On 2 October 2026, a government-backed panel proposed that employers answer every reasonable adjustment request within two weeks. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published the Expert Academic Panel on Neurodiversity's final report that day, with a government response alongside it.

The two-week reply is a proposal, not law. The report creates no new legal duties for employers, and the government hasn't committed to the deadline. Knowing which parts are real decides how you use it.

What the panel proposed

The panel's central recommendation is a needs-led approach. Support should depend on the barriers you face in your role. A diagnosis report isn't the test. As reported by VinciWorks on the day of publication, the panel's reasoning is that people with the same diagnosis can need different things, and that diagnosis waits are long.

It also recommends that employers talk with staff about what they find difficult, what they do well and what would help, without waiting for a formal request. Employers should review adjustments regularly, because an arrangement that works in one role can fail after a change. And they should consider adjustments before starting a formal capability or performance procedure.

Those ideas matter more to a dyslexic worker than the headline deadline. Each one gives you wording you can quote.

Use the needs-led idea first: describe the task that costs you the most, and leave the diagnosis report for later.

What the government accepted, and what it didn't

The DWP response, also published on 2 October 2026, says the government supports the panel's key recommendation that neuro-inclusion at work be needs-led. On the two-week reply, it says only that it is aware of stakeholder concerns, and it points to reasonable adjustments as a focus of the Keep Britain Working vanguard. VinciWorks reports the deadline as not adopted.

Other items in the package are further off. The government says it will introduce mandatory disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting for employers with 250 or more staff "as soon as parliamentary time allows", with no date given. It also plans to relaunch the Disability Confident scheme with tougher criteria, since it agrees the scheme has lacked clarity, consistency and accountability.

Quote the needs-led principle with confidence, and never tell an employer they must reply in two weeks.

What UK law already says about timing

Section 20 of the Equality Act 2010 puts a duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments. The Act sets no number of days. The test is whether the step, and the time it takes, are reasonable.

That gap is why delay is the common complaint. In Rashid v the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, a tribunal looked at adjustments that arrived seven months late for a dyslexic employee, and we cover it in our piece on an unminuted downgrade meeting.

25%

Only 41% of dyslexic adults in Scotland received workplace adjustments, and just 25% of those called them very or extremely helpful, in a survey of 1,420 adults. Source: Dyslexia Scotland and University of Glasgow survey, launched October 2024, reported by Daily Record Insider.

A two-week standard would give workers a number to point at. Until a rule exists, a fixed date in your own email does a similar job.

The law gives you a duty with no clock, so create your own clock in writing.

Why dropping the diagnosis requirement matters

A private dyslexia assessment in the UK costs £690 with a specialist teacher or £882 with a psychologist, according to the British Dyslexia Association (checked August 2026). In the US, private evaluations run from $1,500 to $5,000 or more, based on Sachs Center pricing. Many workers wait months or pay that sum before anyone discusses a change.

A needs-led approach cuts that step out of the conversation. Your manager can start with "what slows you down?" instead of "where is your report?". The Equality Act already works this way, since a diagnosis isn't required for a reasonable adjustment, but the panel's language makes it harder for an employer to insist.

If an employer asks for a report before talking, point to the needs-led principle and offer your task, effect and change instead.

Where Access to Work fits in

Many dyslexic workers wait for Access to Work before anything changes. The House of Commons Library put the average processing time at 100.5 days in June 2026. Two weeks is a very different expectation.

The government says it is recruiting to raise Access to Work staffing by over 70%, and its press release says nearly 500 extra staff are joining to clear the backlog. That may shorten waits in time, but nothing in the report changes who pays now. Your employer's duty under the Equality Act doesn't pause while a grant is decided.

Our Access to Work calculator shows what you could claim, and the Access to Work guide walks through the application.

Ask your employer to act on low-cost changes now, and let Access to Work cover the larger items afterwards.

How to use the report in a written request

Start with the task, the effect and the change. For example: "Action points agreed in meetings drop out of my head before I can write them down. Please send a written summary within a day of each meeting."

Then add two lines that borrow from the report. First, say you are asking for support based on your needs in this role, as the panel's needs-led approach describes. Second, ask for a written reply by a date, such as 14 days after you send the email.

If a performance or capability process is already open, ask for the adjustment to be considered first. That is one of the panel's recommendations, and it puts the question on record. Date the email, send it, and keep a copy.

A dated request with a reply date turns a hint into something your employer has to answer.

Your tribunal clock has also changed (UK)

From 1 October 2026, the time limit for most employment tribunal claims is six months instead of three. It applies to acts or failures on or after that date, according to the Employment Rights Act 2025. Our decision piece on the six-month deadline covers what to weigh first.

If a dispute does start, contact ACAS before anything else. Early conciliation is free, and it pauses the limitation clock.

Keep your dated emails in one folder, because they are your timeline if a dispute starts.

If you work in the US

This report is a UK document and has no force in the US. The ADA expects employer and employee to talk through an accommodation, and that process is called the interactive process. A written request that names the task and one specific change gives that conversation something to work from.

In the US, a discrimination charge to the EEOC generally has to be filed within 180 days, or 300 days in many states. The EEOC and the Job Accommodation Network (askjan.org) both offer free guidance.

US readers can borrow the task, effect and change format, but should leave the UK deadlines out of the conversation.

What this means for you

Here's the call. Pick the one task where dyslexia costs you the most time, and write it up as task, effect and change.

Send it to your manager or HR this week, and ask for a written reply by a date 14 days away. Say plainly that you are asking for support based on your needs in your role.

Nobody has to meet that date yet, and you should expect some employers to take longer. If the date passes, send a short, polite follow-up and keep both emails. Our disclosure guide covers who to tell first, and the article archive has more tribunal and rights coverage.

The proposal isn't law, but a reply date in your own email costs you nothing and builds your record.

Not sure where to start? The dyslexia assessment cost guide covers UK and US prices in 2026, and what having a formal report can mean if you ever need to show evidence.