• You do not have to tell your employer about your Crohn’s or Colitis, but it can help you feel more supported at work.
• The Equality Act 2010 defines when someone is considered to be disabled and is protected from being treated unfairly. Although Crohn’s and Colitis aren’t automatically classed as a disability under the Equality Act, they are conditions which might be classed as a disability depending on the effect on your daily life.
• If your employer knows about your Crohn’s or Colitis, they can make changes to your workplace to help you do your job. These are called reasonable adjustments.
• You may find that your condition still makes it difficult to work, even with changes in place. Remember that you have options and keep a positive mindset, looking at what you are good at and enjoy doing.

While looking for a job

It can be tricky to decide whether you tell the employer that you have Crohn’s or Colitis when looking for a job. You may be worried that you will be treated differently if you say you have Crohn’s or Colitis.

The Equality Act 2010 is a law that bans unfair treatment (discrimination). The Equality Act stops employers from asking questions about your health, including previous sickness absences, before offering you a job. The law applies to questions on an application form and questions asked during an interview.

There are a few exceptions to this. For details, see the Government Equalities Office Quick start guide.

You might find it helpful to speak to a careers advisor when looking for a job. The National Careers Service can advise you on job-hunting and applications.

When you’ve received a job offer

Some job offers may have conditions that you need to meet before you are given the job. These conditions can include references and medical checks. Once you have received a conditional job offer, your employer can ask questions about your health. A conditional job offer can be withdrawn for medical reasons, but only if the employer can show that you would not be able to do the job once reasonable adjustments have been made.

If you have had a conditional job offer withdrawn because of your health or medical history but feel that you would have been able to do the job with reasonable adjustments, you can make a complaint to an employment tribunal. An employment tribunal is a panel of three experts who make decisions on employment disputes.

If you decide to tell an employer about your Crohn’s or Colitis, you may find it helpful to write a list of questions you want to ask. You can ask about their policy on things such as storing medication, taking phone calls from your IBD team and going to medical appointments. You might also find it useful to show them the information in Employment: a guide for employers. This guide can help your employer learn more about Crohn’s and Colitis and what is involved in employing someone with a long-term health condition.

In your current job

If you are diagnosed with Crohn’s or Colitis when you are already working, or if your condition gets worse, you may wonder whether to tell your employer about it. It is a personal decision to tell your employer or not. It might help to talk to someone such as a family member or someone from your IBD team before you make this decision.

Some people with Crohn’s or Colitis decide not to tell their employer about their condition. However, it can help to have the understanding and support from people around you. Telling your employer can allow them to understand your needs and help you feel more supported and productive at work.

Once you have made your employer aware of your needs, you can talk to them about making reasonable adjustments for you.

If you feel nervous or want support when you tell your employer, you could ask someone else to be with you, such as a colleague or friend. Many people find that their employers are supportive, but they may have questions, especially if they don’t know much about Crohn’s or Colitis. It may help to write a list of things you want to talk about.

Telling colleagues

You don’t have to tell the people you work with about your Crohn’s or Colitis. But there can be benefits in letting others know. If your colleagues know that you have a long-term condition and what it means, they are more likely to give you the support you need, helping to create a better working environment.

Being open with your colleagues can help you talk about your symptoms, such as fatigue or stomach pain, if they start to affect you at work.

We have many other resources and information, such as All About Crohn’s and Colitis and Living with Crohn’s or Colitis that you could show your manager and colleagues.

Crohn’s and Colitis can be difficult conditions to talk about and are sometimes misunderstood. We have created a Talking Toolkit to help you find the confidence and support you need to talk to other people about Crohn’s or Colitis. This toolkit can give you the support you need to start the conversation with your colleagues.

If your employer knows about your Crohn’s or Colitis, they can make changes to your workplace to help you do your job. These are called adjustments. You can ask your employer for reasonable adjustments when any aspect of your working arrangements, including the building or place of work or your working hours, puts you at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person doing your job.

Employers have a legal duty to consider making adjustments for employees with a disability.

An employer must consider making adjustments when:

• They know an employee is disabled
• They could reasonably be expected to know an employee has a disability
• The employee with a disability has asked them for adjustments to be made
• The employee with a disability is having difficulty with any part of their job
• Either the employee’s sickness record or delay in returning to work is linked to their disability.

There is no exact definition of what is reasonable. An adjustment is likely to be reasonable if it is affordable and easy to do. This can depend on the type and size of the business.

Some examples of adjustments include:

• Allowing time off for medical appointments or treatment.
• Flexible working arrangements, such as shorter or different hours.
• Unlimited toilet breaks.
• Moving your workstation close to a toilet.
• Providing a car parking space close to the entrance to work.
• Offering another place of work or working from home.
• Providing you with relevant training, for example, if you take on new tasks that are more suited to your needs.
• Providing a fan or heater to keep you comfortable.

Adjustments such as easy access to toilets or time off for medical appointments can make a big difference while you are working or looking for work. These adjustments can help you at work and boost your wellbeing. When you talk to your employer, it may be useful to have some suggestions ready of changes that would help you.

If adjustments are expensive, such as installing separate toilet facilities, a scheme called Access to Work may be able to help.

If you have talked about adjustments with your employer and find that you cannot reach an agreement, you could raise a formal written complaint. This is sometimes called a grievance (See “What can I do if I feel I have been discriminated against?”). Contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) for more detailed guidance on your rights.

You may get help with travel costs from Access to Work.

Online resources such as the Great British Public Toilet Map can be useful in locating your nearest public toilet on your journey to work. It covers most of the UK, including toilets in tube and rail stations. There are also apps available to download onto your mobile phone to help you find nearby toilets or changing facilities.

