Legal obligation or personal lottery? Employee experiences of disability and the negotiabon of adjustments in the public sector workplace

This article 'gives voice' to disabled employees by documenting their experiences of negotiating workplace adjustments under the terms of the UK's Disability Discrimination Act, 1995. This ad hoc process of 'negotiation' is explored through in-dept interviews that reveal persistent problems with the character of legislation and its implementation in public sector organizations. Negotiations on adjustments were characteristically highly individualized and outcomes almost entrely contingent upon the knowledge, attitudes and goodwill of pooly trained line managers. The adjustment process itself often led to instances of bullying by managers, resulting in stress and ill health among employees. An analysis of managers' behaviour in the context of wider debates on power and organizational decision-making concludes that even where outcomes are positive for emploees, managers still choose to abdicate responsibility in this area. Such behaviour represents a form of non-decision-making that is essentially political in character and has wider implications for equality agendas.