Zurich UK is offering all employees assessments for neurodiversity as part of its private healthcare package from 2025.
It was announced alongside research showing the significant discrimination and prejudice those with neurodiversity experience in the workplace and job market.
The assessment will be free and available to all employees following a GP referral and to children and partners if they are added to the healthcare plan.
The insurer said the enhancement was being introduced in recognition of the benefits to employees.
The research found neurodivergent adults who had a formal diagnosis felt more confident at work (54%), had better mental health (64%) and understood themselves more (66%).
However, the survey of 1,000 neurodivergent UK adults conducted by OnePoll also revealed the severe discrimination that many were subject to in the job market.
Half of neurodivergent adults had been discriminated against when looking for a job with 21% laughed at and 16% had job offers rescinded because of neurodiversity
A further 27% had comments made about their abilities while 25% were ghosted by a recruiter after disclosing.
Two thirds (63%) said employers saw neurodiversity as a red flag and half (51%) felt they could not or should not disclose their neurodiversity due to the stigma.
Weed out rather than assess
Overall, the majority of respondents (54%) felt recruitment processes were designed to weed out neurodivergent people rather than assess abilities.
More than a third of neurodivergent job seekers said they had panicked in an interview because the question structure was overly complicated (37%).
Furthermore, a quarter had struggled with long and elaborate applications (26%), vague job descriptions that were hard to relate to (24%) and timed tasks (23%).
Group-setting assessments (22%) and pre-prepared presentation tasks (17%) were also flagged as considerable barriers to neurodivergent candidates.
Nearly all respondents said these barriers had negatively impacted their earning capacity (92%), confidence (96%), mental health (95%) and ability to self-promote (93%).
There were some positive elements to the findings 63% saying things were better than they used to be for neurodivergent people at work and 55% admitting it is easier to disclose neurodiversity than it used to be.
Adjustments and support
Just one in six (17%) neurodivergent adults say they were offered adjustments unprompted when asked to interview for a role, while a third said they were, but only after asking (32%).
Zurich noted this left 42% who were not offered adjustments, despite the Equality Act 2010 stating employers must make reasonable adjustments for job applicants.
The five adjustments that neurodivergent job seekers found most helpful were:
- Explaining instructions and expectations clearly in advance e.g., the interview format, location, duration and process (38%)
- Removing group interviews and assessments (32%)
- Only asking for essential job requirements and qualifications e.g., not specifying a degree unless it’s essential to the role (32%)
- Avoid using ambiguous, literal or subjective language in job descriptions e.g., a “good” communicator (30%)
- Sharing adaptations that can be given or have been given before as examples (29%)
Zurich chief HR officer Steve Collinson said: “With over half of neurodivergent adults experiencing discrimination and two thirds saying employers see their neurodiversity as a ‘red flag’, it’s clear there is still a way to go when it comes to creating neuroinclusive workplaces.
“Our research shows that traditional recruitment processes are creating unnecessary barriers for these candidates and could be excluding as much as 15% of the job market, which is why it’s so important that employers adopt inclusive practices at hiring level – not just to already onboarded employees.
“We aim to create a workplace that gives the widest representation of our customers – to run a business effectively you need the widest range of diversity in your teams, and this includes neurodiversity.
“To help us achieve this, we’ve introduced a range of practices to support our neurodivergent employees and are delighted to be introducing neurodiversity assessments to help others get the help and support they need.”
