Pre-employment health questionnaire

[Bookishnerd]

Hope someone can help. I’ve been offered (and accepted!) a fantastic new job and am looking forward to getting stuck in.

In the offer paperwork, they’ve asked me to fill in a pre-employment health questionnaire. Some of it is health and safety related, which makes sense, but some of it is really quite intrusive, asking about what medications I’m on etc.

It just feels a bit intrusive for a desk job. Eg I am still taking a small dose of Sertraline after postpartum anxiety in lockdown, and would rather not disclose that. I just can’t see how it has any bearing on my ability to do the job.

Is this common? Should I just suck it up and complete it? Or if I declined to comment, would it look weird?

Am I just really sheltered and this sort of stuff goes on all the time?

Sorry know this is an old thread but just wondering what you did as I am
in the same situation and have the exact same
anxiety as you, although just weaned off the lowest dose of sertraline. Don’t see the point disclosing but worried it will look dishonest if I don’t.

I don’t know if things have changed but in last three months, as a job seeker with visible disability, forms have largely read what impact has this had on your ability to carry out role so whilst oddly worded for some, things are a changing.

Hi @Newnameforme123 - I filled it in and was honest, and nothing more was said. When I googled it seemed that this was quite common so I went with it. It felt super intrusive though and if I had my time again I wouldn’t do it - I don’t think work needed to know about that. As I said though, nothing more came of it, so I suppose no harm was done.

I’m now off the sertraline and already miss it, what a wonderful drug haha

Our company has this procedure in place for new starters. However, although it is primarily for company vehicle drivers, we ask all new starters to complete it so that nobody is treated differently.

It is actually a requirement of our FORS accreditation (fleet management safety & environmental standards). We need to know if staff are taking medication, regardless of what it is to ensure we are meeting safety regulations.

If any staff members are diabetic for example, we would ensure that they have set break times to ensure medication could be administered at the correct times and if required that the person is comfortable taking blood glucose level checks or insulin injections at their work station, or if we could make adjustments to make that person feel more comfortable. At the employees' discretion, whether they accept these adjustments, of course.

Another example is that when I was writing our risk assessment for working airside, SSRIs were bought up to be included. I questioned why and specifically asked about Sertraline as I take it daily, and I was informed that in some cases Sertraline can cause a false positive on a drug test, showing as a hallucinogen. It is something to be aware of should the airport test on entry or the company carry out random drug tests (which is a requirement of working airside, for example).

It does seem like a bit of an invasion of privacy, but I do actually think it's good for protecting both staff and employer. We have never revoked a job offer or treated anyone differently in a negative way because of what is on their medical questionnaire.

I hope that helps give a little insight from the other side!

Thanks all. I think I will probably be honest. I would understand if it said about meds but it basically says have you ever, or are you currently suffering with… anxiety etc etc. or you have to tick no mental health issues. Therefore it would feel untruthful if I ticked no mental health issues, but I am not on meds and it doesn’t have any effect day to day or right now. I have never taken any time off work due to mh and no previous employers are aware of it as never had to disclose.