Disclosing Your Condition to an Employer
I've worked with MS since 2008 and when I was diagnosed, I had already been working with an organisation for a year and a half. In this circumstance, in the haze of diagnosis, I felt obliged to call my line manager directly after telling my parents. I didn't have to, I probably shouldn't have. It would have made sense to let the news sink in, but I needed time off and I didn't just want to call in sick.
This is tip no 1. Don't feel obliged to tell anyone until you're absolutely ready. This may be hours, weeks, months or even years. Unless you're legally required to, you don't need to disclose.
My role was made redundant six months later and I was pregnant six months after that. I decided to take some contract work, knowing that I wanted to take a year for my version of maternity leave. I was quite far into the selection process, for a role I could have performed beautifully whilst asleep, and at the last hurdle they asked me if I had any holidays booked. I told them I would need to attend antenatal scans twice during the whole contract (which was 2 months). Later that day, I had a call from a shocked recruitment consultant saying the company had rejected me. Discrimination? May be, may be not, but either way the potential discrimination left me very wary about telling employers about a chronic condition that didn't last nine months.
I subsequently tried various attempts at telling people at different stages of the process. Tell them at the beginning and few would respond. I told a manager at offer stage and had a very awkward conversation on the telephone which didn't set up our relationship very well. In another role, I joined for a few weeks, showed them what I could do and my willingness to absorb and to learn, and then disclosed. This is tip no 2: what you've just read are my choices, and some of them weren't massively comfortable for anyone - your decision to disclose has to be the right one for you.
Whenever you disclose, it's not just about the 'when'. You also need to think of the 'why,' 'how' and, what people sometimes spend less time on, the vital 'what'. Tip no 3: it's vital to have some sort of plan, otherwise you could end up blurting your condition to colleagues and regretting not telling them all of the things you wanted to in the way that you wanted to.
If you're not sure if you're legally obliged to disclose under the Equality Act (UK only), then it's worth reading the Equality & Human Rights Commission's brilliant translation of the Act.
Tip no 4: when you're thinking of timings, picture the conversation. If you're telling them face-to-face, book a room away from others. If you're telling them on the phone, think about what you might miss or prepare for(e.g. you'll miss non verbal clues, calls can be easily shortened, etc).
What you want to say is what the employer will act on. This is tip no 5. Link the condition only to the job and don't focus on what affects you beyond the role. No one needs to know that you spend your weekends filling pill boxes or taking a nap after your shower. Look at the role and think about what you might struggle with and be pro-active - what interventions or 'reasonable adjustments', can you/ the employer put into action to remove some of the barriers? Sometimes, this will involve some cost to the employer, like specialist equipment, sometimes you can go through Access to Work, or put into place not-too-costly strategies like a new working pattern or adapting working hours. Do some research as it will only help you feel more confident in the conversation.
My final tip: in terms of the 'how', keep the conversation fluid and when you're putting time into planning, pre-empt any questions or concerns the employer might raise. Also prepare yourself either for a (human) reaction or none at all (may be they're reflective). You are not responsible for the reactions of others. The important thing is to feel that you've put across what you want them to know about how you manage your condition, to reassure them, and to ask for the reasonable adjustments you need.
Think of it like a business case.
If you have enjoyed reading my blog and would like to be notified of new posts and information from other organisations, please follow me at https://www.facebook.com/myMSbullyandme
This is tip no 1. Don't feel obliged to tell anyone until you're absolutely ready. This may be hours, weeks, months or even years. Unless you're legally required to, you don't need to disclose.
My role was made redundant six months later and I was pregnant six months after that. I decided to take some contract work, knowing that I wanted to take a year for my version of maternity leave. I was quite far into the selection process, for a role I could have performed beautifully whilst asleep, and at the last hurdle they asked me if I had any holidays booked. I told them I would need to attend antenatal scans twice during the whole contract (which was 2 months). Later that day, I had a call from a shocked recruitment consultant saying the company had rejected me. Discrimination? May be, may be not, but either way the potential discrimination left me very wary about telling employers about a chronic condition that didn't last nine months.
I subsequently tried various attempts at telling people at different stages of the process. Tell them at the beginning and few would respond. I told a manager at offer stage and had a very awkward conversation on the telephone which didn't set up our relationship very well. In another role, I joined for a few weeks, showed them what I could do and my willingness to absorb and to learn, and then disclosed. This is tip no 2: what you've just read are my choices, and some of them weren't massively comfortable for anyone - your decision to disclose has to be the right one for you.
Whenever you disclose, it's not just about the 'when'. You also need to think of the 'why,' 'how' and, what people sometimes spend less time on, the vital 'what'. Tip no 3: it's vital to have some sort of plan, otherwise you could end up blurting your condition to colleagues and regretting not telling them all of the things you wanted to in the way that you wanted to.
If you're not sure if you're legally obliged to disclose under the Equality Act (UK only), then it's worth reading the Equality & Human Rights Commission's brilliant translation of the Act.
Tip no 4: when you're thinking of timings, picture the conversation. If you're telling them face-to-face, book a room away from others. If you're telling them on the phone, think about what you might miss or prepare for(e.g. you'll miss non verbal clues, calls can be easily shortened, etc).
What you want to say is what the employer will act on. This is tip no 5. Link the condition only to the job and don't focus on what affects you beyond the role. No one needs to know that you spend your weekends filling pill boxes or taking a nap after your shower. Look at the role and think about what you might struggle with and be pro-active - what interventions or 'reasonable adjustments', can you/ the employer put into action to remove some of the barriers? Sometimes, this will involve some cost to the employer, like specialist equipment, sometimes you can go through Access to Work, or put into place not-too-costly strategies like a new working pattern or adapting working hours. Do some research as it will only help you feel more confident in the conversation.
My final tip: in terms of the 'how', keep the conversation fluid and when you're putting time into planning, pre-empt any questions or concerns the employer might raise. Also prepare yourself either for a (human) reaction or none at all (may be they're reflective). You are not responsible for the reactions of others. The important thing is to feel that you've put across what you want them to know about how you manage your condition, to reassure them, and to ask for the reasonable adjustments you need.
Think of it like a business case.
If you have enjoyed reading my blog and would like to be notified of new posts and information from other organisations, please follow me at https://www.facebook.com/myMSbullyandme
