Am I obliged to tell my boss...

whambam

I was signed off from work for clinical depression, I am going to return to work but will need time off to see my doctor and a psychologist now and again.

Of course I will have to tell my boss something. I don't really want to tell him about my psychological problems as I think there is such a stigma attached to it even now.

Am I obliged to tell him about this?

Thanks

tinnuvial

That should have been on your sick certs so he/she probably already knows. There is no obligation on you to tell him and you are protected under discriminations laws. However, if you don't tell him and you keep taking time off work to visit specialists he's going to become suspicious and you may end up in disciplinary proceedings.

Just thought...maybe you are going to a new employer. You aren't required to tell them but if they ask you in the interview if you have any health issues or anything that would interfere with your ability to do the job you want to consider your answer. If you don't tell them and it does interfere with your job they could let you go and discrimination laws won't protect you, I believe. They might find out when reference checking you and they'll certainly know something was up when they got your P45 and you hadn't been working for a while.

drunkmonkey

It's up to you to tell them if you want but your under no obligation, but at the same time if your going to need to being going to the doctor & psychologist and need time off work you should be upfront with them, once you have the job you can't be fired for telling them.
Have you tried some part time work or went on any courses to prepare yourself for full time employment again, what I'm trying to ask are you fully ready.
I was on the other side of this fence as an employer, the employee was up front from the start, I did not think any less of them or treat them any different and the time off was not a big problem.

fret_wimp2

No, you are not obliged to tell him. I had to take some time off here and there for similar issues. My doctor was very good told me that everyone needs time, and needs people to listen to them. he told me how he goes through depression but his family helps him through it.

I got a sick cert and he said that although there is nothing wrong with being depressed, and almost everyone suffers from it at some stage, there is still a stigma attached to it, and so he listed a completely different medical reason for my absence on the sick cert. Im not sure if this is ok, or not, but i doubt he would do it if it was breaking any laws.

I agree with him. Some people need more time to deal with depression than others, but everyone gets it. its a legit illness, no less legit than a flu or anything else, and like any sickness, it requires treatment and can be healed, but yet the stigma surrounding mental health issues is nasty.

Ask your doc if he will do something similar for you.

Eoin

Do you not think that you could actually be feeding the stigma by being so secretive about it?

If there's anything that your boss could do to help you ease back into work, then maybe it might be a good idea to be upfront about it.

fret_wimp2

Do you not think that you could actually be feeding the stigma by being so secretive about it?

Tis a fair point, but also, why should I or the OP become a martyr and get burned by the stigma if at all avoidable.

Me admitting i had depression will only be considered a black mark on my career by managment. the way to resolve this is via education, or when people with depression actually are in possitions of power, to make sure not to ridicule or discriminate when dealing with subordinates with mental health issues.

Mr. Presentable

whambam wrote: »

I was signed off from work for clinical depression, I am going to return to work but will need time off to see my doctor and a psychologist now and again.

Of course I will have to tell my boss something. I don't really want to tell him about my psychological problems as I think there is such a stigma attached to it even now.

Am I obliged to tell him about this?

Thanks

I suppose much depends on the sort of work you will be doing. Is it a pressurised job where a disposition for psychological issues could cause a problem?

Eoin

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

Tis a fair point, but also, why should I or the OP become a martyr and get burned by the stigma if at all avoidable.

Me admitting i had depression will only be considered a black mark on my career by managment. the way to resolve this is via education, or when people with depression actually are in possitions of power, to make sure not to ridicule or discriminate when dealing with subordinates with mental health issues.

Yeah, I understand your position

But my other point still stands - your boss and/or HR personnel might be able to help with getting back into work and you might benefit from telling them what the issue is.

Miaireland

Might be worth asking your GP to give you a letter saying that you will need to attend doctor's appointment for the forseeable future. He does not need to state the nature of the appointments.

Mrs OBumble

I believe that in general you don't need to tell your employer the nature of your illness or medical treatment.

But in the country where I come from there are some exceptions. In particular there are some jobs where public safety means that employers must be told about any mental illnesses. I'm specifically aware of this for train guards and early-childhood education licencees, but am pretty sure there are others too.

Don't know what the situation is here, but you'd best check your specific employment contract and HR policies.

chappy

I have worked in management for several years now and in several situations I have had staff members who have come to me regarding these kind of issues.I would always appreciate their honesty.I would like to think I have helped them work through these issues by discussing options with them.

In one particular instance I had a lad who was on course for dismissal due to his performance and angry attitude.When I set down with him at the disciplinary meeting he explained some outstanding issues he was going through which explained a lot of the issues he had been having.

At this stage I was able to offer him less hours in work that helped to resolve some issues and offer confidential support.Instead of losing his job this guy has now 2 years later ended up in a management role himself.

I would really recommend talking to somebody in your management or HR team that you find approachable.It is not something that needs to be common knowledge and if work in an anyway descent company there should be nothing but support there for you

Hope it helps...

doolox

If you can get up as high in the organisation as possible you will get a more balanced and probably favourable response.

Do not expect immediate supervisors or line management to be sympathetic, they have a lot of pressure to increase performance and reduce "problems" and are in direct competition with other departments to be the best; they will tend to try and "get rid" of what they see as a drag on performance.....

Higher us will tend to have qualifications in psychology and otherwise a deeper understanding that problems like these can be temporary and if handled correctly can even strengthen a persons job experience once the temporary difficulties have been faced and coped with.

A series of meetings between your doctors and internal HR people may be able to reach an arrangement where you can work at a level at which you can cope while pursuing a plan to alleviate the conditions under which you currently suffer.

I'd hazard a guess that if you work for a small organisation it will depend very much on the individual attitudes and knowledge of the boss to people with mental illnesses. If their attitude is balanced then you may have a chance, if not then......who can say?