Analysis of Employment Tribunal data by Acas shows that 11,958 disability discrimination cases were referred to the body in 2024–25 following a tribunal claim – up from 8,496 in the previous year. Disability issues now feature in 28 per cent of tribunal referrals to Acas, compared to 23 per cent in 2022–23.

Sixteen per cent of all workplace disputes over the past year involved disability discrimination, compared to just nine per cent two years earlier, according to research commissioned by the law firm Nockolds.

The firm said the figures reflect a shift in what is recognised as a disability under the Equality Act 2010, which defines it as a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal daily activities.

“Conditions being classified as disabilities in a way which would not have been considered the norm a few years ago, including mental health” are driving the increase, the researchers said.

A government report published in March found that younger people with mental health conditions were nearly five times more likely to be economically inactive than their peers. The Institute of Financial Studies has separately reported that 13 to 15 per cent of working-age people now live with a long-term mental or behavioural health condition – up from eight to 10 per cent a decade ago.

Legal specialists said many employers remain uncertain about how to interpret or accommodate non-visible impairments, particularly in a climate of rising financial pressure. There are concerns that economic strain – including increased business taxation – may be leading some employers to reduce support for staff with mental health conditions.

Joanna Sutton, a lawyer at Nockolds, said some employers had begun to “scale back flexible working arrangements, sometimes disregarding individual wellbeing,” which had created a “disconnect between expectations and support mechanisms” and was fuelling tensions and formal disputes in the workplace.

She added that while physical adaptations made following earlier disability discrimination legislation, such as installing ramps and lifts, were important, they reflected “a narrow interpretation of disability.” By contrast, mental health concerns still often leave managers “ill-prepared to respond appropriately by making reasonable adjustments or worried about saying the wrong thing.”

She added: “The result is a growing risk of litigation, not necessarily due to malice but due to ignorance or procedural inertia.”