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Do you share your medical information with your boss?

Posted by alive @alive, Sep 14 9:30am

Every time I get a new job, I struggle deciding how much to share with my boss about my health. Of course, I don’t want them to think that I won’t be able to do some of the things I was hired to do, but I do have regular follow up appointments with my hematologist oncologist at Mayo, which means I have to take the whole day off to drive two hours to Phoenix and back.

My current supervisor always has a concerned look on her face whenever I ask for a day off for my appointment. I tell her that everything is fine and it’s just a follow up, but she is still very concerned and asks if everything is okay. I am applying for a new job in the same department, but will have a different supervisor, and I wonder how I should set the tone with the new supervisor. I don’t want questions about my health unless I know I would need to take more than just a day or two to take care of a medical issue. We have all women in my department, and I know who had hysterectomy and all the other surgeries that my coworkers have had since I started working there. Any suggestions about how to set my boundaries here?

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my44 | @my44 | Sep 15 7:01pm

@scottbeammeup Exactly! And I'm glad to be able to say that I had a manager like you have. I worked in international commerce and had agents and clients all over the world. To get issues resolved in a timely manner, I would be up at 2am or 4am conversing back and forth via email with agents in Asia or Europe. That way I got things done quicker than them sending me an email...and 12 hours later me sending one back to them...and 12 hours later...(you get the picture). Instead of it taking me 3 or 4 days of emails back and forth to get resolution, an issue could be resolved in one night. I also put in work on weekends and holidays. That wasn't required...my actual hours were 8:30am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday. But my manager really appreciated my efforts and had no problem with me taking time to take care of what I needed to do for myself personally....as long as I got done the job that they were paying me to do. And like you, that type of management made me willing to go above and beyond, too...and they ended up getting more hours of work out of me than they paid me for. But I was willing to put in the extra time. That was the best manager I ever had. None of the other managers I ever had even came close to being like her. But like I said, they are few and far between.

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joaf37 | @joaf37 | Sep 15 7:29pm
In reply to @jenniferhunter "@joaf37 I mentioned accommodations in order to be able to do a job, and that may..." + (show)
@jenniferhunter

@joaf37 I mentioned accommodations in order to be able to do a job, and that may be something related to a disability. Just as a simple example, I broke my ankle badly a few years ago, and I know I would not be able to do a job that required me to stand on my feet all day long. If I was doing a job that could be done while I was seated, that would be a reasonable accommodation. As an example, many store checkout clerks stand and are not allowed to sit, but I have seen a few who are allowed to sit on a tall stool. I'm not a store clerk, but I thought this may explain the meaning of a workplace accommodation. States do have laws about accommodating disabilities in the workplace. Sometimes that is an easy conversation with an employer, or it may not be if the employer starts asking a worker to see doctors they choose to render a decision. That puts the employee in a position where they have to share medical information. You're right, there are many issues to consider.

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Thanks for the added clarification which of course may also be helpful to others. I am familiar with the process you are referencing per state laws pertaining to accommodating for disabilities and the fact of full-disclosure. When I went through that process (productively from the start and successfully) a great deal of paperwork was involved and the MD's assessment was also required which made sense to me.

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