How do you deal with frustrated employers?

This is a tough one.

I can find stuff that explains IBS for you simply. But its really an individual employer issue. I know it bites.

ArizonaSun: Under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, you are entitled to ask for "reasonable accommodations" (I am giving you the legal terms used in the law) if you have disclosed your disability/medical condition (which you have), can perform the "essential functions" of the job and the reasonable accommodations do not pose an "undue" hardship to the employer. The law is specifically designed to be broad enough to cover individual situations, so what is "essential," what is "reasonable" and what is "undue hardship" depends on the situation. Basically that gets defined when somebody brings a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the courts. What's expected of a large national chain store or franchise will obviously be more than a local small mom and pop.

I am not an attorney, but I do have previous professional knowledge in this area prior to my own IBS, but just from what you've described these are my thoughts:

You have to be able to do the essential functions of the job, with or without accommodations. If you can manage good attendance and physically do what you need to do most of the time, then probably you meet the essential functions. Someone who cannot reliably show up and meet expectations, even with accommodations,won't qualify.

If you are in a department of several employees there at the same time, then obviously it's more reasonable to ask this of your employers than if your current department has to be left unattended every time you need the bathroom. Of course they may not like it, or your coworkers may not like it if people have to constantly cover, but if that's not significantly interfering with what the covering person would be doing when you are not in the bathroom, then I think that would be reasonable. You'd have to inform your supervisor, human resources, etc. that you are specifically requesting reasonable accommodations for your IBS (Get a doctor's note explaining that you have a medical disability that requires XYZ. If your coworkers don't know, it's illegal for the employer to tell others unless they absolutely need to know, and only what they need to know-- that they need to cover when you are in the bathroom, which may be more frequent or unpredictable than the average person--- not your diagnosis or entire history. Also document your interactions with the employer for your own records.) under the Americans With Disabilities Act. You may or may not have similar state and local protections. Once you've invoked the ADA, as long as you can do your job, the burden is on them to show they can't accommodate you before they fire you. It sounds as if under the current situation, formally asking to be accommodated with a transfer to a similar position in a different department that isn't high risk or where there are more employees in the best option if you wish to stay in that job, but you and the employer have to determine that together.

Once you invoke the law, the employer may be more receptive. If not, then it will be up to you to decide if it's worth it to pursue a formal complaint or just find another job with a different employer.

I hope this helps.

Thank you stepjrn and shawn12!!! That is so much more that I could have asked for!! I'm so glad I found this site and that I'm not alone!!