Disability status

Mrsn · 22 August 2019 at 4:35PM

when applying for jobs etc usually you are asked do you consider yourself to have a disability etc. In the past I have always answered no because from my own viewpoint I don’t see my conditions as a disability.

I have 2 auto immune conditions (1 of which affects the function of my bowel), some degeneration in my spine and wear hearing aids in both ears. Just for good fun my pancreas has an anomaly which has been present since birth but fortunately doesn’t cause too many issues.

It’s quiet a mix but everything is generally well controlled after a blip earlier this year and although I see a few different consultants I usually go 6 months ish between each appointment (and I try to schedule these on my days off to lessen the impact at work)

I guess my question am I doing the right thing by saying no the question when asked

KatrinaWaves · 22 August 2019 at 4:43PM

There is no requirement for you to declare every health issue you have.

The issue would only arise if there was something you couldnt do due to a disability, you didnt tell them, and then tried to claim you had been discriminated against if they asked you to do it or couldnt continue your employment because of it etc.

Medical appointments wouldnt come under this.

For example an incident we had recently at work, we hired a new person to work across multiple sites including driving in between sites. we work til 5pm and it can be dark at that time during Winter. A new employee then declared she had a disability which meant she could not drive in the dark (not sure if this was physical sight or anxiety based) we had to let her go as this did not fit what we needed her to do and she had not declared this issue to us.

Undervalued · 22 August 2019 at 4:44PM

I guess my question am I doing the right thing by saying no the question when asked

Possibly not.

If you don't declare a disability then you cannot expect your employer to make "reasonable adjustments" to help you work effectively (unless the disability is so obvious they should have been aware).

Equally if they don't offer you the job because of your undeclared disability, it would be hard to make a discrimination claim against them.

Tigsteroonie · 22 August 2019 at 4:47PM

When applying, check to see if the employer is part of the Disability Confident ("two ticks") scheme. If they are, it is worth declaring Yes to the disability question, as it means they are looking to increase their numbers of disabled employees and make a positive decision to interview those who meet the essential criteria for a role, regardless of whether you are the best candidate or not.

TELLIT01 · 22 August 2019 at 5:44PM

If the question is "Do you consider yourself to have a disability" and you answer No, presumably you can't then ask for 'reasonable adjustment' for a disability at work.

Mrsn · 22 August 2019 at 8:11PM

Thank you all for your insight.

Ive always been honest with the bowel condition and declared that with the medical screenings questionnaires and have been fortunate that my employers have made reasonable adjustments for me in the instance of a flare up.

I certainly wouldn't expect any employer to accommodate any needs they hadn't been told about prior to my employment.

Tigsteroonie thank you so much for that tip, its most appreciated

Savvy_Sue · 22 August 2019 at 8:34PM

It could be worth saying "I have X condition, Y condition and wear hearing aids, however none of these would usually affect my ability to work as a widget counter" or whatever the job is.

difficultguy · 23 August 2019 at 7:55AM

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

When applying, check to see if the employer is part of the Disability Confident ("two ticks") scheme. If they are, it is worth declaring Yes to the disability question, as it means they are looking to increase their numbers of disabled employees and make a positive decision to interview those who meet the essential criteria for a role, regardless of whether you are the best candidate or not.

Thanks for your reply. But how to find about if any of employer is part of the Disability Confident Scheme? I have tried on website, its not very helpful.

Yes, its true, If I dont declare, I can expect any consideration to my disability. But on the coincide, I am not sure if they will accommodate any invisible disability in their companies.

Manxman_in_exile · 23 August 2019 at 10:55AM

I suffer infrequently from iritis/uveitis which has been diagnosed as having an auto-immune causation.

I haven't had an episode for nearly ten years but when I did have the last one in 2010, I was signed off work for nearly a month (I was effectively blind in one eye and couldn't use a computer*). Even if I hadn't been signed off I had to attend the Eye Casualty dept at my local hospital every other day and that took up half a day for each appointment.

Personally, I would declare an auto-immune condition in case it subsequently becomes more of a problem. (My iritis started off with relatively low grade episodes that didn't affect me at work, but the last one was really severe and very resistant to treatment - apart from the standard eye drop treatment I had to have three injections in my eye).

* My specialist also signed me off because I had to put drops in my eye every 30 minutes and he said there was no way I'd be able to keep to that at work. EDIT: And he was right. It was difficult enough to do at home!

difficultguy · 23 August 2019 at 2:54PM

TELLIT01 wrote: »

If the question is "Do you consider yourself to have a disability" and you answer No, presumably you can't then ask for 'reasonable adjustment' for a disability at work.

I had meeting with a career adviser. She suggested that I do NOT have to declare disability but once contract is signed, then you can declare it to your line manager. Since this hidden disability does NOT effect your work, therefore company can not sack you once you signed the contract.

But I will take a cautionary approach.

Disability status

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