Been offered a job - just been off for three months

[creamhearts]

Offered a job this week but I am worried. I was off from September - December, it is my only absence from my current job in the time I have been there (only nine months though). The new job is in the same organisation. The sickness was disability related. I have been back for 6 weeks now with 100% attendance, never been late, never missed any time for hospital appointments or doctors in the time I have been there.

Will they turn me down for the job :( My references are fine and like I say I have had no other time off sick.

If it's the same organisation then presumably they are aware of your absence record?

Same large organisation, different departments, my line manager says she will have to inform them of my sickness record on my reference.

bump

Well if they turn you down based on an illness which meets the criteria for disabled under the Equality Act (which replaced the disability discrimination act) then you may have some recourse. It depends on their reasons, whether there is an actual reason why that illness would mean they couldn't feasibly employ you even with adjustments . If they don't have much of a reason, and it's just based on the absence then I'd be considering raising a grievance on the grounds of disability discrimination. They do need to consider reasonable adjustments, and allowing more absence than normal could be one of them.

You may want to phone the equality and human rights commission helpline for futher advice they are very good with anything to do with disabilities.

Thank you.

On a day to day basis I don't need any adjustments (extra breaks or time off) but like you say part of it may be increased time off although of course I hope to never be off with this problem again and the professionals who work with me think it is unlikely that this would be repeated. Occupational health have said I am fit to work in my current job.

I had 105 days off for disability-related absence. I was so sure I wouldn't be able to get a job but I did. Most don't ask, and the references won't say either way, but my new employers did explicitly ask how many days off I had and I declared it and still got the job. Quite remarkable really. So don't worry; they are on dangerous ground with disability discrimination and your Bradford factor (absense) is dropping day by day