Health declaration for the employer

שו”ת › Category: Halacha › Health declaration for the employer

asked 8 years ago

Hello Rabbi Michael,
First, thank you very much for this wonderful site and for all of the Rabbi’s work to expand knowledge in Israel.
Yes, they will increase.
I have a halachic question please:
I applied for a job with the police, they gave me a ‘health declaration form’ to fill out and in it they ask “Are you taking medication intended to treat mental illness?”
I take a medication called Lustral to treat depression. The doctor treating me (a psychiatrist in the city of Bil’az) told me that I don’t have a mental illness, but “you just don’t feel well.”
Should I tell them about taking the medication?
PS: The family doctor told me not to report this.
Thanks in advance.

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מיכי Staff answered 8 years ago

A difficult question. The employer has an obligation to report, as the employer must receive all the relevant information it requests (certainly if this is not prohibited by law). If as a result you feel that you have been unfairly discriminated against, you can petition the court or the Civil Service Commission (I don’t know, you should ask a lawyer). I am aware that this answer is theoretical, as I do not know the situation in the police, the nature of its requirements and the way it treats those who do not meet the requirements, and I certainly do not know the medicine. Such a report may be a recipe for exaggerated and unjustified trouble. Since I am not a formalist and I understand that sometimes there is room to circumvent procedures and even the law, I would say this: If two conditions are met: 1. Trouble is indeed expected. 2. It is completely clear that they are pointless and unnecessary (because there is no disruption to functioning from these medicines), then perhaps there is justification for overlapping on the matter. But as mentioned, a person should suspect himself that he is making decisions regarding these two assumptions in a biased manner (because he is concerned with the matter).

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אנונימי replied 8 years ago

Thank you very much for the quick response.
If I ask the psychiatrist and he tells me not to report it to them because there is no need, is that okay?

מיכי Staff replied 8 years ago

As mentioned, only if the two (!) above requirements are met.
As for the second requirement, the psychiatrist is the professional authority. But here too, note that you must make sure with him that he is completely convinced that there is no disorder. After all, you certainly understand that he has no interest in worrying about the police and therefore he is also a bit suspicious. If he had given you written confirmation of this, I would have been calmer, although I doubt that you would accept it (and this in itself, if it happens, raises suspicion that his determination stems from a lack of care and not necessarily from an objective professional position).