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Two women talk beside a white standing desk with a monitor and keyboard, seen through a glass wall in an office, with a plant and a small set of drawers nearby.

Tinnitus at Work: What Managers Should Know, Say and Do

/ Employment, Hearing loss / By

By Daniel Morgan-Williams, Founding Director, Visualise Training and Consultancy Ltd.

Two women talk beside a white standing desk with a monitor and keyboard, seen through a glass wall in an office, with a plant and a small set of drawers nearby.
Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

A manager notices missed instructions, an afternoon dip in output and a team member who has stopped speaking up in meetings. Nobody has used the word tinnitus. The manager is unsure whether to raise it, what to say, and what the organisation is expected to do.

This article is written for line managers and for the occupational health, HR, equality and diversity, income protection, vocational rehabilitation and case management colleagues who support them. It covers the conversation, the adjustments that may help, and when a workplace assessment adds something a manager cannot easily work out alone. It is general information rather than legal advice, and it is not medical advice.

What managers need to know about tinnitus

The NHS describes tinnitus as hearing noises that do not come from an outside source. The sound may be ringing, buzzing, humming or hissing, in one ear, both ears or the head. RNID reports that around 1 in 7 adults have tinnitus all the time or regularly, so a manager of a sizeable team is likely to have someone affected.

Three points matter more to a manager than the cause. It is invisible, so the manager knows only what the employee chooses to say. It fluctuates, and RNID notes that stress can trigger tinnitus or make it worse while tinnitus can increase stress, so a person may manage well for weeks and then struggle during a deadline, after a bad night or in a noisy week. And it is often linked to hearing loss or other ear conditions, so listening difficulty in meetings may have more than one source.

How it tends to look from the manager’s side

NICE notes that tinnitus can be associated with difficulty concentrating and listening, and that for some people it can be extremely distressing, with a significant impact on mental wellbeing, family, work and social life. A 2026 study of 449 adults with tinnitus, led by Anglia Ruskin University and published in Brain Sciences, found that 11% had reduced their working hours and 7% had left employment because of it. Among respondents answering open questions, 72% said it made working life more difficult, citing poor concentration, difficulty in meetings, tiredness and more errors.

The figures appear to rest on participants’ own accounts, the authors describe the results as preliminary, and the full paper was not reviewed.

These effects rarely arrive labelled. They look like missed details, withdrawal from group discussion, short temper, lateness after poor sleep, or a request to move desk that seems out of proportion. A curious conversation should come before any performance conversation, and asking whether the environment is making the job harder is not a conclusion about capability.

Having the conversation

Acas advises employers to arrange a meeting, listen to how the condition affects the person at work, avoid assumptions and take the lead from the person asking. For tinnitus, that translates into a few practical habits.

  • Choose a private, quiet room, and offer a written follow-up. A noisy corridor defeats the purpose.
  • Start with what has been noticed and an open question about what would make work easier, rather than a suggested diagnosis.
  • Ask what helps and what makes things worse: meetings, calls, noisy areas, time of day, tiredness.
  • Ask what the employee is comfortable with colleagues knowing, and keep the rest confidential.
  • Do not make medical proof a condition of the conversation. Acas says an employer can consider getting medical advice if it needs help deciding what adjustments are needed, which is not the same as requiring it first.
  • Agree what will be tried, confirm it in writing, and diarise a review, since Acas notes adjustments may need to change.

Managers signpost and do not diagnose. The NHS advises seeing a GP if tinnitus is regular or constant, getting worse, or affects sleep, concentration or mood, and an urgent GP appointment if it beats in time with the pulse. It advises A&E or 999 for tinnitus after a head injury, or with sudden hearing loss, facial muscle weakness or vertigo. RNID also lists tinnitus in one ear only among the reasons to see a GP.

Adjustments that may help

None of the following is a standard package, and what helps one person can irritate another. Tinnitus UK and the Anglia Ruskin authors point towards flexible working, quieter or sound-managed spaces and suitable equipment, and the authors add better manager awareness.

AreaSuggested adjustmentWhy it may help
Desk positionA seat away from printers, ventilation units and busy walkways, plus a bookable quiet room for tasks needing sustained attentionLess competing noise, and concentration is among the most commonly reported difficulties
Background soundWhere the role allows, low-level steady background sound rather than assuming the quietest room is bestThe NHS advises against aiming for total silence and notes that soft background sound can help distract from tinnitus
MeetingsSmaller rooms, one speaker at a time, agendas in advance, written actions and captions on video callsReduces listening effort and gives a written fallback if detail is missed
Working patternFlexible start times, short breaks away from noise, and hybrid working where the role allowsHelps with fatigue and disturbed sleep, and flexible working is a common recommendation
EquipmentHeadphones with a sound-masking or background sound feature, or other hearing-related technology, chosen by feature and with the employee’s inputThe Anglia Ruskin authors recommend access to hearing-related technologies
WorkloadA temporary review of deadlines or tasks during a difficult spell, with a date to revisitStress and tinnitus can feed each other

