Disability Claims Are Up 79% and tribunals are booking into 2023

Disability discrimination claims now account for 15 per cent of all UK employment tribunal cases. In the last year alone, they rose 79 per cent.

According to a report by Littler, the last quarter saw 4,056 disability discrimination claims, up from 2,272 in the same period the year before. The year to 31 March 2026 has been a watershed, and neurodiversity is right at the centre of it.

More people are being diagnosed, more people are self-diagnosing, and more people are looking at their workplace and realising that the adjustments they were promised are not actually happening.

Lisa Coleman, senior associate at Littler, says greater awareness of neurodiversity is a positive development but is "undoubtedly creating new challenges for employers." And she’s half right. The challenge is not new - it is the same challenge employers have always had: closing the gap between what they want to look like they do, and what they actually do.

Here’s what the data actually tells us:

The claims are not rising because people have suddenly become more litigious, they are rising because the workforce is more aware of what it is entitled to, and employers are still treating reasonable adjustments as a favour rather than a requirement.

When an employee with ADHD asks for a different communication style and is told to "just try harder," they do not file a claim the next day. They usually try harder, then harder again, then burn out, then leave, then sue. The 79 per cent rise is the sound of people finally running out of patience.

Littler's advice is standard-issue but correct: train your managers, document conversations early, get occupational health advice, and remember that two employees with the same condition may need completely different support.

The report also notes that employees with ADHD or autism often experience anxiety and depression alongside their primary condition, which means employers are frequently facing claims about multiple conditions stacked on top of one another. This is not a complication to be managed. It is a reality to be designed for.

If you are an employer reading this, the temptation is to see the 79 per cent rise as a threat. Reframe it as data. It is your workforce telling you, in the most formal language available, that the current model is not working.

The question is whether you are going to listen before a tribunal forces you to?