Disclosing disability at work
March 22, 2019 10:29 AM Subscribe
I am reaching a point with my autoimmune conditions that I need, or may need, accommodations. For example I am supposed to travel and am seeking permission to make the trip the day before rather than all in one day, and am getting push back from finance so I think I need to explain it is related to a disability. Please help me plan.
I already asked the finance person and the supervisor if there is a "medical exception" to the policy to require this kind of travel to be done the same day. Do I need to email again to clarify that it is a request for accommodation based on a disability?
Also do I need to send an email to my current chain of command to go on record that I have a disability, although generally not requiring accommodation I may need to do so in the future? Pros, cons, I have so much fear that they will find a way to get me out of my job if I disclose this to them.
I already asked the finance person and the supervisor if there is a "medical exception" to the policy to require this kind of travel to be done the same day. Do I need to email again to clarify that it is a request for accommodation based on a disability?
Also do I need to send an email to my current chain of command to go on record that I have a disability, although generally not requiring accommodation I may need to do so in the future? Pros, cons, I have so much fear that they will find a way to get me out of my job if I disclose this to them.
i would not disclose until you have to. i would start getting doctor paperwork in order. hopefully your company is large enough to have to follow the rules of ada and fmla. they will not grant you any leeway unless they HAVE TO. so, get a doctor's note explaining why you need to travel a day ahead of time (i'm assuming exhaustion or something?).
posted by misanthropicsarah at 10:41 AM on March 22, 2019
posted by misanthropicsarah at 10:41 AM on March 22, 2019
In this day and age, most companies do not want to run foul of a potential disability discrimination lawsuit. If you are at a point where you need work accommodations because of your condition, then now is the time to officially let them know. You will need a doctor's formal diagnosis, and you should be very specific about the accommodations you are looking for.
If you are worried you may lose your job because of this, then disclose as soon as possible, and make sure you have a paper trail. I am not even remotely litigious, and I don't know if you are, but they don't need to know that. The minute you disclose you are in a protected class.
posted by widdershins at 10:52 AM on March 22, 2019
If you are worried you may lose your job because of this, then disclose as soon as possible, and make sure you have a paper trail. I am not even remotely litigious, and I don't know if you are, but they don't need to know that. The minute you disclose you are in a protected class.
posted by widdershins at 10:52 AM on March 22, 2019
Please note that you do not have to disclose your condition or diagnosis in order to get an accommodation. What you will need is a doctor to say something like, "Because of of medical reasons, crunchy potato will need to split long trips over 2 days." The employer may have a specific form they'll want your doctor to fill out asking for specifics of how your job will be affected, and they are required to engage in an "interactive process" with you to determine the best options for accommodation. Neither you nor the doctor need to say why.
If your workplace has an employee policy manual, check it for information about their accommodation policy, who you need to notify, and other details about their process.
I highly recommend JAN (the Job Accommodation Network) -- it's a great resource that can help you understand the way this process is legally supposed to work. You can contact them for individualized help at their hotline, which I would recommend doing. They also have a toolkit that includes a form letter to request an accommodation, in case your employer doesn't have an established process. Keeping this in writing will help protect you from retaliation, and will give you a paper trail if someone tries to retaliate.
posted by ourobouros at 11:00 AM on March 22, 2019 [24 favorites]
If your workplace has an employee policy manual, check it for information about their accommodation policy, who you need to notify, and other details about their process.
I highly recommend JAN (the Job Accommodation Network) -- it's a great resource that can help you understand the way this process is legally supposed to work. You can contact them for individualized help at their hotline, which I would recommend doing. They also have a toolkit that includes a form letter to request an accommodation, in case your employer doesn't have an established process. Keeping this in writing will help protect you from retaliation, and will give you a paper trail if someone tries to retaliate.
posted by ourobouros at 11:00 AM on March 22, 2019 [24 favorites]
How much travel are we talking? Like would this require a 12-hour day or something along those lines? Is driving required? Maybe you can push back on the grounds that it's just a lot of travel, period, and not even get into the issue of a disability.
posted by unannihilated at 11:10 AM on March 22, 2019
posted by unannihilated at 11:10 AM on March 22, 2019
Response by poster: Answering unannhilated in case it impacts how people may respond.