Sickness Absence

Sickness absence is usually an unplanned period where you do not feel well enough to work. Some workplaces will have a sickness policy, and you may be entitled to sick leave. This policy usually outlines

• Who to let know if you are taking sick leave.
• How to keep in touch while you are absent from work.
• How much sick pay you are entitled to, and for how long.
• How your employer will keep track of and record absences.
• If having repeated sickness absence will trigger a review process.

If you are eligible, you may be able to ask your employer for reasonable adjustments around time off work. An example is your employer not counting the time you have had off work because of your Crohn’s or Colitis when they add up how much sick leave you have had.

Ask your employer if they have a disability leave policy that they can follow. Disability leave is when you need to take time off work because of a reason relating to your disability.

Time off due to medical appointments

You may need to attend appointments because of your Crohn’s or Colitis, such as having an infusion at hospital, during work hours. There is no legal right for your employer to give you time off for these appointments. They may ask you to make the time up or use your annual leave entitlement. Many workplaces have a medical appointments policy which will outline if you are entitled to time off for appointments, if you will be paid for this time off, and how much time you are entitled to.

If you are eligible, you may be able to ask for reasonable adjustments relating to time off for appointments. An example is your employer agreeing to change your working hours so you can go to medical appointments.

See the Acas website for more information on returning to work after an absence.

If you are absent for more than a week, you will need to get a ‘fit note’ (‘statement of fitness for work’) from your GP (or hospital doctor if you are in hospital). It allows your doctor to suggest that you would benefit from additional support or adjustments, such as building up slowly to your normal hours and duties. This is called a ‘phased’ return to work.

An example of a phased return is if you start working only a few hours each day and gradually increase your hours over time. Or you may want to ask for a reduced workload or lighter duties, to begin with.

Your employer can ask for a doctor’s report about your health if they need to:

• Check that you are fit to carry out your work
• Prevent health and safety risks
• Prevent disability discrimination

You will need to give permission for your doctor to give the report to your employer. You can also ask to see the report before it is sent to your employer. Any information that you do choose to share with your employer must be kept confidential.

They will then be able to make reasonable adjustments to help you return to work.

Can I be dismissed because of long period of absence?

Dismissal is when your employer ends your contract, meaning you no longer work for them. It is sometimes called being sacked or fired.

There may be times when your employer has made reasonable adjustments, but you are having a lot of absences or are struggling to return to work because of your Crohn’s or Colitis. Dismissal should be a last resort after your employer has tried other ways to support you and help you get back to work. Your employer might put a performance management procedure in place to help you to do your job. Your workplace may have this procedure written in a capability or performance policy which your employer should follow before deciding on dismissal. Read more about capability procedures at Acas.

If your employer does dismiss you or you feel like you have been treated unfairly for taking time off, see “What can I do if I feel I have been discriminated against?“ or talk to a Citizens Advice advisor.

Have an informal chat

It is usually a good idea to talk informally to your employer or manager about your concerns as a first step.

If you do not feel comfortable talking to your manager, try speaking to someone from:

• Human Resources (HR): the HR department manage things such as recruitment, pay, annual leave, sick pay and policies.
• Occupational Health (OH): OH teams help keep employees well at work, both physically and mentally.
• If your workplace doesn’t have a HR or OH team, they may have health and wellbeing advisors or a mental health first aider that you could talk to.

Things can often be resolved by talking them through. It can also be helpful to keep notes of conversations or meetings just in case you need to take the matter further.

Raise the issue formally

If the situation does not improve, you could make a formal complaint through your employer’s grievance procedure. You should raise the issue as soon as you can. You can download a grievance letter template from Acas at the link below.

Your employer then has to arrange a meeting with you to discuss the problem. You have a legal right to bring a colleague or trade union representative with you if you ask your employer beforehand. Depending on the company’s policy, you may be able to ask a family member or friend to accompany you. Acas have a helpful guide to raising a formal grievance.

If you are not happy with the result of this meeting, you can make an appeal to your employer.

Making a claim to an employment tribunal

If the problem is still not resolved after raising a formal grievance, you might be able to make a claim to an employment tribunal. An employment tribunal is a panel of three experts who make decisions on employment disputes. An employment tribunal claim can take a lot of time and energy for everyone involved so it is usually seen as a last resort if no other agreement can be reached.

An employment tribunal can only deal with certain types of claims, including issues with pay, unfair dismissal and discrimination. A claim to an employment tribunal usually has to be submitted within three months (minus one day) after the discrimination took place.

If you want advice about making a claim to an employment tribunal, see Acas or Citizens Advice.

When you make a discrimination claim, you need to provide the employment tribunal with evidence that discrimination has happened. Then, the employer needs to show that discrimination has not happened. There is more information about this on the Equality and Human Rights Commission website.

If you find it difficult to make a complaint or are still not happy with the outcome, you might want to contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS), Acas or other similar organisations to explore your options.

The police and armed forces

Some jobs have very specific entry requirements to make sure you are physically able to do the job. Having Crohn’s or Colitis might stop you from having certain roles in the armed forces, delay you from joining, or prevent you joining. Your application is assessed on an individual basis.

We follow strict processes to make sure our information is based on up-to-date evidence and easy to understand.

Please email us at evidence@crohnsandcolitis.org.uk if:

• You have any comments or suggestions for improvements
• You would like more information about the sources of evidence we use
• You would like details of any conflicts of interest

You can also write to us at Crohn’s & Colitis UK, 1 Bishop Square, Hatfield, AL10 9NE, or contact us through our Helpline: 0300 222 5700