Telling potential new boss about PSA condition.

Hi ! Thanks for reaching out to the community about this.

I've only had one official job interview since I became unwell. It was for a casual job so not quite the same as your situation. The job advertisement said that there was no guaranteed work, and if there was any work there was no obligation to agree to do it. So at the interview I felt very comfortable telling them that essentially my body is not reliable and I might not be able to work when they ask. I did get the job so I assume they appreciated my honesty on some level. I'm not sure how I would approach this if it was for a non-casual job though... Hopefully others who have been in that situation will stop by and share with you. I should mention that I'm in the UK, so perhaps someone in the US can share some wisdom on this. In the meantime, we have a few articles on working with PsA, and workplace accommodations, which I thought may be helpful:
https://psoriatic-arthritis.com/living/workplace-accommodations-disability
https://psoriatic-arthritis.com/resources-work
https://psoriatic-arthritis.com/living-with-psa/work-challenges

Please keep us updated on how the job search goes. Wishing you the best! -Catherine, Community Moderator

Hi @mariacc61 great question. My first suggestion would be to do some research on the company if you have not already done so. See if they have disabled people working for them. If they do then it makes it an easy decision to tell them upfront. If you are not sure whether they do or not then I can see your situation being should I tell them or not. I can say that my last employer I was totally honest up front about my limitations. It was nice in that I did not have to hide anything from anyone. I would say telling them after you get the job can be a problem though because they could still turn around and let you go. At least if you are upfront with them you will know from the beginning how they fill. This is however just my two cents. Hope everything works out well for you. Vickie W., Team Member

Before I retired, I contracted a lot. Usually on 6 month assignments I only mentioned it for doctor appointments. If I didn't come into work, I just didn't get paid.

Last job as my disease got worse, I was honest up front. I usually used all my vacation time on either doctors appointments or days I couldn't function because of PSA.

I've run into actual workplace discrimination but the whole lawyer karma thing isn't worth it. Had a supervisor I told one day I couldn't finish the work day and she ran to manager who's office was outside of my cubicle to tell him I was leaving because of my PSA 'wink-wink.' Actual words.

I found in a few jobs things were said in reviews that would shock you and you get to a point where you do your best to educate. In some cases, if job was going nowhere and I was running into management pushback about my disease, I simply started looking for a new job. At the end of my career, I primarily contracted with no benefits relying on my spouses health benefits.

I should note, I always did my best to make up time and I often worked 45-60 hours a week on average to make up for days I had to offset the occasional day I had to leave early or call in sick. But with commute times that wore me down faster.

I do suspect that some jobs I got caught in layoffs the disease issues were issues in the decision making process but proof is hard to validate. Along the way shortly before layoffs, there were comments about going to the doctor a lot or bosses asking how you were feeling with very disingenuous vocal tones.

These issues are real but I don't know how you fix the workplace and each of us has a different work life depending on what we do. I certainly have a lot of respect to PSA patients that have more physically demanding jobs like electrician or some kind of manufacturing/shop work. That must be difficult dealing with joint pain.