This is one of those questions that has both a simple answer and a more targeted, moral answer. But let’s get the 100% truth out of the way first. No! You don’t have to tell your employer about having BPD or indeed any mental health disorder. This even stands true in reverse as you can sue them just for asking if you have a mental health condition! But as with everything in life things are not quite that straight forward…
Are You Legally Obliged to Disclose BPD to an Employer?
While you are under no legal obligation to do so, you might want to consider telling them anyway. Why? Because the truth is they might be able to offer certain help, advice and indeed leeway if you get the job. If you personally feel for a moment that you might struggle in your new job because of your BPD then yes it might be better to tell them. Just because they know you have BPD doesn’t mean it will result in bad things happening. In fact, they might be more inclined to take you on in the interests of diversity and with more and more companies trying to appear “Woke” that could be your ticket to a new job.
What You Do Need to Tell Them is…
Something also worth thinking about is if you are planning on using certain machinery is what medications you are on. While you don’t have to tell them about your BPD you do need to tell them about your medication like Fluoxetine or indeed any other antidepressant or mood stabilizers that could affect your ability to do the job in the first place. Before you do tell any possible new employer just check on the information booklet inside your pillbox to see if it tells you about things like that.
It’s important to know your rights and you are indeed well within your rights to tell your employer about any possible mental health disorder AFTER they have offered you the job. They then have a right to offer you certain concessions to make sure they don’t put you under any extra pressure or stress. In a survey done by mentalhealth.org.uk they found only 14.7% of those working with BPD did indeed tell their employer. Oddly, that number drops to just 10.9% when it comes to men talking to their employer about their BPD.
If you ask me there is a notable general rule of thumb here. There is no need to tell your employer anything until your job classes with your BPD. Maybe you are too depressed to come in that day, maybe tell them then about your BPD, or if you are feeling super anxious about your first day and get a little teary maybe tell them, but never before it becomes an issue as, to be honest…IT’S NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS
If you have any other questions relating to BPD or would just like some advice on the disorder do get in touch with us via the contact us page. It’s easy to do, we are both responsive and confidential, plus we never save any of your details in any way.
