NEED ADVICE! Discrimination?! Refused employment due to illness.

[smux]

I recently applied for a job and was put forward for an interview as the agency thought i was an ideal candidate for it, had an interview, but then was unsuccessful due to the employer being 'concerned' that i had to take a year and a half out to have operations due to crohn's. Obviously there is a gap on my CV from when i left college to started working. My agency asked, i told them the truth, the agency passed on this information to the employer and they asked about it. I made it clear that i was better now, just take medication for it and have a check up every 6 months.

I am looking for some opinions/advice... are they allowed to do this? Can they refuse to employ me due to my illness even though its clear that it would not affect me with work at all ? Isn't this discrimination??

 

[Chrismac]

I'm by no means an expert but in the UK I think it really depends on the job. Of course if it is in the military or something similar then they have valid reason to be concerned. I once considered being an army nurse, but knew I would never be able to.

If you are from the UK here is a link you might want to look into
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/RightsAndObligations/DisabilityRights/DG_4001068

 

[smux]

Thanks for your reply and link. Yes, i am from the UK.

And it was just a desk job. So didnt require any strenuous work etc.

 

[xX_LittleMissValentine_Xx]

This is a really difficult situation that I'm sure a lot of people with illness worry about and have to deal with.
I worry about this with me too as I know my attendance at uni has been awful due to illness (I should be there now but I'm not). I know that I won't be able to work for a while after uni to get better.
A job I was in once put me on probation and said if I had another day off within the next few months I would get my first official warning. I said ok but there is nothing I can do if I have to have another day off!
I wondered about the law and things then and unfortunately I think they are within their rights to let someone go if they are not well enough to work.
I'm not sure about at the interview stage.
All I can suggest is that you don't look at your time out of work as time off. Its time that you used to better yourself for the future. What skills did you learn from this that you could put on your CV? If it comes up in interviews you can tell them that you are more determined to work hard and get on with your life since your illness.
Another Idea might be to check out the Crohn's and Colitis UK website which has information sheets about crohn's disease and they have one for employers. It is quite good. The idea is that you work together with the employer to give you the best chances of working well for them.
Hope this helps?

 

[Steph1989]

Hey I'm new here, I usually post on the Colitis UK Forums but thought I'd check out this forum too! I know Colitis is covered by the disability discrimination act so I'm sure Crohn's would be as well?

http://www.ulcerativecolitis.org.uk/colitisforum/viewforum.php?f=39

In that forum there are quite a lot of threads with information regarding discrimination, disability, equality act. Check it out.

Sorry you have been treated this way! Think of it this way - if you had been employed by them they obviously aren't very understanding when it comes to medical conditions etc so you're better off not being there! Good luck with the job search

Steph

 

[xX_LittleMissValentine_Xx]

Have a read of this:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/Employmentsupport/LookingForWork/DG_4000219

 

[shamrock15]

The difficult part in all of this will be to prove that they didn't hire you because of the Crohn's. If there is some other reason that you can provide, it will be a tough sell. I can empathize - I didn't work for much of my 20's, and it was difficult to start up again. Good luck with the job hunt!

 

[smux]

thanks everyone for the advice, i will have a look in to it. I guess this is quite a common thing for people with an illness unfortunately.