Bipolar II-should I reveal my condition to employer for accomodations (ADA)?

[Ohiogal]

They clearly misled me about the shift situation and they admitted their error. I am not making things up. I would not have accepted the offer if I had known this. This is also clearly work related. I know this is going to impact my performance when it happens. Should I wait until I start to crack up before I tell them? This is a large company. There are plenty of other shifts available in which I would be able to perform at a high level.

You need to get in touch with your psychiatrist and talk to him/her about your issues. If this will interfere with your ability to function, have your psychiatrist help you determine what the best course of action is -- it may involve changing your meds or when you take them. You may not be making things up but you are whining and you are coming off as an idiot for assuming people, including me, have no clue about bipolar. Your stupidity in that regard is easily shown by the fact that you have no clue about what any of us know or live with. So make an appointment with your psych.

 

[tranquility]

They clearly misled me about the shift situation and they admitted their error. I am not making things up. I would not have accepted the offer if I had known this. This is also clearly work related. I know this is going to impact my performance when it happens. Should I wait until I start to crack up before I tell them? This is a large company. There are plenty of other shifts available in which I would be able to perform at a high level.

Once again, you want to jump on the boat to failure. You have no cause of action for them misleading you. Not only do I not think they did (It seemed your assumptions were wrong. I know I would not have assumed what you did.), but also you have no legal remedy even if they did. Period. Get over it.

The only chance you have for anything is the request for a reasonable accommodation for your disability. Focus solely on that. Again, I don't think you would win, but it is your only chance. When you bring up being mislead or that your schedule would be harder or that you would not have accepted the offer if you knew this, you are just talking about irrelevant things. If you cannot understand this simple concept of focusing on what is legally relevant I suspect you will not accept any accommodation, just the one you feel you deserve.

 

[Tresha91203]

Were you ever guaranteed a day shift? It appears this job comes with the possibility of night shift/. Why would you take it if you knew you would not be willing to work that shift? There was always a chance that every other trainee would outperform you and you would get night shift. How do you not feel guilty for misleading a company into believing you would be able to perform the job at the schedule they disclosed to you up front was a possibility. Now, they have invested all this time, training and expense on you and you want to demand accomodations for something you expect to happen in the future (which you also did not advise them about prior to hiring, although you clearly knew).

If you have a diagnosed disability, why are you not on disability? Are you eligible for disability? Why don't you get a job that does not involve night shift? Why do you feel the employer is somehow not being fair? I don't see that they did anything wrong at all. I see no intentional deceit except on your part.

P.S. My mother is bipolar and I have had to have her committed for 30 days before. I know precisely how limiting it can be. It is still not your employer's fault, especially not since they obviously don't even know about it.

 

[pittguy578]

I am sorry if I seemed so whiny. I am not usually like this I feel very fragile right now.. Like any bit of stress can push me over the edge.

I had worked for a large insurance company for 10 years.. This past February they decided to consolidate their operations and laid everyone in our department off.

10 days after that my maternal grandmother passed away due to complications from Alzheimer's. Her decline was rapid. It was only 8 months from diagnosis until death. I am an only child. She and I were very close. She was like a second mother to me. I actually felt closer to her than I do with my own mother.

Thirdly, I found out I was going to be a father. It was totally unexpected as my fiancé was not supposed to be able to get pregnant.

This year has been the worst year of my life. I am still trying to recover from everything that has happened. I am just really worried that any additional changes/stress will cause me to have a major relapse.

 

[tranquility]

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION for your DISABILITY. For anything else, call your mental health professional or Oprah.

 

[ecmst12]

Call your psychiatrist and therapist and make sure that your meds are adjusted and you fit in some extra therapy sessions to deal with the stress.

 

[feddey26]

Your Bipolar disability should qualify you for ADA. You need to have your doctor write a note about your disability and that working late nights will affect your health and that you can not work past 9pm (or whatever). You will need to bring that note into your employer to ask for the Reasonable accomodation of being on put on a shift that you will not work past 9pm (or whatever your doctor recommends). You MUST have doctor verification for this. Keep copies of all documents.

Your employer MUST by law accept your reasonable accomodation for your disability (a shift schedule is considered a reasonable accomodation). (Provided they employ more than 15 people) If they do not accept it or terminate you because of your request you have grounds for filing with the EEOC. (www.eeoc.gov)

It is very unfair to see comments on here that claim just because someone has a disability they can not work and should file for disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act is exactly what that type of belief is trying to rid. People with disabilities are very capable of working and contributing to society if given the appropriate reasonable accomodations.

Good luck to you!!

 

[cbg]

The above post is painted with far too broad a brush. While a change of shift can be a reasonable accomodation, I want to re-emphasize what the poster appears to ignore:

1.) The ADA does NOT require the employer to create a new position on a shift if one does not exist; nor does it require the employer to bump someone else out of their position to make room for the poster

2.) The ADA does not require that the employer place the poster in a position for which they are not qualified.

3.) The ADA does not require the employer to let the employee choose the accomodation they want. As long as the accomodation they provide works, the employer does not have to provide the accomodation the employee wants or even the one that the doctor recommends.

It is not even close to accurate to state that the employer MUST unconditionally transfer them to the shift they want or face ADA penalties.

 

[feddey26]

The above post is painted with far too broad a brush. While a change of shift can be a reasonable accomodation, I want to re-emphasize what the poster appears to ignore:

1.) The ADA does NOT require the employer to create a new position on a shift if one does not exist; nor does it require the employer to bump someone else out of their position to make room for the poster

2.) The ADA does not require that the employer place the poster in a position for which they are not qualified.

