Didnt disclosed depression on pre-employment form

mr_munchem

dori2o wrote: »

An emoyer has no legal right to ask for this information, and it is at the applicants discretion as to whether they disclose the information.

An employer may however need to ensure that where the role requires the applicant is fit to do the job. i. e. if the role requires high levels of physical work it may not be possible for a person with a history of heart problems to do the role. The armed forces for example will not allow people who have a history of fits and epilepsy.

Also, the employer has a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments to people who meet the Equality Acts definition of disability.

They can only make these adjustments where they know that an employee has a disability.

Depression, where it has a significant affect on a persons day to day living, and has, or is expected to last more than 12 months, is very likely to meet the Acts definition of a disability.

Its entirely up to you whether you disclose the information, and unless it would prevent you from doing the job, i. e like the issue of the armed forces, the employer cannot dismiss you for not disclosing unless they made it clear on the form that not disclosing is a disciplinary issue, AND by dismissing you they are deemed to NOT be discriminating against a disabled person.

It would help if you could provide information of what the job entails and how advanced/what issues you face with your medical issues.

Employers can ask questions about health once an offer of work has been made, as long as they have a justifiable reason for the questions asked. Employers have a duty to ensure that the workplace is safe, and so therefore these questions may be relevant.

OP - did they explain what would happen with the form? Depression might not be a problem, they might just want you to see an Occupational Health Specialist to gain more specialist information on how your depression may affect your work.

Ultimately, lying on a form like this, even if not expressly stated, would undermine the mutual duty of trust and confidence in all employment contracts and so this could be a fair reason to dismiss.

mr_munchem

Detroit wrote: »

OP, in your initial post you say ' if I get the offer' By this, do you mean you were asked the health questions before the job offer was made? If so, I do not believe the employer acted legally as my understanding is that these questions should only be asked when you are made an offer.

Contact the equalities advisory service or disability rights alliance (sorry no link, but you can easily find with a search) to check before taking action.

Good point, the legality of these questions does ride on whether it was before or after a job offer.

dori2o

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I thought it was OK post interview? Which presumably the OP has got through OK.

OP, you could just withdraw your application, but why is that a better option than phoning HR and explaining that you wanted to give more details? They'll either decide not to proceed with making an offer, or accept the amendment.

Why you thought saying 'no' on a form where you also gave permission for your GP to be contacted remains a mystery ...

They can 'ask' for the information at any time they please, but there is no law that says an applicant has to disclose to an employer.

The way employers get around this is to include a statement that reads along the lines of 'failure to provide accurate information may lead to an offer of employment being withdrawn, or may result in disciplinary action'.

OP.

There is no 'legal' action the employer could take against you.

I would not withdraw the application either.

Despite the fact you have not disclosed this illness you still have a strong position. Depression, even where you are currently managing it, where it is/has been a long term issue, is likely to be considered to be a disability. Therefore they wouldnt be able to dismiss you simply on the basis that you have a mental illness/ depression.

Instead I would speak to my GP and ask for a letter that explains when you were diagnosed, what steps you have taken to manage the illness, and confirm that these steps you are taking are helping you to manage it. I might also ask them to include a paragraph regarding what signs to look out for/triggers etc to help you to keep on managing the illness. I would then send this to the company with a brief note explaining that you didnt believe that you needed to disclose the illness as it has been managed sucessfully for some time, but on reflection having thought about it further, you wanted to provide them with a detailed account of the nature of the illness.

They may not care about the fact you've left it undisclosed and offer you a job.

If you withdraw the application you will never know whether or not that is the case.

dori2o

mr_munchem wrote: »

Good point, the legality of these questions does ride on whether it was before or after a job offer.

There is no law that prevents them from asking the questions, but pre job offer they cannot insist on disclosure.

Edit:

It seems on further investigation that this should only be done at the point where the employer has completed the initial 'sift' of applicants following a formal bulk recruitment process. i. e where a job offer is likely after the application is submitted and a pool of applicants now exists after review of the application forms has taken place.

This is known often as the 'pre-employment phase'

The employer cannot require staff to undergo occ health referrals prior to a job offer and acceptance.

They can however ask these questions/request assessment at pre employment stage, when an offer of employment has been made to:

Require assessment to ascertain suitability for the role

Determine any reasonable adjustment requirements

Determine if the applicant can manage tasks intrinsic to the role, i.e heavy lifting etc

To monitor diversity

To support positive action (positive discrimination) regarding the employment of disabled people

Where the role requires the applicant to be a person with a protected characteristic, i. e of a certain age, sex, sexual preference, be disabled etc.


Once the employer is within this pre-employment phase of their recruitment process then they can ask what they want. However, the applicant is still under no requirement to disclose.

The employer however can make it clear that failure to disclose may lead to withdrawl of the job offer, or, disiplinary issues if discovered after employment has commenced.

Detroit

dori2o wrote: »

There is no law that prevents them from asking the questions, but pre job offer they cannot insist on disclosure.

I believe that it is no longer legal to ask the questions pre offer but am prepared to be proved wrong.

unforeseen

In the original post the OP stated that the form is in sealed envelope. I presume that it will only be opened if the OP is going to be offered the job.

At this point neither HR nor the interview panel are aware of the content so will not be basing their job offer on it.

dori2o

Information about these questions and when they can be asked is here

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/85013/employment-health-questions.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjr2carr-HZAhXGJ8AKHZYhDlgQFjABegQICRAB&usg=AOvVaw2zJMgERqT-n_TFzwpPyeH1

Les79

unforeseen wrote: »

In the original post the OP stated that the form is in sealed envelope. I presume that it will only be opened if the OP is going to be offered the job.

At this point neither HR nor the interview panel are aware of the content so will not be basing their job offer on it.

Aye!

Also, is there a possibility that OP has filled in an "equal opportunities" form which is effectively anonymised and serves to provide information on what sort of people are applying for the jobs?

Ero33

I handed in the form two days after the interview and im still waiting to hear back from them. This was last week and they said it might take up to three weeks as they are still interviewing People.

[Deleted User]

Hi

I would really like your input on this. i ticked no for depression and no for medication on the pre,-employment form. However Ive been diagnosed with it and do take meds for it. Also gave them my consent to check my medical records. I would be a lotnmore comfortable disclosing information if or when they would make a job offer (i submitted the questionaire after the interview in a sealed envelope).

If i get the offer can i amend the information or should I just decline the offer as i dont want to be fired due to grossmisconduct ?

This is the original post if anyone is interested.