Medical Questionnaire - tell truth?

LegacyUser

Hello,

I have got a new job offer and they want me to fill in a medical form. It asks a lot of questions such as how many sick days have you taken in the last 2 years, how many times have you seen your GP, have you seen a specialist in the last 2 years, etc.

I have had a lot of mainly stress related problems which aggrevated IBS (Irritible Bowel Syndrome) and have missed a few days to this , been to the doctor a lot and also seen a specialist to rule out more serious stomach problems. I take prescription medication for the IBS when I get an attack. I also got a bad respitory tract infection which required me to take sick days and numerous visits to the doctor.

Really it's not all that bad but it would look quite bad on paper. I am wondering if I do tell the truth, could this be a mark against me? If I did leave some things out, would it really be that bad? It has never affected me getting work done before.

Basically how truthful should I be about my health?

Thanks!

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

obv the proper answer is to say "tell the truth", but i wouldn't in your situation. feck them for prying into your private life and just tell them what they want to hear (i.e. nothing)

h2s

Roundtower2 wrote: »

obv the proper answer is to say "tell the truth", but i wouldn't in your situation. feck them for prying into your private life and just tell them what they want to hear (i.e. nothing)

That is really bad advice to give, if your employer finds out and believe me they will at some point, they can dismiss you for falsifying your application documents and you have little if any come back, beacuse it means that you can't be trusted to tell the truth.

Is is better to be honest and any decent employer will organise a pre-employment medical with the company doctor to establish fitness to work.

These medical forms are there to protect both the employer and the employee.

Imagine a situation where an employee doesn't reveal that they are on medication for a heart condition, or that they are diabetic it could mean the difference between life and death should something happen.

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

hey h2s. of course you are right. it's just that the op has a medical history of depression rather than something like diabetic or a heart condition which "needs" to be known. i think he/she should have the right to keep that information private if they so choose. having said that, i'm not aware of the law on the matter - do you really have to be truthful on those forms? surely you are allowed to keep your own medical information private?

h2s

The idea of the med forms is to try to prevent problems from happening so that the employers does not put an employee into a situation that could be harmfull to their health and wellbeing, and having a history of depression etc.. is no different from that point of view than any other medical condition.

Of course I am well aware of that a person will be reluctant to reveal problems they may have regarding such things as depression given society's attitude to such issues.

However, I work with this type of thing and I see at first hand the fall out that happens where there is an problem because someone wasn't honest on application forms, medical forms, etc....

nesf

You should declare it. Simple as that really. Hiding illnesses is just not a good idea.

Eoin

I don't think it's a given that someone with IBS has depression - the OP certainly hasn't mentioned it.

But yes, I agree with disclosing it.

[Jackass]

I wouldn't.

If you suffer from, for example, depression (and I'm not suggesting the OP does), then the employer thinks "This is something that is a very grey area, and in extreme cases can lead to months of paid absence leave and there is absolutley nothing we can do about it" and gives grounds for discrimination, which of course it would be as it would be a deciding factor on whether or not to employ you but you can never prove this.

Also, i think your medical details, unless for personal insurance purposes, are your own business, and unless you feel it is something the company needs to know for your safety, I wouldn't disclose it.

Also there is no way they can "fire" you for not disclosing it, unless they were given medical history to prove it was apperant before you worked there, which legally they can not obtain unless you give it to them...

Eoin

I wouldn't be so quick to day there is "no way" they can fire you. How do we know the offer letter didn't state that the job was dependent on all relevant details being submitted truthfully?

It's verging on legal advice, and I don't think we know enough about this case, or the law itself to offer it.

[Jackass]

That's fair enough. But I was just making the point that it would be interesting to see how they would go about proving that this was a pre-existing medical condition that you knew about and failed to disclose when you commenced work to use it to fire you without any access to your medical history.