Is endometriosis/adenomyosis a disability? Can you get help in the work place?

[HH811]

Hi all,

I was just wondering if anyone knew if you can get support in the work place for having endometriosis and suspected adenomyosis? I struggle to work normal hours due to physical pain in my uterus and legs. I’ve recently had a laparoscopy and I am looking to start a new job when I recover (I’ve quit my last job to have the op and I couldn’t work the hours in London). I’ve now moved back to Nottinghamshire and have a couple of interviews lined up and was wondering if this is something I can mention in an interview? Does anyone know if it does count as a disability or if a doctors note can help?

Any advice on this would be appreciated. Thank you x

[riddo11]

Hi, I work in HR and I legally someone isn't allowed to ask you questions about health in an interview. I guess you can be up front and honest if you like, and if they still decide to take you on then you know you're going to a good place. There might be some places that choose not to offer you the job because of the endo, and obviously it might be hard to prove if you did think they did.

It would be good to work out what adjustments you'd like, because an employer should try to implement "reasonable" adjustments. Obviously what is reasonable depends on what you need and the job you do. Sounds like you'd like to ask for reduced hours and that might be reasonable, but they can say no if there is a good business reason why.

A definition of a disability is:

You're disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a 'substantial' and 'long-term' negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.

So it depends on your endo really and how much it impacts you.

Happy to answer more qs xx

[HH811 in reply to riddo11]

Thanks for your reply, that’s helpful.

Yeh I did presume that to be the case. I mentioned over the phone to the recruiter that I had an operation which was my reason for leaving my previous role and for re-locating but haven’t mentioned anything to do with what for.

Where I’m at with my endo is that it hasn’t returned since my previous laparoscopy before the one I just had but I did have some adhesions. However I still have all the symptoms and a swollen uterus and a few other things that my consultant says suggests I have adenomyosis in which case the symptoms will persist until I have a hysterectomy. As I’m only 24 this isn’t really an option now but it effects my every day life and I’m mostly in pain every day.

My job was as an estate agent. In London I was in pain and working 60plus hours a week. Most estate agents work a 6 day week and then a 5 day alternating as well.

Two of the interviews I have also do the 6 day week and from my previous job I’m not sure I’m physically capable of it. I really enjoy the role and I find it very frustrating to have to give up on something I love for health reasons but I am considering maybe just finding a different career.

I guess it makes sense to see how the interview goes then decide to mention it at a later stage? It just seems crazy to me that this isn’t recognised as a disability!

Do you know if this could count as a disability if my consultant was to write me a letter?

Thanks again xx

[riddo11 in reply to HH811]

I personally would recommend the public sector or NHS, because they are union environments they have to be "by the book". I have personally found them to be very supportive too.

Yes if you wanted to be cautious I would probably wait to be offered a job and then to discuss it with them.

If it's a big company (or public sector or NHS) they will refer you to Occupational health, where you discuss your condition and they suggest adjustments that might help to the manager. Also in my organisation they say whether or not it's likely to be considered a disability.

I've not heard of someone having a letter from a consultant about a disability, but they might do, you could ask! I'm not sure if they would though because they're not employment specialists so might not feel comfortable stating you have a disability. You have said your in pain every day but it's whether or not it has a substantial impact on it daily. To be honest it's quite subjective! Sometimes an employment judge has to make a call if it got to a tribunal and it's not decided before!

[BitterSweetS in reply to HH811]

Great response from HR person the company im with had done all of this since my Manager changed and its helped me stay at work. I work 80% of fulltime 2 halfdays a week are at home and my boss is happy to move these dependant on my period if I need it. Ive had to really deliver my output and prove my worth but its been worth it and ive excelled with this support. My anxiety has reduced massively and I use those afternoons to rest during the week, its handy for appointments ive just started acupuncture.

Its a desk job, laptop and working from home option is a massive help. My Dr started it off with a 'fit to work note' advising of reduced hours. My Occupational health Dr agreed my TU rep and New Manager worked with HR setting up regular catch ups.

Ive already been in the company for many yrs.

I would say its best to not to go straight in with your health at interview. But you could see if you like the company and ask them their stance on part time/flexible working policy.

Then if you do get offered you can ask at the negotiation phase the question of flexibility due to disability.

Wishing you the best, ive been looking around in general and ive noticed allot more companies are mentioning this on their adverts.

Take care x

[Christin_a]

Hello

Following on from the mention about occupational health. After my op my work arranged one for me. And even though the condition isn't explicitly stated as being a disability the person doing my occupational health check said he did think it fell under the category of disability (it is on a case by case basis due to the varying symptoms you can get with endo).

They said that long term was if the condition had or will last more than 12 months. And the tricky bit is the substantial effect as this is down to interpretation, but I based it on my worst days not my best but said that it varied month to month etc. My work made adjustments based on this such as giving me the flexibility to work from home when I needed to. As some of my painkillers I can't drive on, but can do things like answer emails etc. And they also set different sickness markers for me before having meetings about sick days, they basically said anything to do with endometriosis they'd consider as one time off across the year rather than individual cases. As my work have trigger points to have formal meetings and warnings about time off.

These are some examples that may help you think about what reasonable adjustments you may want to ask for. Companies have a responsibility to look into the feasibility of them, but it has to work for the company too. So the working from home worked for me as I had an office job and most of my contact with suppliers and customers was through email due to time zone differences. But if you say drove forklifts working from home couldn't work in that situation.

I've recently changed job (literally started 2 days ago) I went through the interview process and only told them about my endo when I was offered the job. They said they'd refer me to occupational health, asked for an example of what my current company did to make sure it was something within the realms of possiblity and it is so just waiting for my new meeting.