Work and changing jobs

[Hetty56]

Sam's TBI occurred in January this year. Amazingly he returned to work at the beginning of April and went full time after only 2-3 months. He's doing really well, physical recovery still being evidenced in that his memory is returning gradually. He's in the midst of a depression but is taking medication and now has more good days than he used to. He's in a job he enjoys but it's going nowhere - he's only 23 (today!) and in a job where there's no career progression. He feels he's in a position where he could apply for a new job after Christmas but we're both concerned about how to tackle the fact that he suffered a TBI this year and has been recovering since then. He's very capable of doing his job but is convinced that the minute he tells any prospective employers about this they'll turn him away. Any advice on how/when to tell people?

He's definitely not disabled so can't claim a guaranteed interview on that basis - I don't think he would anyway

[sealiphone]

I'd question he's not disabled, as it's very early days and you are describing things that may pass the hurdle imposed by the Equality Act.

"A physical or mental impairment that has a 'substantial' and 'long-term' negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities".

I don't wish to be pessimistic but it can take a long time before you become aware of the very little things which can cause difficulty with 'normal activities'.

In fact that's a potential problem with a new job, new tasks may reveal hidden problems. All the advice I've heard is to try and stay in the same area of employment, rather than trying to learn a whole new set of skills.

A guaranteed interview is rare situation as it's entirely down to the employer, someone has a right not to be discriminated against and in employment accommodations have to be made to try and enable a disabled person to do the job.

These legal duties can only come in to play once the potential employer is made aware a applicant is disabled.

Clearly this is a double edged sword, as it can be difficult to show you weren't selected due to your disability but you wouldn't even have this option if the employers not aware.

As it happened I was discriminated against and not given an interview, during my discrimination claim they offered me a job!! My immediate thought "You have to be joking, why would I work for you".

There's lot of information about this on the Human Rights & Equality Commission website.

equalityhumanrights.com/en/...

Employers are able to ask some questions which relate to disability and the workplace.

acas.org.uk/index.aspx?arti...