By Christina Forster, as told to Rachel Reiff Ellis
Being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), or any health condition, is a big deal. It can take time to adjust. As you come to terms with your disease, you may wonder what it means for your career. How will you work with MS?
In my role as manager on the benefits and employment support team at the National MS Society, I talk to people about employment decisions, options, and understanding rights. I encourage them to pause and breathe before making big decisions, whether related to work or other future plans.
Often, I see people leave their workplaces prematurely. So we try to talk early on, to help them understand how to tap into support, be proactive, and educate themselves.
Gather Information
You may want to leave your job after your MS diagnosis because you aren’t familiar with your rights or options. Take time to look into it. What benefits do you have connected to work? What are your leave options? Do you have disability coverage through work? If you do, are you signed up for it?
Find out this information before a potential crisis, such as an MS relapse or flare of symptoms. The earlier you know this information, the better.
Talk to your health care providers about employment. If you need accommodations or to go on disability leave, they’re the ones who’ll provide the required documentation.
How to Request Accommodations
The Americans with Disabilities Act gives you the right to request accommodations – changes or modifications that help you work – if you’ve disclosed your diagnosis to your employer. The decision to tell your employer about your MS is completely up to you. We don’t recommend one way or another. We help you go through the pros and cons of each. But in order to ask for accommodations, you need to tell your employer about your MS.
When it comes to asking for accommodations, you can simply ask. It doesn't have to be super formal in the beginning. You can just use plain language and let them know you need an adjustment or a change to your work environment. You don't have to mention the ADA. That starts what we call the “interactive process of asking for accommodations.”
This process may include some negotiation. I suggest you come up with solutions and backup solutions. For example, maybe your employer says they can't approve the first things you ask for, but through the discussion and the backup solutions, you come to a compromise.
If you’re still denied, you can move up the chain of command as an appeal. Beyond that, you have a few options. If you’re part of a union, you can work with them to help with the accommodation process. You also have the option of talking to an attorney or going through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That’s the agency that enforces the federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against employees with disabilities, among other things.
Resources You Can Use
The Job Accommodation Network is a great resource through the Office of Employment Policy, through the Department of Labor. They have a wealth of information about accommodation strategies. You can put in the symptoms you’re experiencing, or your diagnosis, and they provide a sample of ideas of accommodations.
It’s a free resource, and you can talk to consultants there to come up with accommodation ideas. They also help employers understand how to support somebody who has a disability in the workplace.
At the National MS Society, we can talk to you about a variety of things. My role is focused on employment and benefits, but we have the MS Navigator team as well. They focus on emotional support, financial assistance, and connecting you to other resources. We want you to know about, and tap into, your rights in the workplace before it’s too late.
Success is possible. Sometimes that means learning to look at employment differently. Maybe you’ve always worked 60 hours a week, and that means scaling back to 40. Maybe it’s putting accommodations in place. Maybe it’s a different job. But there are laws and support in place to help.
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Photo Credit: Kostiantyn Postumitenko/pond5
SOURCE:
Christina Forster, manager of Benefits, Employment, and Health Insurance Programs and Resources Development, National MS Society.
