Hi folks I have absolutely no complaints about the way my work have treated me regarding my MS? I told them very early on about it too and they have been great. I work for a ftse 100 company. Today we were doing a health and safety thing and it was going through all sorts of procedures, most of them not relevant to an office worker which I am but there were a few points about fire safety which was fine and general safety issues and the point made was that if you were on medication or had a medical issue the company had to be notified ( i cant remember the exact wording) . We do employ people who carry out manual work so I can see that there may be a safety issue with that if someone had side effects from medicatin or wasn’t well. The impression I was left with was that if you had a diagnosiss of say MS the company had to be notified. It doesn’t bother me because they know anyway and as I said before, I have absolutely no complaints. Just wondered if this was right, just being nosey I suppose, lol. Cheryl:-)
Hi Cheryl, I don’t think you do, on job applications from the company I work with just ask have you any medical problems that may effect your work. It is quite an ambiguous question but even though my company knows about my ms when I recently applied for a promotion I put no as I don’t think my ms has a effect on my work at least not yet. I feel I am very lucky and have a very good support network both at home and at work . Regards Karen x
I don’t think you have to tell, but I do think it’s adviseable to do so. Otherwise, how is the company going to make “reasonable adjustments” for you if you need them? Also, there’s probably an insurance implication. I was diagnosed before starting my current job and I ticked the guaranteed interview box on the application form, so HR knew about my health before I even attended the interview. I told my line manager on my first day - HR hadn’t told him, so I was glad to know that I got the job on my own merits. I currently walk with 2 sticks and I’m waiting for my first wheelchair to be delivered, so there is a fire evacuation plan tailored to me. There have been other, small but significant, adjustments made so that my work life is a little easier.
Interesting question,
Luisa x
I think that you do need to tell them because of insurance policies the company will have.
I worked for a large company and the work was physical. My company was understanding, i had a lot of time off over the last four years i worked for them. In the end i had to take a termination settlement because i was not fit enough to work. I knew that at any point if i had a accident whilst in work i would of not been covered by my companies insurance if i had not told them i had ms.