Effects of sickle cell disease on employment

Website design By BotEap.comOne of the often overlooked effects of sickle cell disease is the effect it can have on your career search.

Website design By BotEap.comThe need for frequent hospital visits and checkups to maintain optimal health can at least be scheduled in advance by employers to contain any interruption in Company productivity.

Website design By BotEap.comEmployers are often accommodating and supportive, but the truth is that in today’s world of short-term contracts and tenuous employer-employee loyalty, companies are much more adept at finding reasons to declare an employee “unsuitable for the job at hand.” who applied.”

Website design By BotEap.comThis is a highly subjective statement and almost impossible to prove discrimination based on the codes of practice detailed in the Disability Discrimination Act which prohibit dismissal based on an employee’s disability.

Website design By BotEap.comGovernments offer attractive incentives to encourage employers to recruit from specific areas of the workforce in order to provide a balanced perspective that highlights a person’s abilities rather than their disabilities.

Website design By BotEap.comAll very well. However, for someone with sickle cell disease, the stubborn factor of having an invisible disability that appears randomly is not as easily accommodated by managers who do not sufficiently prepare for the sickle cell employee’s absences.

Website design By BotEap.comAs a result, the employee’s abilities are called into question, he is made to feel guilty about the extra “burden” he places on his colleagues for covering his absence, which leads to a higher level of tension, stress and, ultimately, more absences due to health problems, and so the cycle continues.

Website design By BotEap.comIn an ideal world, managers could plan ahead to cover any eventuality, but they are not infallible and, some would argue, they will logically look for an easy solution: removing the perceived burden on company productivity by whatever means possible. , that is, the line “not fit for purpose”.

Website design By BotEap.comHowever, rather than the employee’s ill health, the reasons for dismissal suggest incompetence, lack of competence, skill, ability, and a whole list of similes that do nothing for an already deflated ego.

Website design By BotEap.comThere is nothing worse than the feeling that you are limited by something over which you have absolutely no power, that your physical being is conspiring against you to prevent you from living the life you want to live.

Website design By BotEap.comWhen you’re in good health, you can live life the way you want, but the psychological effect of crisis episodes that suddenly rob you of the ability to provide for the basic requirements of food and personal hygiene takes its toll, even in the happiest of circumstances. people.

Website design By BotEap.comThe frustration is immense.

Website design By BotEap.comAs most self-help theories advocate, the trick is to keep recovering. if nothing else, persistence and recovery are qualities that are highly developed in the mindset of someone with sickle cell disease, a rare quality that should appeal to the discerning manager or employer, in an ideal world.