If an employee claims he has a disability which he claims requires reasonable adjustment to be made (change of line manager and reduction in duties), but that adjustment can only be accommodated by moving another employee out of their job (i.e. swapping two employees), are we obliged to try to make such a move? It seems to us that the second employee would have a potential claim for constructive dismissal or similar if they were unhappy that the job they had been doing was effectively being given to another person.

Section 16(3)(a) of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 and 2004 requires an employer to take appropriate measures, where needed in a particular case, to enable a person who has a disability to participate in employment, unless such measures impose a disproportionate burden on the employer. Appropriate measures include the adaptation of premises and equipment, patterns of working time, distribution of tasks, or the provision of training or integrating resources. They are not required where the measures would impose a disproportionate burden on the employer, considering the financial and other costs entailed, the scale of financial resources of the employer’s business and the possibility of