Given the impact and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), there may come a time when you need to have a conversation with your employer. RA and its symptoms commonly get in the way of a person’s ability to live their day-to-day life, including doing their job how they once did.
Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis
RA symptoms include pain, joint swelling, and fatigue. Early phases of RA tend to affect smaller joints first, including the joints that connect your fingers and hands and your toes and feet. Inflammation and joint damage often spreads to the wrists, knees, ankles, elbows, hips, and shoulders as RA progresses. Stiffness, aches, and fatigue are also RA symptoms that can get in the way of how and when you do your job.
As an inflammatory autoimmune disorder, RA can have systemic effects that affect parts of the body other than the bones and joints. RA can impact the heart, eyes, blood vessels, and skin. Rheumatoid arthritis rash and eczema are skin issues that can affect people living with RA.
How Rheumatoid Arthritis Can Impact Your Work
RA affects every person differently. Some people have mild symptoms that impact their careers minimally, if at all. In other cases, RA becomes severe enough to limit your abilities to perform work tasks.
How RA Can Affect Your Dexterity and Flexibility
If RA affects the joints in your hands, wrists, and fingers, tasks like holding a pen may pose a challenge. RA may impede your grip and your ability to grasp items. Joint pain in the hands may also make dexterous tasks, such as typing, using a mouse, writing, or filing paperwork more difficult or even impossible.
How RA Can Affect Your Mobility
RA’s effects on the body can limit your ability to move around independently. You may not be able to bend, squat, lift, or pull, which can limit your ability to perform certain work functions. Some people with RA require a walker or cane for mobility assistance. Even with assistance, RA can limit how long you can sit in one position (such as at a desk) or how far you can walk or be on your feet.
How RA Treatment and Side Effects Affect Work
With RA, you can expect more frequent visits to your doctor and specialists. Treatments for RA may involve taking pain medication and immunosuppressant drugs. These classes of medication can cause side effects such as dizziness, drowsiness, fatigue, and nausea and even gastrointestinal (GI) issues that can interfere with your ability to perform certain job functions. It may mean you need to speak with your employer about a work schedule that accommodates more frequent doctor visits or periods of down time.
Reasonable Accommodations: Know Your Rights
Regardless how RA impacts your ability to do your job, remember: you have a right to the same opportunities as staff without disabilities. Your employer is obligated to accommodate you and your condition.
Reasonable accommodations are the adjustments and equipment an employer is obligated to implement to enable a person with a disability to continue their employment. Reasonable accommodations can include ensuring workplace accessibility, providing adaptive workstation equipment, and modifying schedules for flexible work arrangements that accommodate doctor visits and other needs. Reasonable accommodation can also include your employer reassigning you to another job at the same workplace.
Educate and inform yourself. Be prepared to discuss with your employer how having RA affects your job abilities, how the workplace impacts your ability to do your job, and your rights and protections. Visit Australia’s Equal Opportunity Commission and Australia Institute of Health and Welfare for more information on rheumatoid arthritis, different abilities, and your rights in the workplace.
References
Rheumatoid Arthritis - Arthritis Foundation
Rheumatoid Arthritis Rash - myRAteam
Can I Continue Working with Rheumatoid Arthritis? - Disability Benefits Help
Office Ergonomics: Tips for Arranging a Healthy Work Space - Arthritis Foundation
Flexible Work Arrangements - Arthritis Foundation
Impairments and disability associated with arthritis and osteoporosis (AIHW)
