Non-disclosure of disability on Occupational Health questionaire

inglorius

BorisThomson wrote: »

You have had your manner mentioned to you before when you were subject to an investigation, did you not tell them about your condition then?

You are free to declare your condition now and I would encourage you to do so. They may be able to offer you additional mentoring, more regular reviews or other appropriate support so any issues are addressed in a more timely fashion.

I would add a caveat that some employers will not take kindly to you withholding this information. It's not unlawful to do so, and they cannot dismiss you as a direct result of it, but your dishonesty may raise questions as to your overall attitude and (should they wish to) you may be managed out by other means. Disability brings you additional protections, but does not make you unsackable.

I didn't mention this at time as I saw no bearing of my mental health on the investigation being conducted - I was found blameless in the end as I had expected as I had not behaved inappropriately.

sangie595

inglorius wrote: »

I didn't mention this at time as I saw no bearing of my mental health on the investigation being conducted - I was found blameless in the end as I had expected as I had not behaved inappropriately.

That is not necessarily so. The matter was not taken any further. That is not the same thing. A lack of clear evidence at that time may now be reinforced by further complaints. And you need to understand that ignoring inappropriate behaviour is not a reasonable adjustment. Other people have rights to, and those include not being subjected to inappropriate behaviour. What exactly are you expecting by saying that you have a disability now? What are your suggestions for managing this? Because you will get further if you have some positive suggestions.

inglorius

sangie595 wrote: »

That is not necessarily so. The matter was not taken any further. That is not the same thing. A lack of clear evidence at that time may now be reinforced by further complaints. And you need to understand that ignoring inappropriate behaviour is not a reasonable adjustment. Other people have rights to, and those include not being subjected to inappropriate behaviour. What exactly are you expecting by saying that you have a disability now? What are your suggestions for managing this? Because you will get further if you have some positive suggestions.

No this is not correct, I have had Aspergers all of my life but it only has been diagnosed correctly until recently. One of the factors in my diagnosis is becoming aware of how a person with Aspergers behaves in certain circumstances to other people without this disability, specifically people with Aspergers have the tendency to laugh at serious situations whereby other people will find this behaviour strange. As I have not disclosed this disability to my employer they cannot make allowances for this and the original question was should I do this now given I may not have disclosed this on my medical questionnaire.

In terms of managing the situation going forward on top of disclosure I would find it helpful if someone could feedback to me when I was exhibiting this behaviour in certain circumstances as until now I was totally unaware of this situation.

[Deleted User]

I have only recently been diagnosed with ASD, became aware of possibly having it through having my older son reassessed and realising I presented many many of the 'symptoms lol (he was diagnosed as a child, needed reassessing as his abilities had changed).

I lost every job I had due to my communication skills. I'm sure at times I reacted inappropriately., but it would only have been a 'bit' inappropriate.., I would have seemed 'strange' and 'not fitting in' rather than immediately sackable. But I was always sacked in the end because I didn't fit in. At no time were my communication skills given openly as a reason but I am sure this was the reason. So although you haven't been given red flagged incidents, they probably exist as a general 'this person doesn't fit in'. Which causes uneasiness, which means you are a bit more vulnerable to losing your job and being assessed negatively.

So I would go to HR.., give your positive points, but say you recently had some red flagged communication incidents. You have had a recent diagnosis of ASD, didn't think it was important at the time but now you've had these comments made, it may be more relevant to your job than you previously thought. Ask for help but also make it clear how valuable an employee you are.

I watched 'Aspergers and Me' on iplayer (was on last Tuesday). It makes the point that people with Aspergers have some very valuable characteristics like the ability to super focus on things (which can be a positive). Some companies actually look for candidates with Aspergers (as long as they have other skills they are looking for of course).

Ask for help with things that you need support with. Like discuss with your manager (with HR present) what you can do about communication, develop some rules in common situations for example. Perhaps refocus your job on what you are particularly good at and give more support or reduce your input on things you aren't so good at (make a list for each). That's if your employer will do this. You could practice situations with a friend, or colleague. All skills that people with Aspergers find more difficult just means that they are more difficult, not impossible. The fact that I have been walking around for 53 years with unnoticed aspergers demonstrates that its possible to camouflage them, if imperfectly (I was told over and over I didn't have it even by professionals for the last 20 years.., all wrong) lol.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee how receptive your employer will be to any of this. Some people are open to the idea of being supportive and valuing what a person is particularly good at, others will just want people to fit a certain mould. But I'd suggest the above as a way of maximising your chances of coming out of this in a positive way.

I hope this helps.

Energize

Hoogle wrote: »

They can not dismiss you due to a disability, Yes I would advise that if you have something that can effect your ability to do the job as expected then you should discuss it with HR or a trained person within your organisation. However Aspergers is very misunderstood the only thing people that are not fully understanding of the condition think DUstin hoffman in Rainman or watching channel 4s undateable (i think it is CH4) which of course makes people assume we are at the very top of the scale and can not be normal. If you were a kid now it probably would be picked as it was not such common knowledge 40 years ago a lot of us are only just being diagnosed (35 and only diagnosed in July officially) I have had many successful jobs in I.T yet so many problems with arguing with people or being inappropriate especially on bad news etc. But it is down to your workplace to understand how you could behave differently and perhaps make suitable changes to accommodate your needs more. My last job was very understanding allowed me to work flexible hours, gave me my own office and completely ignored any kind of dress code and just let me be. On 1 occasion a client came in and complained about something I was saying and my manager stood up and told them if they dont like it then take their business elsewhere and explained that I have aspergers and I was very good at my job which is all that counts not my social interaction skills.