3.) The ADA does not require the employer to let the employee choose the accomodation they want. As long as the accomodation they provide works, the employer does not have to provide the accomodation the employee wants or even the one that the doctor recommends.

It is not even close to accurate to state that the employer MUST unconditionally transfer them to the shift they want or face ADA penalties.

The OP does not need a new position created - just a different shift to accomodate his disability. If one is qualified to answer the phone at 10pm they would certainly be qualified to answer the phone at 3pm, so the OP's employer would not be placing them in a position not qualified for.

While I understand the employer does not have to follow the exact accomodation requested, I would not know of a similar accomodation that an employer could suggest that would work. However that could be discussed between the OP and employer.

The law requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodation to an employee or job applicant with a disability, unless doing so would cause significant difficulty or expense for the employer ("undue hardship"). A schedule change would not qualify as undue hardship. http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/disability.cfm

 

[tranquility]

Your employer MUST by law accept your reasonable accomodation for your disability (a shift schedule is considered a reasonable accomodation). (Provided they employ more than 15 people) If they do not accept it or terminate you because of your request you have grounds for filing with the EEOC. (www.eeoc.gov)

Nope. The employer does not have to accept the employee's theory of what is reasonable. Or, what a doctor thinks is reasonable.

 

[cbg]

You're still missing the point. If the employer needs six people to answer the phone between 9 and 5, and four people to answer the phone between 5 and midnight, and there are already six people answering the phone between 9 and 5, the employer does not have to pay seven people to answer the phone between 9 and 5, or transfer one of the six already working to answer the phone between 9 and 5 to answer the phone between 5 and midnight, just to accomodate the OP. No matter how qualified they may be. No matter how reasonable a shift change may be.

 

[feddey26]

Nope. The employer does not have to accept the employee's theory of what is reasonable. Or, what a doctor thinks is reasonable.

The employer is required by law to make reasonable accomodations. They employer and employee can have a discussion about that to find the best accomodation to meet the needs of the disabled employee. A doctor/therapist note has a major role in that discussion. If the employer does not make any accomodations they may find themselves in a law suit for discrimination.

You're still missing the point. If the employer needs six people to answer the phone between 9 and 5, and four people to answer the phone between 5 and midnight, and there are already six people answering the phone between 9 and 5, the employer does not have to pay seven people to answer the phone between 9 and 5, or transfer one of the six already working to answer the phone between 9 and 5 to answer the phone between 5 and midnight, just to accomodate the OP. No matter how qualified they may be. No matter how reasonable a shift change may be.

I do not know if it is at all fair or justified to switch another employee to another shift to accomodate an individual with a disability. However, if a vacancy is or became available during a reasonable shift for the OP, the OP should, by law, be given priority for that position as a reasonable accomodation for their disability.

 

[cbg]

Yes. IF there is a vacancy. NOT if it would disaccomodate another employee. That's part of the ADA, and it's the part you're trying to avoid.

 

[ecmst12]

Except that the policy is that priority for shift changes is according to performance. And just because someone claims to have a disability does not actually mean that they would qualify under the ADA. All cases are reviewed on an individual basis; a diagnosis alone is not enough (except in the case of HIV/Aids). All of the circumstances must be evaluated and there is not enough information here for you to make a definitive statement that OP qualifies. Right now, all OP has is fear of the unknown that his performance MAY be affected. The best thing for him to do is NOT to go trying to force the employer to change things to his liking because of conjecture about what MAY happen, the best thing for him to do is to talk to his therapist and doctors about how best to prevent problems from coming up in the work situation that he finds himself in. He may need more time in therapy, or a medication adjustment. If he takes the steps to address the potential problems and finds himself unable to function despite his best effort to do so, then that would be the time to request accomodation. Right now, it's entirely possible that he will adjust to the shift JUST FINE with proper treatment.

 

[feddey26]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA


Fast forward to last week. When we finally received our information on shift bidding, it is not based on performance in the training program. We were randomly assigned an employee ID number and the order in terms of picking shifts was based on that.
.

OP says shifts are assigned by random employee ID, not performance.

Yes. IF there is a vacancy. NOT if it would disaccomodate another employee. That's part of the ADA, and it's the part you're trying to avoid.

I'm not trying avoid anything. The OP can ask for a reasonable accomodation for his disability. His employer is required by by law to help accomodate that reasonable request. It could even be asking if another employee would switch shifts. The OP and Employer would need to discuss that. However, that being said, I do agree with ecmst 's post below. It would be best to visit with Dr. and get there medical evaluation on other ways and remedies to avoid the effects of the disability.

Except that the policy is that priority for shift changes is according to performance. And just because someone claims to have a disability does not actually mean that they would qualify under the ADA. All cases are reviewed on an individual basis; a diagnosis alone is not enough (except in the case of HIV/Aids). All of the circumstances must be evaluated and there is not enough information here for you to make a definitive statement that OP qualifies. Right now, all OP has is fear of the unknown that his performance MAY be affected. The best thing for him to do is NOT to go trying to force the employer to change things to his liking because of conjecture about what MAY happen, the best thing for him to do is to talk to his therapist and doctors about how best to prevent problems from coming up in the work situation that he finds himself in. He may need more time in therapy, or a medication adjustment. If he takes the steps to address the potential problems and finds himself unable to function despite his best effort to do so, then that would be the time to request accomodation. Right now, it's entirely possible that he will adjust to the shift JUST FINE with proper treatment.

Keep in mind that it sounds like OP also know his limits and experiences that put him at undue health risks. If Doctor suggests that a request for a shift change is the best, proper treatment for OP and that is available (which I would bet the turn-over rate in a call center is high) it is justified for him to request a shift change and the employer should, by law, need to accomodate that request or together work out another reasonable accomodation.