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.

I worked for a company that would bend over backwards and sound thousands supporting members of staff with a disability, always getting professional advice from "access to work" in the first instance.

Spend not sound !

I really, really wish all companies were like that. Sadly, so many aren't and disabilities and mental health conditions are still severely discriminated against.

I wouldn’t knowingly employ someone with MH issues though, as I know from personal experience how debilitating they can be. I wouldn’t fancy having to manage them when they were struggling and it would be very disruptive to the business.

Quite.

That said I always have and have had no problems with doing so. But I suspect that being highly skilled and highly qualified makes a difference, as well as the type of employer.

Never. It's none of their bloody business. One HR lady told me I was legally bound to declare any health issues. Nonsense.

And this is exactly why nobody hires anyone who struggles.

Well fucking done.

Why are you being so rude to me? I’m stating my opinion as a lifelong suffer of severe MH problems.

Never been asked. Is that commonplace? Obviously it would be for some jobs involving machinery, driving or personnel/medical care etc but for the average office job why would they care? We do have private health insurance and I answer that honestly but that’s just between me and the insurer, they can’t disclose anything to my employer.

It's not rude to be angry at someone who has openly declared that they discriminate against people

I know someone (a nurse) who was dismissed for failing to declare to occupational health, and lost a tribunal, so lost their registration.

You wouldn’t know before telling them, that’s my point. By telling them, you’d find out whether it’s somewhere you want to work.

My work know all about my physical disability. They know nothing about my mental health condition.

Why would I choose to employ someone like me who struggles to get out of bed some days and can’t focus enough to watch the TV let alone concentrate to do my job? That’s just being honest.

I would have to be honest and declare my chronic medical condition as I have 8 weekly treatments at the hospital. I’m currently job hunting and the thought of bringing this up during an interview is a little daunting, I also imagine it might have negative implications for my success but I’d prefer to be honest from the start as it’s not something I could hide from them.

Because not everyone who has mental health issues struggles to get out of bed and can't even watch the TV

Starting to think you're on the wind up, tbh.

Not a wind up at all, I just know how difficult MH issues can be to fight and I wouldn’t take the risk of employing someone who declared them.

I declared mine at interview because I need reasonable adjustments

Oh and also time to have bloods and a hospital appointment every 8-12 weeks. I take it as annual leave though

@Owwwwwww it is challenging to manage an employee who has mental health struggles. I had to manage a team of young people who all developed anxiety if they were given a warning over terrible timekeeping.

I found those who genuinely struggled with disabilities were more likely to want to succeed despite their difficulties

Yanbu but someone will come along with a rose-tinted view of the modern workplace. Morality is a separate question, we'd all like to think the best of others and the workplace but the truth of it is if you can manage without telling a soul then take that route. Discrimination won't show up a neatly wrapped package labelled 'get this one out', it will be very subtle, almost to the point you'd feel odd questioning it, but that doubt will always linger. All else being equal don't declare it.

Yes, I’m not denying that they want to succeed, but if they are struggling then by definition it will impact their ability to perform, through no fault of their own.

Edit to add that is was in response to @ohyesido

Unfortunately society likes to persecute those who are deemed to be different, more vulnerable or weaker.

For me it would be people looking at me in a certain way and expecting me to behave in a certain way based on stereotypes relating to my condition. So i don't tell anyone irl

I agree with this.

I travel for work so for insurance purposes have had to tell them about some recent physical health issues- and also because I’ll need leave for surgery. But otherwise I wouldn’t routinely, I don’t think, no.

It’s not the same thing, but I remember going on a geography A Level field trip overseas, and because I was having counseling for anxiety, the school needed to know (for the insurance) and my geography teacher (who was loathsome generally) made me feel like a) a massive inconvenience and b) a lunatic. So I learned my lesson early about that. Luckily as I’ve got older my MH has been pretty secure, except postpartum (and I was freelance then) so it’s never yet come up- but I think if it did, I’d be reluctant to disclose, and completely understand why people dont.

This is a fair comment. I guess it depends on how likely it is that the given illness affects the persons ability to do their job and if they actually need adjustments.