Wow, that's shocking, your manager actually disclosed your medical history to a client like that?!

sangie595

inglorius wrote: »

No this is not correct, I have had Aspergers all of my life but it only has been diagnosed correctly until recently. One of the factors in my diagnosis is becoming aware of how a person with Aspergers behaves in certain circumstances to other people without this disability, specifically people with Aspergers have the tendency to laugh at serious situations whereby other people will find this behaviour strange. As I have not disclosed this disability to my employer they cannot make allowances for this and the original question was should I do this now given I may not have disclosed this on my medical questionnaire.

In terms of managing the situation going forward on top of disclosure I would find it helpful if someone could feedback to me when I was exhibiting this behaviour in certain circumstances as until now I was totally unaware of this situation.

Which bit isn't right? I didn't say that you hadn't had Aspergers all your life. And I have already explained that the employer cannot be held to know about a disability that you haven't declared. Perhaps you don't agree that others have rights too? Or that this may now explain a pattern of behaviours that appear to be noted? Or that you should not offer positive suggestions as to how the employer can help?

I find it hard to believe that you had such a diagnosis so very recently and just forgot to mention it on a health questionnaire with your new employer. I can quite understand why you might decide not to mention it. But not how you forget it. But you need to appreciate how this looks. You have 13 months employment. You have already had one investigation against you, which may take on a very different light in hindsight. You have, only a few days ago, been disputing overtime in the employers busiest period, even though you were told when you started about the requirements to work overtime and that it was their busiest period (and by the way, I don't understand how, as either an employee or as a supervisor, you didn't know about the overtime and the leave ban when you have already worked there through a Christmas period - when you asked about this a week or so ago you said that you'd only been there for 9 months, but you now say since September 2016). Now you have been told that there are complaints of inappropriate behaviour, and you have suddenly remembered that you have a disability that you think trumps that problem, but need to now declare it. Don't you see how that looks?

If all you want is an answer to the question you asked answered, then yes, if you have a disability you should declare it. If you actually want to know how to handle this so that it doesn't reflect as badly on you as it is currently shaping up to do, you need to listen to what else is being said. No sensible employer is going to dismiss you for a disability. But a disability is not a free pass. If you expect that all you must do is tell them, and suddenly all your problems go away as being explained, then that is highly unlikely to happen. And you can still be dismissed for lots of other things.

inglorius

sangie595 wrote: »

I find it hard to believe that you had such a diagnosis so very recently and just forgot to mention it on a health questionnaire with your new employer. I can quite understand why you might decide not to mention it. But not how you forget it.

I was diagnosed with Aspergers before I started with the company, I genuinely cannot remember if I declared this or not on the company health questionnaire given this was 13 months ago, I know I have not made separate representations to HR or my line manager about this condition. I was quite reticent at the time of starting with my new company about declaring a mental illness as I was worried about it being viewed prejudicially against myself.

inglorius

sangie595 wrote: »

Now you have been told that there are complaints of inappropriate behaviour, and you have suddenly remembered that you have a disability that you think trumps that problem, but need to now declare it. Don't you see how that looks?

I appreciate what you're saying, this behaviour has never been raised to me before so I have never linked it to my condition. I did do some Googling over this weekend and found several articles linking this behaviour to children and adults with Aspergers which was a voyage of understanding for myself. I am not trying to use this as a get out of jail free card merely trying to ask the company to understand how my mental health condition influences my behaviour.

theoretica

As well as having your manager and HR aware, I suggest you give some thought to openly telling colleagues. I have some friends who would probably not be my friends if they were not open about their mental differences, diagnosed or not. Much as I would like to say that I treat everyone as an individual, there are times when I need the extra explanation of their behaviour to not be hurt by it.

sangie595

inglorius wrote: »

I appreciate what you're saying, this behaviour has never been raised to me before so I have never linked it to my condition. I did do some Googling over this weekend and found several articles linking this behaviour to children and adults with Aspergers which was a voyage of understanding for myself. I am not trying to use this as a get out of jail free card merely trying to ask the company to understand how my mental health condition influences my behaviour.

I'm not sure how much more simply I can put this. I've said it several times but it doesn't seem to take. It is irrelevant what your reasons for doing something are. It is how it looks, and the context it is placed in. "How it looks" matters. When all of this is taken together, it doesn't look good. We can be as understanding as we want - we don't employ you. But look at it from where they are sitting. We are assuming that you didn't declare it; that there already been an investigation into you which in hindsight might be more explicable; that you don't want to work the extra overtime that was part and parcel of the job; and that your erratic or inappropriate behaviour is now a result of a disability that you had when you started and didn't declare (so quite possibly lied on the form). It doesn't matter whether it is true that you lied or not, and it doesn't matter how true or otherwise any of the rest of it is. What matters is that it looks bad. You are stacking up being a problem employee. Which is something you don't want to be seen as.

Now you have very little choice about telling them now. But you need that approach to be as positive as possible - you having taken on board the criticism, explaining your issue and offering solutions. And on everything else, you need to put your head firmly under the parapet and draw no attention whatsoever. The more effectively you do that, the better your chances of surviving this. Because regardless of your disability, it is never impossible for an employer to find a legally fair reason to dismiss if they decide to look for one. Your job here is to make sure they don't want to look for one.