New employment following bereavement

[laurent23]

I have been on sick leave for a few months following a sudden and unexpected bereavement. My line of work involved handling emotionally distressing cases and working with vulnerable children so my return required my mental health being in a better state.

Unfortunately I have been unable to return to the same employment due to childcare issues as the hours involve evening and weekend work. And following the loss of my parent, my other parent is unable to facilitate without their help as they are also struggling. (DC's dad works away).

I have just secured a new conditional offer of employment with office hours meaning I am not having to rely on family to care for DC. and I'm wondering if I should have disclosed the sick leave in the interview and whether this will affect my offer if the reference from my current employer discloses this?

I really wish I had mentioned it but there was no opportunity and I didn't want to bring it up myself and risk being not considered due to the bereavement leave.

The conditions were a satisfactory work reference and clean DBS which I already have. So I'm hoping this won't be an issue. Any knowledge/advice is greatly appreciated.

It depends if the new employer asks for number of days sickness absence in the reference, as some do. NHS often ask for this. Or if you have to fill in a health questionnaire in which case you MUST answer the questions honestly.
If neither of these apply then I wouldn't bother mentioning it unless you feel you'll need adjustments or additional support.
If you or the reference declares it and your absence level is deemed unacceptably high by new employer then they will probably send you for an Occ Health assessment for further exploration of your current medical condition, any ongoing issues and what treatment and help you've received.
They're really looking to see that any issues affecting your mental/physical health, particularly long term conditions, are well controlled and managed and to see if you need any adjustments in the workplace.

If you are sent for any assessments just be honest what your issues have been, what treatment you've had and how you plan to manage things going forward.
You'll be fine as a bereavement is something that takes time to come to terms with and adjust to and as long as you are on an expected trajectory of recovery they'll be happy with that.

You can’t do right, for doing wrong.

Only one physical employer asked if I was ok facing three flights of stairs, out of eight employers they were the only ones to read spinal surgery, pretty prominent on the CV. A lot of employers simply cannot read.

Another employer. A stationary retailer family in their secure little biz and job for 30 yrs, actually argued that my spinal surgery was 5 months ago, in their grand opinion, (on the day a second diagnosis came in) having no idea my previous employer paid sick pay so subsequently could take you through disaplinaries; but felt ok to comment.