does the employer need to know about the illness?

trishaa

hi there, need some advice please, would i need to tell a new employer about an illness i have? should i mention this in the interview? i have a big gap in my cv, so therefore there will be questions asked. what do you think?

not sure what to do...any help will be great

thanks

kaya

depends if the illness is going to affect your abiliy to do your job, falsifying your application form could be seen as gross misconduct

Emmzi

is the illness done and dusted and unlikely to reoccur? In which case, be hinest, state what you have done to get back into a 'working hours' routine, and go for it.

If it is likely to reoccur, would it be classed as a disability?

trishaa

i have an illness called lupus. thanks

Emmzi

trishaa wrote: »

i have an illness called lupus. thanks

so, you will have periods of feeling ok, and flare ups when you are not so well, but you cannot predict when these will be - but to some extent you can manage symptoms through lifestyle and medication.

I think it depends how bad/ frequent your flare ups are, but I would be inclined to be honest. You may need time off in the future and if it transpires you have lied on your application, you can be dismissed.

I would also pick my employers carefully. I am not 100% but think you would have DDA protection, and I would look at employers like eg local council who are more 'disability friendly'.

You may also like to try short term temping first to get back into a work routine. 2/ 3 week contracts at a time may help you test the water.

Do you have a local support group? They may also know of friendly employers.

DrFluffy

As you have a chronic disease I think honesty would probably be your best policy. You never know when you might flare, and outpatient appointments etc will probably otherwise need to be covered by your holiday entitlement. If they offer you the job then you need to take lots of time off and they find out it was a pre-exisiting condition they are perfectly within their rights to let you go. If you are honest, you have more protection.

How are you going to answer questions re: the gaps in your CV otherwise? Even the most accomplished liar would probably struggle to avoid alerting someones !!!!!!!!ometer!

trishaa

thanks for ur reply Emmzi. the job is for working with the nhs. when i submitted my application form i didnt state that i had a disability.

Do you consider yourself to have a disability? in which I put No.

dont know what to do now. i have a gap in my cv so questions will be asked. i would rather be honest. would do you think?

the only reason i put 'no' was because i have not been successful with any other applications when i told the truth, so i decided to change it to no, and now i have been offered an interview.

thanks

DrFluffy

The key here is the word consider... You do not consider yourself to be disabled, but you do have an illness...

Emmzi

trishaa wrote: »

i have a gap in my cv so questions will be asked. i would rather be honest. would do you think?

do you want to work for someone who wouldn't understand and ony takes you because you are untruthful?

In my experience the NHS are a tough employer and stick to their policies so I would expect you to be dismissed if it came to light later.

How else would you explain your absence? How long was it for? How good a liar are you over a sustained period? I couldn't, but I know others who could... personal choice.

OTOH you may want to tell them only if they make you an offer.

trishaa

I think I will just discuss it in the interview. and if the ask me y i did not mention it in my application, i can say that i do not consider myself to be disabled, but i do have an illness.

i would feel at ease if they knew my situation

ps. the time off was about 2 and a half years

Emmzi

trishaa wrote: »

I think I will just discuss it in the interview. and if the ask me y i did not mention it in my application, i can say that i do not consider myself to be disabled, but i do have an illness.

i would feel at ease if they knew my situation

ps. the time off was about 2 and a half years

That is a bit long to explain, yes.

However its great you are feeling able to work again. Fingers crossed.