What This Means for Occupational Health, HR and Case Managers

Most of the work lies in making the manager’s first step easy. Short guidance on the conversation, confidentiality and escalation routes tends to do more than a policy document. Tinnitus UK suggests acknowledging tinnitus within existing health and wellbeing policies, alongside hearing loss, neurodiversity and mental health. It also reports that many people do not seek support, partly because of a widespread belief that nothing can be done, so the first approach often has to come from the manager.

For referrers, a few points separate a useful report from a vague one.

  • Say on the referral whether hearing loss is also present or suspected, and where the difficulty arises: meetings, calls, noisy areas, concentration, fatigue.
  • Refer early. Waiting for absence narrows the options.
  • Expect each recommendation to be tied to a specific barrier, so it can be acted on, or declined with a reason.
  • Where an employee is returning after absence linked to tinnitus or hearing health, a return to work assessment can focus on what needs to be in place from the first day back.

A workplace assessment is a practical adjustments exercise. It is not a medical assessment, and it reaches no conclusion about fitness for work. The report is advice, and the employer decides what is reasonable in the circumstances. For income protection and insurer teams, its value is a clear account of the barriers and possible adjustments.

Awareness across the team

The employee decides what colleagues are told. What helps the wider team is practical and benefits everyone: agendas circulated in advance, one speaker at a time, written follow-up, and quiet space treated as a normal part of the building rather than a favour. Routine check-ins that ask what is working make it easier to speak up before tinnitus affects work.

Legal rights and support

In Great Britain, the Equality Act 2010 treats a person as disabled where they have a physical or mental impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Schedule 1 to the Act treats an effect as long-term if it has lasted, or is likely to last, at least 12 months, and as continuing if it is likely to recur. That wording matters for a condition that fluctuates. Whether any individual with tinnitus meets the definition depends on the circumstances.

Acas explains that the duty to make reasonable adjustments applies when an employer knows, or could reasonably be expected to know, that someone is disabled. The employer is responsible for paying for reasonable adjustments. Access to Work, a government scheme, can help with items such as specialist equipment and support workers, but GOV.UK states that it will not pay for reasonable adjustments, and a grant does not have to be repaid. Eligibility should be checked on GOV.UK. The Equality Act 2010 does not apply in Northern Ireland, which has separate legislation. This article is general information rather than legal advice.

Summary

Tinnitus is common, invisible and variable, and its effects at work often look like something else. A manager does not need to understand the cause. What helps is an early, private conversation, adjustments agreed in writing and reviewed, and a clear route to health advice when symptoms are new, one-sided, pulsing or follow a head injury. Where the picture is complicated, or tinnitus occurs alongside hearing loss, a hearing loss workplace assessment can set out the barriers and practical options in a form that managers and referrers can act on.

Next step

If you or someone in your team is deaf, has hearing loss or has tinnitus and would like expert, tailored support to stay productive and comfortable at work, visit https://visualisetrainingandconsultancy.com/workplace-assessments/hearing-loss-workplace-assessment/ to arrange a hearing loss workplace assessment.

Frequently asked questions

What should a manager do when an employee says they have tinnitus?

Arrange a private conversation, listen, and ask what helps and what makes things worse. Agree what will be tried, confirm it in writing and review it. If symptoms are new, one-sided, pulsing or follow a head injury, signpost the employee to health advice.

Is tinnitus a disability under the Equality Act 2010?

It can be. The test is whether the person has an impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities, and whether that is met depends on the circumstances rather than the diagnosis alone.

Does an employer need a medical report before making adjustments?

Acas does not say it must. It says an employer can consider getting medical advice if it needs help deciding what adjustments are needed.

Can Access to Work help someone with tinnitus?

It may, depending on eligibility. GOV.UK says the scheme can help with items such as specialist equipment and support workers, that a grant does not have to be repaid, and that it will not pay for reasonable adjustments, which remain the employer’s responsibility.

When is a workplace assessment worth considering?

It is worth considering when informal changes have not been enough, when tinnitus occurs with hearing loss, or before a return from absence. It identifies practical adjustments and makes no judgement about capability or fitness for work.

Sources

Note on sources: the study findings are taken from a university press release and news coverage, and the full Brain Sciences paper was not reviewed. The figures appear to be self-reported and the authors describe them as preliminary. The NICE page copy checked carried no date. The NHS page was last reviewed in January 2024. This article is general information and is not legal advice.