Most people don’t declare medical conditions at work unless they absolutely have to.

[Grapesandcheseseplease]

I’ve had a few medical conditions since my twenties (I’m now in my forties) which I never declared on work applications or on health checks at work. I haven’t needed any adaptations at work and no one was in danger so I felt that telling them would be pointless and I would face discrimination. In my last job I declared a medical condition and within weeks was pushed out. Speaking to my friends, it seems we’re quite split.

What do you think?
YABU- I have always been honest about my health in (prospective) jobs.
YANBU- I do not declare heath issues unless absolutely necessary.

YABU - if the company would discriminate, it won’t be a good place for me to work.

It also depends what you do. In some roles that require health clearance, not disclosing would be a dismissable offence.

Totally depends what the job is, and how the condition affects you / could affect you. 🤷‍♀️

Probably depends on what the medical conditions are. I’ve had MH issues for decades and have always hidden them (until they became unavoidable) as the discrimination and stigma has been awful. Quite a change these days when younger people and celebrities are queuing up to declare MH issues.

Depends on the condition and depends on the job. There are no useful generalisations here.

Depends on condition and job. I'm on the lookout for jobs and wouldn't disclose my ADHD (as unlikely to affect my work, I've developed coping mechanisms etc) but would disclose brain tumour and epilepsy because it's a safety risk if I don't. Impossible to make a general statement.

Never declared any medical conditions.

How would you know if your company would discriminate before telling them? It was a dismissible offence in all of my jobs but I took the risk. I lied on medical checks, in 20 years no one ever found out.

I've been honest in the past and had it used against me at work. I haven't declared any of my conditions at my new job and don't intend to unless I have to.

This is exactly my point. People do discriminate even if it is illegal. It’s sad.

This is my experience too. The one time I was honest it was used against me.

No one weds to know so they don't. If my medical conditions required time off or adaptations or made me a risk in the workplace then I'd share, but they don't so i don't.

I know someone who had physical/mental health problems when young, which, although no longer issue and and having no implications for work, led to a lot of employment problems for years afterwards. She stopped disclosing them and the employment problems stopped happening. While making a claim for discrimation could have been possible, it wouldn't have helped in the long term re securing work. I think it's difficult to say unless you're directly affected and, as others have said, depends on the issue.

I wouldn't declare anything unless essential until after getting a job, and then would judge whether it would be helpful or useful or necessary to share.

When I declared mental health issues and medication, I ended up being pushed/bullied out of my job.

So no, I wouldn't declare anything in the future.

Well of course they fucking dont. Take a look at the Dispatches Britains Benefit scandal thread and you will see why!

There is a counterargument that by not disclosing, you make it more difficult to get justice later (if it comes to that). This is particularly important if you have a condition that would mean you're likely to be a considered as having a disability under the Equality Act.

Your protection under the Equality Act arguably doesn't exist if your employer didn't know or couldn't reasonably have known about your condition, and wasn't given the opportunity to offer reasonable adjustments to you.

Failing to disclose has led to ex-employees losing claims at an employment tribunal, essentially because their employer couldn't be expected to be psychic. This happens even when the ex-employee had fair grounds for withholding the information, such as knowing that their employer had discriminated against or treated other employees poorly in relation to their disability / condition.

I'm T2 diabetic (well controlled with no issues) as is my boss. At the beginning of the first lockdown, they were very concerned for him and were preparing for him to wfh. I figured I should mention it at that point as the media were banging on about diabetes and covid and they're a genuinely caring company and would never have forgiven themselves if anything had happened to me.

I convinced them I could also wfh, which I did for three months. Otherwise, knowing what we know now, I guess wish they'd have furloughed me.

Depends on the condition. I have epilepsy that is (thankfully) very well controlled, I've not had a seizure for years. However, it's always a possibility, so I declare it. Declaring also means that if they decide to change my role, or change my conditions of employment, I can say, no, that would be detrimental to my health (if I want to). It's not always a bad thing.

Once you tell work, confidentiality can be an issue even though it shouldn't be. Many colleagues know about my illness who really shouldn't. I'd only told my manager and HR because I was frequently being asked to do tasks that would worsen my illness. I wish I hadn't been forced into telling them but it was increasingly becoming a danger to my health.

I've always been honest. I'm diabetic though, and there might be a safety risk if something happened and no-one knew. I haven't experienced any discrimination to do with my health (that I know about!).

I've got MS. It's pretty obvious when it flares up. So I didn't have much choice but to tell people. My colleagues are all incredibly supportive though.

Unfortunately, I think there's a big difference between declaring a physical disability or condition, and declaring a mental health issue or condition. Whether they'll admit it or not, there are huge issues with employers discriminating against people with MH issues, or just not knowing how to handle them. See also conditions like ADHD and autism.

I have chronic diseases that were well controlled when I applied for my current job but I made clear what they were in my application form, even though at the time I felt a bit foolish because I wasn’t having any difficulties. I’m very glad that I did because they’ve caused me real problems over the years and it proved to be essential that they were marked up right from the beginning as the disabilities that they are.

I have ADHD and wouldn't dream of telling my employer or colleagues. I don't fancy being treated like I've just been released from a secure hospital

Companies discriminate because they rightly judge the risk of action is small and manageable. .
I wouldn't declare anything unless it was unavoidable