Published on 12, July, 2020
This happened to me and I'm wondering how often it has happened to others. For me, the disability is ASD, and that would be relevant for most here as well, but I am interested to know about other disabilities as well.
This is an example scenario:
You inform your employer that you have a disability. You provide proof (sick notes, diagnosis letter, etc.). They refuse to provide reasonable adjustments, or they promise reasonable adjustments for a particular event/meeting/etc. and then refuse to provide them at the last minute when you are already in attendance at the event/meeting/etc., and then they later use the excuse that not only do they not accept that you have a disability, but that they do not even believe your diagnosis to be genuine.
Has that happened to anyone here? Was it during employment or afterwards, e.g. at an Employment Tribunal, that they made it clear that they refused to accept the disability? Did they request further proof of your condition at the time, or did they simply keep it to themselves that they thought that the evidence you provided was not enough.
Who is responsible in a case like this? Is the employee required to provide proof of the disability when they disclose the disability to the employer, or, if the employer doesn't think they have been provided with enough evidence, are they expected to make their position clear to the employee and request further proof?
I get that we are treated badly as a matter of course, just because we are on the spectrum, but I wonder whether I am even more unlucky in that regard than others on the spectrum or if others have experienced this.
Thanks.
Gosh, that stinks in so many ways. I'd think if you disclose it in order to get some kind of "special treatment" it's reasonable for the employer to ask for proof of some sort, but if you have provided your diagnostic letter then surely that should be enough? I mean, by not believing in it they basically say, without having any qualification in the area, they can tell better. Guess that isn't rare, happened to me too, they even arranged for one of the doctors and a counselor and then decided they know better than those two... (that was not an ASD diagnosis though). Hope someone can give you some advice, Trainspotter maybe? Perhaps you can also get in touch with the place you got the diagnosis from? Maybe they have some advice? It would be nice if they could write to your workplace and assure them that it's genuine (which they may still not believe, but then there would be something to show them that their ignorance can have unpleasant consequences). But from experience I guess it's likely that they don't want to get involved in anything themselves.
I haven't had a line manager not believe but I have had two, out of 6 posts, refuse to give me the adjustments I needed. The issue was more about them than me though - they were the kind of people who desperately wanted to fit in and changed based on the people they were with. I don't think they could understand that not everyone can or wants to do this and that some people have fixed needs that need to be met in order for them to be able to work.
After meeting those bad apples, I am now in a post where they are incredibly supportive and all of my needs have been met.