Tell Work?

[Mosaic]

Hi guys,
I'm determined to leave my current job plainly and simply because my boss is terrible. He's never been a manager before, he's opened a brand new business and he is pretentious, aggressive and can be a bully.
I'm looking to leave the fitness industry and just personal train part time along side an office based job, I'm currently applying for two pretty good roles.
My question is, would you disclose having PTSD?
Initially I didn't even consider it but at my current job I had an issue where my anxiety was very bad one day and my boss wanted me to go out and reach out to shops for advertising by myself and I was very shaken when I got back.
He took the piss out of me "ohh I can't go to the shop I'm scared".

One of the jobs I'm applying for is in London where I get very anxious with all the crowds and the other is in Aylesbury which is where my attacker lives- although it wouldn't interfere unless I saw him.
I probably wouldn't need to tell them but any advice would be good.

 

[hodge]

If you are okay most of the time, I wouldn't tell. I told my boss shortly after I was diagnosed (at the urging of a friend and former boss), and nothing really changed. But at that point I had been with the same company for more than 10 years, longer than my boss had been there. I would just be very reluctant to tell a new boss about it. But if you think you are going to miss days of work sometimes bcause of it, you might want to consider applying for disability benefits. I don't how the UK works.

 

[Changing4Best]

I might just say, some time after being hired, that I have a condition that might sometimes interfere with my job a little. Don't say what it is, just say that you don't really like talking about it, but thought you would mention it in case it comes up at some times in the future.

Then, if it does come up, you have a right to leave work for the day or take off work for a day if things get really bad for you there.

 

[barefoot]

If at the moment you don't feel it's going to have too much of an impact, I probably wouldn't share it at this early stage. If it starts to have an impact, maybe it will be worth disclosing at some point in the future. By then, you'll know what impact it's having (and therefore what accommodations - if any - you might like to request) and you'll also have established a relationship with your manager to know how s/he might respond.

It sounds like the location of the jobs you've applied for may be anxiety-making for you, although you sound like you think it will be ok. I'm not saying it won't be ok, but would just encourage you to really think through those potential triggers and decide how much impact they really will have if you're going to be putting yourself in that position every day (or even a few times a week).

Eg crowds in London - you'll have to have that experience at least twice each working day to travel to and from your workplace. So what - if anything - could support you with that so that you're not starting and ending each day in a high state of anxiety? Is there something you can do on your journey to be a positive distraction, for instance? Or can you plan your journey (if you're usual public transport) to use less busy routes or to use buses instead of tubes or to get off a few stops early and walk etc. Or can you have in mind that if traveling in rush hour is too much, you could ask your manager if you could tweak your hours so that you travel just outside of the busiest time? You could always ask if they offer flexible working patterns at the interview, without disclosing anything about why you're asking. It's actually a pretty normal thing for people to ask in interviews.

And if you do ever feel that you want to disclose, it is of course up to you what to disclose. You don't have to disclose PTSD...you could refer generally to anxiety.

PTSD is considered a 'disability' in UK employment law, so if you did disclose PTSD to an employer at any point and asked for some adjustments, they would need to give your request proper consideration. Which doesn't mean they have to agree - but they will need to present good reasons why it's not possible.

Well done for removing yourself from your current situation and getting out of a job that's making you unhappy. Good luck with finding something that suits you much better - hope these interviews go well!

 

[Kintsugi]

I usually don't disclose unless I determine that it is affecting my performance in a way that can be fixed or otherwise ameliorated by management. I am lucky that I work in a place now where such disabilities are extremely well protected, and I was able to tick a box early in my job stating that I had one of the dozen or so federally protected disabilities listed on a page, which I figured may protect me later if something happened and I was out of work for several days.

Anyway, I never disclose early into a job or at an interview. It just doesn't seem helpful to the hiring or acquaintance process.

Good luck.

 

[TonyG]

I had to tell my employer due to the amount of sick leave i was taking, my manager was fine with it and was very supportive, the HR department were not so helpful, after my ten days sick leave ran out i had to take leave without pay, I guess if you can avoid telling them until you need to you might find it better, It seems every time i do something wrong its a item of discussion as to if its my PTSD that has caused it, on the up side i had fifty days sick leave in 2015 and still have a job.