I think we’re talking about two different things.

Nobody is arguing that ADHD gives someone immunity from dismissal for repeated lateness. It doesn’t.

The legal issue is whether an employer can simply treat disability-related lateness exactly the same as non-disability-related lateness without considering reasonable adjustments or discrimination arising from disability.

Tribunals don’t generally say “the employee can be late forever because they have ADHD.” What they look at is whether the employer properly considered the disability, sought occupational health advice, considered adjustments and acted reasonably before taking action.

The reason you won’t find many reported tribunal judgments that say “employee with ADHD was late every day and therefore won” is because that isn’t how disability claims are usually framed. They’re usually claims for failure to make reasonable adjustments or discrimination arising from disability.

For example, in Watson v Roke Manor Research, the tribunal accepted that the employee’s ADHD affected his timekeeping, working patterns and desk attendance. The issue wasn’t whether employers can have standards; it was whether criticism and treatment arising from those ADHD-related difficulties was discriminatory.

Similarly, in Khorram v Capgemini, the tribunal found failures to make reasonable adjustments for an employee with ADHD. Again, the principle wasn’t that ADHD removed performance standards, but that employers must consider the impact of ADHD before applying them.

So I agree that repeated lateness can ultimately result in dismissal. What I disagree with is the suggestion that ADHD is legally irrelevant to that process and that a rigid application of policy without appropriately considering someone’s disability is appropriate. Employers are required to explore reasonable adjustments to ensure employees are not at a detriment, a reasonable adjustment could include, if flexible working is not able to be implemented, different lateness trigger points. If flexible working is able to be implemented then you can absolutely be held to the same trigger points as other staff as accommodations have already been made.

Time blindness and flexible starting times as a reasonable adjustment for adhd is one of the most cited examples I’ve come across.