Quick answer: Arthritis is almost always treated as a disability under the Equality Act 2010. That gives you the right to reasonable adjustments, protection from unfair treatment because of your condition, and the right to bring an Employment Tribunal claim if your employer gets it wrong. Lawson West’s specialist employment lawyers for employees can help you understand your rights.
For employment law purposes in the UK, arthritis is almost always considered a disability. The Equality Act 2010 defines a disability as a physical or mental impairment that has a “substantial and long-term adverse effect” on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Most forms of arthritis — including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis — typically last well over 12 months and affect everyday tasks such as walking, gripping, typing, lifting or climbing stairs, so they sit comfortably inside that definition. Some less common forms, such as reactive arthritis, may resolve more quickly; whether they meet the test will depend on how long the condition has actually lasted or is likely to last, and whether the effects are likely to recur.
In an employment context, the definition is also satisfied where a condition substantially and long-term affects your ability to participate fully and effectively in working life on an equal basis with your colleagues — an important extension introduced from 1 January 2024 that may help arthritis claimants whose symptoms affect work in ways that don’t map neatly onto “normal day-to-day activities”.
Importantly, the Act also covers conditions where the effects come and go. If your arthritis flares up and then settles down, the law treats those recurring effects as continuous for the purposes of the disability test, provided they are likely to recur. That matters because it means a quiet spell between flare-ups does not strip you of your protection.
You also don’t need a formal “disability” label from your GP or specialist to be protected. If your arthritis has a meaningful, long-term impact on your daily life, the law is on your side. Once you meet the Equality Act test, your employer has clear duties to you, and you have clear arthritis employment rights they must respect.
If your arthritis counts as a disability under the Equality Act, you are protected from four main forms of discrimination at work:
Direct discrimination — being treated less favourably because of your arthritis, for example being passed over for promotion or a new project.
Indirect discrimination — a workplace rule that applies to everyone but puts you at a particular disadvantage, such as a blanket “no flexible hours” policy.
Discrimination arising from your disability — being penalised for something connected to your condition, like sickness absence caused by a flare-up, or slower performance during a bad spell.
Harassment and victimisation — unwanted conduct or bullying linked to your arthritis, or being punished for raising concerns about how you are being treated.
You are also entitled to reasonable adjustments. This is a positive legal duty on your employer to take reasonable steps to remove the disadvantages you face because of your condition. The duty kicks in as soon as your employer knows, or could reasonably be expected to know, about your arthritis, which is why telling them in writing matters.
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in the UK and raises the same workplace protections as any other form. If osteoarthritis affects your hands, knees, hips, spine or shoulders in a way that makes work harder, your employer cannot simply expect you to push through. You are entitled to ask for adjustments, to be properly consulted on any changes that affect you, and to be treated fairly when performance, capability or attendance are being reviewed.
Rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis are autoimmune or inflammatory conditions that typically flare and settle. The fluctuating-effects rule in the Equality Act is particularly important here, because employers sometimes argue “you seemed fine last month” when penalising someone for time off during a flare. Juvenile arthritis carried into adult working life is treated in the same way.
Whichever type you have, the practical advice is the same: tell your employer early, and in writing. Many disputes happen because employers later claim they “didn’t realise” the condition was serious. A short email to your manager or HR confirming a conversation, naming your diagnosis and explaining the impact on your work, can protect your position if things go wrong further down the line.
You aren’t legally obliged to share a diagnosis with your employer, but if you want the protection of the Equality Act and the right to reasonable adjustments, your employer needs to know — or to be reasonably expected to know — about your condition. In practice, most people are better off disclosing than hiding it.
Keep your written disclosure factual and focused on the impact on your work, not the medical detail. A few short sentences are usually enough: what the condition is, how it affects your day-to-day tasks, and what adjustments you would like the employer to consider. Send it to your line manager and HR so there is no doubt the message has landed. If you have an offer letter that hasn’t started yet, you can also disclose at that point, although you don’t have to.
A sensitive employer will respond by opening a conversation, usually with HR and sometimes occupational health, about how best to support you. If your employer responds with silence, defensiveness or pressure to “prove” your condition, that itself can be the first sign of a disability discrimination issue, and it is worth getting early advice from our specialist employment lawyers.
Important — get the disclosure in writing: Verbal conversations with a manager are easy for an employer to later dispute. A short email summarising what you said, sent to your manager and copied to HR, fixes the date your employer was on notice of your condition — and that date often becomes critical if a dispute escalates.
If you’re struggling to work with arthritis in the UK, the right next step is usually a written request for reasonable adjustments. What counts as “reasonable” depends on your role, your symptoms, your workplace and the size of your employer, but the following are commonly accepted:
Not every role is an office role, and the right adjustments look different in a warehouse, retail floor, kitchen, classroom or driving cab. For manual or standing roles that might mean a rotation off the heaviest tasks during a flare, a sit-stand stool, lifting aids, or a temporary swap to a different shift. For driving roles it might mean shorter shifts, more frequent breaks, or a power steering or automatic-gearbox vehicle. The legal test is the same — the practical solutions are different.
