Acas advises putting adjustment requests in writing as well as discussing them, and a clear record is valuable if a dispute ever arises.

Sources: Acas — Reviewing reasonable adjustments and keeping a record; Acas — Reasonable adjustments at work; GOV.UK — Staff transfers: further details for employees (Civil Service); DWP 2024 voluntary reporting on disability, mental health and wellbeing; NHS Employers — Making workplace adjustments to support disabled staff