The scenario in this article is illustrative. It is a composite drawn from themes that come up often in workplace assessments, and it describes no real person, employer or report.
A policy officer has been away from work for several months after a deterioration in her sight. She has completed rehabilitation sessions and learned to use some assistive technology at home. She wants to go back. Her employer wants her back. Neither knows quite what “back” should look like. Her old desk, her old systems and her old way of working were built for her old sight.
Her manager is anxious about getting it wrong. HR is keen to follow the right process. The return to work date is a month away.
What a return to work assessment can and cannot do
A return to work assessment in this setting is a workplace assessment. It looks at the job, the person’s sight at work, the environment and the equipment, and sets out practical changes. It is not a medical assessment, and it does not say whether the person is fit to return, how long a phased return should last or what her prognosis is. Those questions belong to her clinicians, occupational health and the employer.
What the assessment can do is describe the barriers she expects to meet, in her own terms, and suggest what would reasonably help. That gives the employer something concrete to prepare.
How the referral happens
In this scenario, HR asks for a visual impairment workplace assessment before the return date. The referral describes her role, her working pattern and the employer’s wish to understand what to put in place. It says whether she has agreed, and whether the return will be at the office, at home or a mix of both. It does not ask for a view on whether she should return.
What the assessment involves
The assessment can be carried out by video call or in person. The assessor talks with her about her job as it was and as she expects it to be: the systems she used, the documents she dealt with, meetings, travel, deadlines. They also discuss what she has learned during rehabilitation and what technology she already uses.
The assessor then asks about her sight at work. What can she see at what size and distance? What is hard, and where? What did she try at home and what worked? How does she travel to work? How will she move around the office?
In this scenario she explains that she reads with magnification and speech on her home computer but has not used it on the office network, that she can no longer read small print or scan documents quickly, that she is not confident of her journey to work and the layout of the building, and that she worries about tiring quickly in her first weeks. She also explains that she had used to take handwritten notes and no longer can.
The assessment makes no diagnosis and no prediction. It records the barriers and what would reasonably help.
What the report recommends
The report is a workplace adjustments report. It is non-clinical and each recommendation stands alone, with a reason that links to something she described. Items needing an employer decision go to her manager. In this scenario, recommendations might include the following.
| Barrier reported | Possible adjustment | Why it may help |
|---|---|---|
| Unable to read small print or scan documents quickly | Screen magnification and speech software on her work computer, set up by IT with the right permissions on the network | May let her read, search and review documents in the way she now does at home |
| New software to learn | Training in the software from its supplier, as its own recommendation and before or at the start of her return | May shorten the time to feel confident using it |
| Large on-screen text and eye strain | A suitably sized, good-quality monitor on an adjustable arm and a large print keyboard if she wants one | May make it easier to see and reduce the strain of sustained reading |
| Documents arriving as scans or in awkward formats | A request that documents are sent in accessible electronic formats, with a named contact to ask | May let her use her software without retyping |
| Unfamiliar layout and the journey in | A walk-through of the route and the building before she starts, and a conversation about travel arrangements | May help her move around with confidence |
| Handwritten notes no longer possible | Alternatives such as dictation, a voice recorder or typed notes, and agreement about how meeting notes will be shared | May keep her involved in meetings |
| Tiring quickly in the first weeks | A phased reintroduction of duties and working methods agreed by her, her manager and HR, using advice from occupational health | May let her build up gradually and review how it is going |
| Concern about the pace of the return | A review date and a trial period for changed task arrangements, so that adjustments can be revised | Gives both sides a way to adapt the plan |
| Uncertainty among colleagues | Visual impairment awareness training for her team and manager | May help colleagues understand how to work alongside her |
The report is clear that the length and shape of any phased return are matters for the employer, with occupational health advice. It records the person’s account and what is practical, and draws no conclusion about readiness.
What this might change
Adjustments do not restore sight, and results vary. What a return plan can do is move the discussion from “can she return?” to “what needs to be ready when she does?” In this scenario, possible benefits include a smoother first week, equipment that is installed before she arrives, and a manager who knows what to ask and when.
What this means for occupational health, HR and case managers
Commission the assessment early enough that equipment and training can be in place on day one. Ask for function, not diagnosis. Keep the questions of fitness and phasing with occupational health and clinicians, and make clear to the assessor that the employer is not asking for them. Agree who will act on the recommendations, because a report that sits unread is worse than none. And consider a review after the return, so that adjustments can be adapted as she learns what works.
Legal rights and support
Under the Equality Act 2010, a person is disabled where they have an impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Where the definition is met, the employer must make reasonable adjustments. Access to Work, run by the Department for Work and Pensions, can pay for some practical support for eligible people in England, Scotland and Wales, but GOV.UK states that it does not cover reasonable adjustments an employer must legally make. Check GOV.UK for the current rules. Whether the definition is met for a particular person depends on their circumstances, and this article is general information rather than legal advice.
Summary
The returner in this scenario was not asking to go back to the job exactly as it was. She needed it to be arranged around the sight she has now. A return to work assessment that concentrates on the workplace can help to set out practical changes, to phase the reintroduction of duties and to give both sides a way to review progress. It gives no view on fitness for work, which stays with her clinicians and occupational health.
Watch the short film
A short film about doing the job well but working twice as hard to do it, and the question from a manager that changed things.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. It is an illustrative composite, written to show how the assessment process works. It does not describe a real person, employer or report.
No. A workplace assessment is non-clinical and gives no view on fitness for work. That sits with the person's clinicians and occupational health.
Before is usually more useful, because equipment, training and layout can be prepared. It can also be repeated if the arrangements need to change.
The employer, with advice from occupational health and the employee. The report records the person's account and practical considerations but does not set the phasing.
If you or someone in your team is visually impaired and would like expert, tailored support to stay productive and comfortable at work, visit https://visualisetrainingandconsultancy.com/workplace-assessments/visual-impairment-workplace-assessments/ to arrange a visual impairment workplace assessment.
Sources
GOV.UK, Access to Work: get support if you have a disability or health condition: https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work
GOV.UK, Access to Work, Eligibility: https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work/eligibility
GOV.UK, Definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010: https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010
legislation.gov.uk, Equality Act 2010, section 20: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/20
Acas, Reasonable adjustments at work: https://www.acas.org.uk/reasonable-adjustments
GOV.UK, Employing disabled people and people with health conditions: https://www.gov.uk/employing-disabled-people-and-people-with-health-conditions