It is a 2 hour trip one way. Which is not an unreasonable amount of travel. I can make the trip in one day, but the next day's productivity will suffer. I originally requested to travel the night before "for medical reasons" to avoid a probable loss of productivity. Which was approved by the supervisor but finance is citing a policy against it for logistical reasons.
posted by crunchy potato at 11:14 AM on March 22, 2019
It is a 2 hour trip one way. Which is not an unreasonable amount of travel. I can make the trip in one day, but the next day's productivity will suffer. I originally requested to travel the night before "for medical reasons" to avoid a probable loss of productivity. Which was approved by the supervisor but finance is citing a policy against it for logistical reasons.
posted by crunchy potato at 11:14 AM on March 22, 2019
Response by poster: I also "checked yes" on new employee paperwork during hiring. The administrators told us if we have a disability we can check yes, and not specify what kind, and will be protected if we ever did need to request accommodations. I'm just still very fearful about retaliation, probably without good reason. I will back out of the thread now.
posted by crunchy potato at 11:19 AM on March 22, 2019
posted by crunchy potato at 11:19 AM on March 22, 2019
If your supervisor has signed off on it, then I would let them know that since finance doesn’t want to pay for the expense of a two day trip, you will take the day after, or half day, to recover.
If you have the ability, you could work from home. I’m usually explicit about being the under the weather, and my manager understands I’m going to handle anything time sensitive, but otherwise not be as productive as I’d be on a good day.
(I’ve recently disclosed after working with my manager 6 years. But only because I hit a depressive spell that was not lifting, and felt my vague explanations were not conveying the severity of my health. We both agreed we’re documenting everything, but also not disclosing above him unless the situation warrants it. The financial incentives and unconscious stigma makes it unsafe regardless of the legal safeguards. So while it has worked out better for me than not-disclosing, I don’t want to say that it’s risk free.)
posted by politikitty at 12:36 PM on March 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
If you have the ability, you could work from home. I’m usually explicit about being the under the weather, and my manager understands I’m going to handle anything time sensitive, but otherwise not be as productive as I’d be on a good day.
(I’ve recently disclosed after working with my manager 6 years. But only because I hit a depressive spell that was not lifting, and felt my vague explanations were not conveying the severity of my health. We both agreed we’re documenting everything, but also not disclosing above him unless the situation warrants it. The financial incentives and unconscious stigma makes it unsafe regardless of the legal safeguards. So while it has worked out better for me than not-disclosing, I don’t want to say that it’s risk free.)
posted by politikitty at 12:36 PM on March 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yeah before I went down the disability-paperwork route, I'd give your supervisor/manager an opportunity to just go and crack heads on your behalf. That's kinda part of their job, at least in my world. (I mean one of the more satisfying parts of my job is cracking bureaucratic heads...) So if you haven't already, I'd at least let them know you're getting pushback from those pencildicks Finance, and see if it's something that can just be settled by having your manager clarify that it's authorized, has a relevant business purpose, etc. etc.
It's not uncommon for individual employees to get pushback on something, but for that resistance to suddenly and mysteriously disappear as soon as somebody else has said they're authorizing it (and thus can be finger-pointed at later if necessary).
If it seems like a long shot, you could still let the wheels turn on that approach while simultaneously starting to work with HR; that way if they're still being inflexible you can escalate, but don't need to if Finance is just looking to cover their collective ass with someone else's authorization.
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:29 PM on March 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
It's not uncommon for individual employees to get pushback on something, but for that resistance to suddenly and mysteriously disappear as soon as somebody else has said they're authorizing it (and thus can be finger-pointed at later if necessary).
If it seems like a long shot, you could still let the wheels turn on that approach while simultaneously starting to work with HR; that way if they're still being inflexible you can escalate, but don't need to if Finance is just looking to cover their collective ass with someone else's authorization.
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:29 PM on March 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jquinby at 10:40 AM on March 22, 2019