Termination shouldn't be the answer to a disability
Source: Houston Chronicle (Original Article)
So when do you tell the boss? And how much do you say?
For workers with a hidden disability — or one that’s not very obvious — they’re thorny questions.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodation for employees who can perform the essential functions of their job.
But if you’re feeling vulnerable already, it’s not so easy to ask for help, whether it’s a stool for a cashier or time off to go to the doctor.
Typically, that’s the time when their symptoms of the autoimmune disorder are the most severe, she said. Multiple sclerosis is most commonly diagnosed between the prime working ages of 20 and 50.
But the symptoms, which vary widely from person to person, can come and go. At times walking can be difficult, while at other times it’s easy. Vision can wax and wane.
The accommodations don’t have to be complicated, said Barron, whose society is part sponsor of a new site, www.msworkplace.com. Some can be as simple as changing a computer font for someone struggling to read a screen.
The key is to keep folks working if that’s what they want to do.
“I think sometimes employers don’t think about how to keep the person. They just let them go,” said Barron, whose dad lost his job after an MS diagnosis.
The Houstonian had suffered for more than a decade with a seemingly unrelated range of symptoms ranging from migraine headaches, numbness and tingling in her arms and legs, fatigue and hands so weak she dropped things all the time.
She was working as a consultant in the solid waste industry in Pennsylvania and told her clients immediately.
“I felt I owed it to them,” Yelinek said, because she would be taking weekly injections and didn’t know if the side effects would force changes to her work schedule.
Luckily, she said, her client was supportive and told her St.George Low Rate Gold Card to take the time she needed.
Yelinek …continue reading