How to talk about a chronic disease at work

The undressing began like all other: intensive diarrhea, cramps and other gastrointestinal symptoms that left Christopher French in the bathroom for a long time.

Mr. French, who supplied shelves in a enormous equipment store, was dealing with ulcerative colitis. But this was his first work and required the movement of massive fertilizer bags, which only worsened his symptoms.

Mr. French called the ailing for three weeks in a row and was finally dismissed from work. Now 47, he still remembers the words of his manager. “” I would like you to be from above, “his supervisor told him. “” We could come up with something. “

Opening to health can unlock work support; Act on such as Americans with disabilities create paths and security for people. But disclosure is not without risk. In a survey conducted by 2023 Society for Human Resource ManagementAlmost half of American employees with imperceptible disabilities, which are diseases that are not easily evident to others, said that they decided not to share information; Those who did this more often reported naughty or insensitive behavior.

Mr. French later changed his career and began to discuss his condition during interviews. But he admitted that this would not be a sheltered choice for everyone. The Times asked experts to advise on how to reveal a chronic health and what to do if you meet with waste.

“The law of civil rights does not change the attitudes of people.”

Since its departure in 1990, the Act with disabilities has sought to protect people with disabilities against discrimination in public life, including at work. According to the employer’s law, with 15 or more employees must provide reasonable accommodation for people who ask them. Reasonable accommodation is defined as “modification or adaptation to work, work environment or how things are usually done in the recruitment process.”

The employer is obliged to do more than “opening the door” for the disabled, said Susan Mizner, a retired American director for rights related to the laws of disability in Liberties. They must “build a ramp for this,” she explained.

But Ada is not a panacea. Study published in 2001 It suggested that almost 10 percent of disabled people experienced discrimination at the workplace within five years after Ada’s passage; One -third of respondents completely left the workplace. Newer data It indicates that disabled people are more often unemployed, and when they have work, they often pay less than their counterparts, who do not have disability.

Rachelle Bloksberg, a therapist at Grass Valley, California, who treats people with chronic diseases, said that most of her patients know that they are protected in accordance with the law. Still, she said, they are afraid that they will openly harm their career: “They are worried:” Will people treat me differently? “

Kailey Towsend, a 29-year-old who works in social media management, maintained a diagnosis of endometriosis for several months. “I wanted to make sure that I was protected in the workplace,” she said, adding that as a black woman she feels even more pressure to prove herself.

These worries are not unfounded, she explained: “The right to civil rights does not change the attitudes of people,” she said. “This does not change the levels of people’s comfort.”

“There are no magic words.”

Chronic pain of Samantha Rosen makes work a challenge. A 34-year-old writing teacher must utilize a special chair and monitor to alleviate the symptoms, but fought how to ask her employer about accommodation.

Instead of explaining her history of chronic pain, Mrs. Rosen told her manager that she had problems with his neck and back. She got the accommodation she asked for, but she often wonders if she should be more forthright. “I tried to reduce it,” she said.

When it comes to disclosure: “There are no magical words you need to utilize,” said Aaron Brock, a lawyer in Los Angeles, who specializes in cases of discrimination with disabilities. He explained that it is vital that you are starting a conversation. In his practice, he saw employees who did not reveal their conditions, “punished for conduct that would be clearly related to disability,” he said.

Here are some other things to keep in mind:

Decide who you would like to say. SM. Mizner suggests an approach to a representative of human resources; You can inform HR without informing your supervisor. If you do not have a human resource department, you can provide requests with your supervisor, because they are kept by ADA in the same standards as the employer.

Just share what you think is convenient, revealing. It is legal for yours Employer to ask for medical records This verifies your diagnosis and presents potential accommodation, but you still have the right to privacy. Mizner said that you do not have to share any details.

Have a resolution plan. Employers are not obliged to grant reasonable accommodation if it imposes “excessive difficulties” on their activities. So, if your employer suggests alternative accommodation, he is involved in this discussion, said Linda Batiste, lawyer and program leader in the accommodation network, a service provided by the Office of Employment Policy of the United States Labor Department.

And if they deny accommodation without offering an alternative, try to find out why. Batiste said that you can offer additional information or force it to be considered again. If the discussion reaches an impasse, Mrs. Mizner said that Jan offers one -on -one consultation.

Mrs. Towsend, head of social media, eventually opened her supervisor and her reaction comforted her. He believes that she “spoke” with the amount of support she received, but does not think that he would reveal before: “building openness in the workplace takes some time,” she said.