Planning Your Conversation About Arthritis at Work

When planning your conversation, it can be helpful to focus on the positive and what you bring to the organization as a hard-working, qualified employee.  Consider emphasizing what you can do rather than what you can’t, and how additional support can help you maximize your skills and abilities.  You might want to be prepared to address any questions or concerns from your employer and remain solution-oriented, providing concrete suggestions of ways to help you do your best work.  Keeping open lines of communication and reassuring your employer that you are responsive to feedback can be a useful approach to take.     

• You may want to start by explaining that you have a chronic medical condition and would like to discuss strategies that can help you thrive at work.  You don’t need to tell anyone your arthritis symptoms or the type of arthritis, but you can if you are comfortable.
  •  For example:I have a chronic medical condition and would like to discuss strategies to help me continue to thrive at work.  
• Think about listing your strengths and abilities, as well as functional limitations:
  • I’m a hard-working, qualified employee and I bring a number of strengths to this organization, including [list strengths].  I’m able to perform the essential functions of my job, but sometimes my condition might make it difficult for me to [list tasks you have difficulty with].
• Consider telling people that you’re able to self-manage your condition much of the time and what might be helpful in the workplace:
  • I’m able to manage many of my symptoms day-to-day on my own. Often my condition doesn’t affect my ability to do my job.  It would be helpful if I have [describe accommodations you need] to maximize my strengths and minimize my limitations.  
• It can be helpful to explain what your goals are for this conversation:
  • I would like to discuss accommodations we could put in place to ensure I’m able to do my best work.
• It may be useful to reassure them of your ability to perform your role:
  • I am confident that my skills, experience and dedication will enable me to succeed in my role and continue to bring value to the organization.         

To summarize, your disclosure script may include the following points and any others you might want to address:

• I have a chronic medical condition….
• My strengths and abilities in relation to this job are….
• The difficulties I experience with some job tasks are….
• The accommodations I need are….

Hi Tom.  Do you have a moment to talk?  There is something I’d like to discuss.  I wanted to let you know that I have a chronic medical condition and would like to talk about ways to help me continue to thrive at work and do the best job possible.  As you know, I’m a hard-working, qualified employee and I bring a number of strengths to this organization, including my data analysis and strategic thinking skills.  I’m able to perform the essential functions of my job, but sometimes my condition might interfere with my ability to type or grasp objects or stand for long periods of time.  Some days it can be difficult to get to work on time when my condition flares up.  I’m often able to manage day-to-day by taking good care of myself.  However, sometimes my condition can make certain tasks difficult.  

It would be helpful if I had speech recognition software to reduce the need for typing and a chair or stool to reduce the time I spend standing. Speech recognition software will help me complete tasks on time. It would also be helpful if I could work from home on days when my symptoms are really bad.  Working from home when needed will keep me productive on days when it is too difficult to make the commute to the office.  These supports will help me maximize my strengths and minimize any disruption to my work, without putting any additional responsibilities on my co-workers.  I hope that these accommodations can be put in place within the next month, and that we can have a follow-up check-in a month after that.  I am confident that my skills, experience and dedication will enable me to succeed in my role and continue to bring value to the organization.  I am happy to answer any questions or address any concerns you might have.