Would you disclose?

[barefoot]

Not sure whether this will be useful or relevant as it's a different part of the world, but...!

In the UK, many companies ask you to fill in an equal opportunities form to accompany your job application - it asks basic questions about your age, gender, ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, marital status and whether you have any disabilities (some may just ask that, others may ask and then ask you to disclose what disability/disabilities you have, others may list some and ask you to tick which apply). There will always be an option for each question to answer that you prefer not to say. You don't generally put your name on the form but you do send it in with your application, so it's hardly anonymous at that point!

This is pretty standard practice here and is legal - it is for them to monitor minority groups etc to see which demographics are applying to their company etc. There are a couple of key things which, if these weren't the case, the process would be on dodgy ground. 1) Completing and returning this form is not mandatory - they want you to do it so they have the info for their stats but it is completely up to you if you want to or not. 2) The information is not to be used as part of the selection process. Hence it is a separate form (not part of the main application form) and it does not get passed on to the staff who are recruiting/interviewing candidates etc.

And, yes, as others have said, employers cannot discriminate against candidates with disabilities - here we have the Equalities Act and if you fall into a group that is a protected characteristic/class they have to tread very carefully. That said, if they genuinely can't accommodate the disability and it means a candidate really couldn't do that job, they can, of course, give the job to someone else. Chances are, in a situation like that, the company would look to cover themselves as legally this can be a bit of a grey area and they would give other, sound, watertight reasons (not related to disability) why they gave the job to someone else.

So, it's a bit up to you about whether you trust the integrity of the progress. Personally, I wouldn't disclose PTSD (or any other disability if I had one) in a recruitment process. Especially if, like you, I didn't think that it would have any bearing on my ability to show up for work and do my job. If you got the job and then had a lot of time off sick or asked for accommodations at that point and it then transpired that you were aware of this issue when you applied for the job, things could potentially get a bit messy.

So...if the disability info section is voluntary I would be inclined not to complete it. If it is absolutely mandatory and you don't feel your disability is likely to be an issue with working there and doing the job, I'd be inclined to say you don't have a disability. If you don't feel comfortable lying or think it may crop up and be an issue at work at some point, it maybe comes down to your judgement/gut feeling/trust in the process. I know my ex HR colleagues were incredibly professional about anything around this kind of stuff and they did not use the equal opps data in any way for deciding who did/didn't get invited for interview or who did/didn't get offered the job. I suspect many HR professionals have the same high level of integrity. I also suspect there are some that haven't! So...giving them that honest info upfront just becomes a bit of a judgement call, that's all.

Good luck with the applications!

 

[Beemo3780]

My PTSD does not affect my job. Luckily for me, I've been able to keep myself composed even during a panic attack. Except for when I'm at home where I sometimes just let it all go. At my last job, no one knew about any of my health issues, and I was working at a health insurance company. I worked the 12-15 hours a day, barely took time off, and it really wasn't until the end of 10 years of working there that I started to have serious issues. I was getting panicked in staff meetings, but that was because we had gotten new management and they were already starting layoffs. They ended up making my department a telecommuting dept so we could (or would) work the longer hours. It gets a little difficult when people have to go pick up kids, or have doctor appts, etc.

I only had one issue that seemed to be a problem that I couldn't hide, and that was my food allergies. I have issues with food, I have Eosiniphilic Esophagitis and have food allergies. My throat has closed up, and I carry an epipen. Offices normally like to have lunches, and in my department, it was happy hours with the managers. I usually can find one thing and just eat that, but there were so many times where we'd have meetings with food and nothing was safe for me. That's usually when I'd have to speak up, or they'd think I was being rude for not eating anything. I seriously dread when food becomes involved at work. A tech job does not involve food, but there's been those days were we had to work late into the night with no breaks, and management bought us a pizza and I had to politely refuse, but would sit there hungry because that was the only option. And should I disclose that? Or does it make me look like a pain in the butt so they don't hire me?

As far as the money thing, I need to have my own money because when I was in an abusive marriage, my ex controlled everything. I was the only one working, but he was so terrifying to deal with, I never stood up against him when he would spend all of the money I had earned. I had to get a secret bank account and stash money away when I put my leave plan in place. And now, I need to be able to support myself no matter what happens. I trust my husband now, but I'm also not stupid. The one thing that helps my PTSD is having a safety net.

 

[Kaira Senka]

I wouldn't disclose anything. Normally, there should be an option like "I choose not to answer" or something like that. If there isn't, there's something wrong with that form they made you fill out, since there's no reason for you to unwillingly disclose medical/disability info. Since your PTSD isn't affecting your work on a daily basis, the company probably doesn't need to know anyway.

As for your food allergies, I don't think it is a big enough deal to disclose that on a form either. You shouldn't ever have to feel like a "pain" about it. If management buys everyone pizza, you could politely ask for a 15-20 minute break so you can get food for yourself (explaining your allergy) and then come back, or pack stuff (there are a lot of ways around this - it happens all the time even if you're just vegetarian in many offices).You would only come off as a pain if you demanded management to buy something that suited your allergies every time.

 

[Deleted member 487]

I recently went on a job interview for a health insurance company for a computer programmer job. Bef...

Nope. Illegal as hell to ask.