You may also be able to get support through Access to Work, a Department for Work and Pensions scheme. Access to Work can fund specialist equipment and assistive software, adaptations to your vehicle, the costs of travelling to work if you cannot use public transport, and the cost of a support worker. It is the employee who applies, not the employer, and the grant sits alongside the reasonable-adjustments duty rather than replacing it — Access to Work is explicit that it does not pay for adjustments your employer is already legally required to make.
If your employer refuses your request, ignores it, or makes only token changes, that may itself amount to disability discrimination, and you should take advice from specialist employment lawyers as early as possible.
If your employer fails to consult you, refuses to investigate your needs, will not make reasonable adjustments, performance-manages you for arthritis-related absence, or dismisses you because they say you “can’t do the job”, you may have a claim for disability discrimination, unfair dismissal, or both. There is no minimum length of service required to bring a disability discrimination claim at the Employment Tribunal.
If a disability discrimination claim succeeds, an Employment Tribunal can order your employer to pay compensation. In general terms that can include financial losses (such as lost pay) and an award for injury to feelings. The tribunal can also make a recommendation that your employer takes specific steps within a stated period to reduce the adverse effect on you — and a failure to comply without reasonable excuse can lead to increased compensation. Every case turns on its own facts, and the level of any award depends on the particular circumstances, which is why an early case assessment with a specialist solicitor matters.
Time limits are strict. In most cases, you must notify ACAS within three months less one day of the act you are complaining about. Contacting ACAS triggers a pause on that clock while Early Conciliation runs — the Early Conciliation period can now run for up to twelve weeks following the change that took effect on 1 December 2025. Missing the original three-month deadline can end your claim before it has started, which is why taking early advice from experienced employment lawyers really does matter.
Heads-up — time limits are due to change: Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, the three-month time limit for most tribunal claims, including disability discrimination, is expected to extend to six months from 1 October 2026. The three-month deadline still applies for now. If you are anywhere near the deadline, do not wait for the law to change — contact us straight away.
In addition to No Win No Fee, Lawson West acts for clients on a range of funding arrangements, including Legal Expenses insurance funding. We’ll assess your case and recommend the funding option that’s best for you.
If you are struggling to work with arthritis in the UK and your employer isn’t getting it right, please get in touch. Our specialist employment lawyers at Lawson West offer a FREE, confidential first conversation, and we’ll tell you honestly whether we think you have a claim worth pursuing. With offices in Leicester and Market Harborough and clients right across the UK, we’re here to help.
Call us on 0116 212 1000 or 01858 445 480, or complete our free online Contact Us form and we’ll be in touch as soon as possible. Please remember, there are strict time limits in employment claims, so don’t wait too long. We’re here to help.
You aren’t legally required to disclose your diagnosis, but if you want the protection of the Equality Act and the right to reasonable adjustments, your employer needs to know, or be reasonably expected to know, about your condition. We usually recommend telling them in writing, keeping the wording factual and focused on how your symptoms affect your work.
Possibly, but only after a fair process. Your employer must consider reasonable adjustments, take medical advice (often from occupational health), and look at whether your absences are linked to your disability before treating them the same as any other sickness. Dismissing you for arthritis-related absence without that process can amount to unfair dismissal and disability discrimination.
Sickness absence does not give you immunity from a genuine redundancy, but the employer must run a fair process and must not let arthritis-related absence skew the selection. If absence is used as a selection criterion, the employer needs to discount disability-related absence or risk a discrimination claim. If you suspect your arthritis was a factor in being put at risk, it is worth taking advice quickly.
No, they only have to make adjustments that are “reasonable” in the circumstances. But they do have to properly consider your request, explore alternatives, and explain any refusal. A flat “no” without consultation rarely meets the legal standard.
Cost is one factor in what is “reasonable”, but it is not a free pass. A tribunal will weigh the cost against the size and resources of the business, the disruption involved, and how effective the adjustment would be. Many adjustments cost very little, and an Access to Work grant may cover specialist equipment, so a blunt “we can’t afford it” answer will rarely succeed on its own.
In practice, no. The Act focuses on the effect of the condition rather than the label. Both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis are typically long-term and substantial in their impact, which is what matters. The Act also gives extra protection for conditions whose effects come and go, which is particularly important for inflammatory forms of arthritis.
Yes, in many cases. The Equality Act covers conditions where the effects “recur” or are likely to recur, even if you have good days and bad days. Flare-ups don’t take you outside the protection of the Act.
The strongest cases are built on a clear paper trail: GP letters, hospital reports, occupational health assessments, your written adjustment requests, your employer’s responses, return-to-work meeting notes, copies of HR correspondence and absence records. Start keeping a dated diary of incidents now — even a few lines in a notebook or on your phone can make a real difference later.
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