Bi-Polar: Need Reasonable Accommodations At Work
I have Bipolar Disorder and ADD, conditions that I have received gov assistance for. I’m almost through my trial work period and almost off of the assistance. However, things have been hard at work. To keep being successful at work, I’m going to need some minor accommodations.
I don’t know where to start. I don’t want to be discriminated against, because people always look at bipolar people funny. I don’t want them to think of a “reason” to fire me. I just want to be able to do my job better.
I need either 10-hour work days to make up 40 hours (so I have an extra day to recooperate), or a 32-hr week. I have ADD as well, so need some coaching sometimes as far as that is concerned.
These are inexpensive/free and shouldn’t be a problem for my company to supply. However, I’m just worried about facing discrimination once the cat is out of the bag.
How do I go about doing this in the best possible way, so that I get what I need to do my best and keep knowledge of my disabilities down? The reason the hours are a problem is that it makes the BP worse. I do take 4 different meds to balance myself out, and they work so-so.
I’m looking for a way to balance their interests and mine. We have a lot of people with flexible schedules at my office.
Answer: You have a disability and it is illegal to discriminate the disable. Even if your medicine controls your medical issues, you still are considered disabled. Ask your doctor to write up an accommodation request for you. 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”).
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